Has anyone any experience of working in the UAE?

[Mackle 513]

After 2.5 years of working in Frankfurt, my employer has offered me the opportunity to work in the UAE (the Silicon Oasis area of Dubai to be precise).

 

I thought I would post here on the off-chance that someone has had experiences of living in both the UAE and Germany, and is able to compare how they found things such as the lifestyle, the quality of life, how the supermarket produce quality compared, etc.

 

Whilst I enjoy living in Germany, and have even gone from hating cycling to having a daily commuter bike with a rack which I use for everything, my attempts to learn the language have been an abject failure (it makes my brain just freeze, I do have an autistic spectrum disorder but that did not prevent me learning English), and my main reason for coming to Germany was because of a relationship that I was in at the time, which has since ended, so the emotional tie to living in Germany that I initially had has gone.

 

The flip side is, as a British citizen with no degree, if I de-register and leave the country for greater than six months to work in another country, I lose my Withdrawal Agreement protections and forfeit my right to be able to live and work in Germany in future - so this decision feels a much more serious one than when I decided to move from London to Frankfurt a couple of years ago, as if I leave I it will be very difficult to get back in as a third country national.

 

So if someone has worked there, and can talk about the positives and the negatives of the experience, and things to be mindful of, that would be very useful and any insights will be gratefully received.

[LukeSkywalker 6,197]

I was mainly in Dubai Internet City, 6-7 times, each time 1-2 weeks on business trips. Nobody uses a bike :). You need a car to move around, but after my last trip they built a metro. Dubai has more than 50 malls and shopping is a main activity. In summer it's too hot for the beach. Many locals go on (med) holiday in cooler Munich and stay there 1-2 months. You can do all sorts of sports, mainly indoor incl. skiing.

 

You have to be aware that it's an absolute monarchy and the ruler decides everything. This includes construction sites 24/7 or night flights. As a tenant you have little rights. There is no such thing as a tenants' association.

 

Food and restaurants are good, especially Indian if you like that. You need a license to buy alcohol.

 

Personally, I found it interesting to see and experience, but it's not my world.

 

Perhaps you can first check it out yourself for one week before you make a decision?

[yourkeau 6,938]

It's like a city in Texas, or Florida, but much more boring, and there is desert around it.

 

You can forget about cycling.

 

Advantage: its airport is much better connected to the world than Frankfurt, Emirates is a great airline, so you can fly out of there for vacation.

 

 

[AnswerToLife42 2,402]

39 minutes ago, yourkeau said:

Advantage: its airport is much better connected to the world than Frankfurt, Emirates is a great airline, so you can fly out of there for vacation.

 

How often would you normally fly out for vacation in a year? For me the better connections from Dubai would only make sense with more than 50 days holiday (and a decent.income).

Since Dubai is too hot for many outdoor activities, (what about a walk in the woods?) and the main activity is shopping (and throwing the things away to be able to go shopping again) I would not like to live there.

After that stint in Dubai, what do you plan to do in the UK? Investment banker in London or sell fish and chips in Newcastle?

[yourkeau 6,938]

7 minutes ago, AnswerToLife42 said:

How often would you normally fly out for vacation in a year? For me the better connections from Dubai would only make sense with more than 50 days holiday (and a decent.income).

I am just trying to find positives. They usually pay well to the Europeans they hire, so people come there to earn some money and leave.

 

 

[LukeSkywalker 6,197]

If the OP is sent by his company on a delegation contract for 3 years (typical duration), you can negotiate that they have to hire you back in the home country, ie. Germany and give you a comparable job function after the delegation has ended.

[Mackle 513]

8 hours ago, LukeSkywalker said:

If the OP is sent by his company on a delegation contract for 3 years (typical duration), you can negotiate that they have to hire you back in the home country, ie. Germany and give you a comparable job function after the delegation has ended.

 

How would that work with Brexit and the loss of my withdrawal agreement right to be allowed to live and work, after being out of the country for six months?

 

I don't have a degree so am not eligible for an EU blue card (at least, according to the Frankfurt ABH representative at the November BiG / British consulate event), so not sure I could easily come back

[yesterday 1,136]

...

[yesterday 1,136]

My company was offering jobs in the UAE, 10 years ago, I went to the drive to get people to go, In summary they said

 

- I was guaranteed a job when I get back, but like you sy with BREXIT not sure that can be guaranteed, Would you mind going back to the UK ?

- The big plus, is normally you pay not tax

- Apartments normal come with a maid, and they do not require much pay.

- Its good if you like Diving

-  Its bad, for doing sports outside, most times in the year

- If you like drinking alcohol, it hard to live there, penalties for using alcohol in the circumstance are very hard.

- petty crime is high there, mugging at ATMs, are not uncommon.

 

I decided not to go - but it does suit some westerns - it just was not for me.

 

[razorsandroses 386]

I'd think twice if I were you. A British guy was in a crowded restaurant and was trying to move around a man who was in his way--brushing his hip in the process. The moron actually had the poor guy arrested for making a "homosexual advance" at him. It costed him £ 32.000 in legal fees, several months in jail, his job, and his apartment to explain that bumping against another man while passing does not necessarily equate a sexual advance, gay or otherwise.

 

Oh, and let's not forget that if you owe anyone money or are a witness to a crime, the immigration authorities will refuse to issue you an exit pass until the issue is resolved.

[catjones 1,208]

58 minutes ago, razorsandroses said:

It costed him £ 32.000 in legal fees

 

Wow!  I wouldn't want to live in a country like that.

 

59 minutes ago, razorsandroses said:

several months in jail,

Not if that happens...

 

59 minutes ago, razorsandroses said:

his job,

what?  that's really getting serious.

 

1 hour ago, razorsandroses said:

and his apartment

that's the last straw.

 

BTW- just wondering: did the guy end up staying after all?

 

[john g. 33,474]

How about this, catjones? Different story- same country!

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/05/british-man-detained-in-uae-after-wearing-qatar-football-t-shirt-to-match

[john g. 33,474]

1 hour ago, razorsandroses said:

I'd think twice if I were you. A British guy was in a crowded restaurant and was trying to move around a man who was in his way--brushing his hip in the process. The moron actually had the poor guy arrested for making a "homosexual advance" at him. It costed him £ 32.000 in legal fees, several months in jail, his job, and his apartment to explain that bumping against another man while passing does not necessarily equate a sexual advance, gay or otherwise.

 

Oh, and let's not forget that if you owe anyone money or are a witness to a crime, the immigration authorities will refuse to issue you an exit pass until the issue is resolved.

I remember that story but don’t remember how it panned out in the end.

 

But , basically , for the naive on here , there are plenty of places around the world where a foreigner is a cash cow. Plenty of experience of that. Including here in Greece. Any way to grab money from an unsuspecting foreigner.

Somebody wants to make a buck- laws or no laws.

 

[HH_Sailor 2,175]

thesun.co.uk/news/4665976/8-ways-to-get-arrested-in-dubai/amp/

 

Well, sorry for quoting the Sun newspaper, but it does point out the 32k fine as well as FO  advice to learn local laws

[MikeMelga 5,767]

If you are OK in living in a country without much rights, you should be fine!

[optimista 4,578]

13 hours ago, yesterday said:

Apartments normal come with a maid, and they do not require much pay.

And you have no idea how much misery is behind that seemingly simple sentence.

[jeremytwo 2,704]

1 hour ago, optimista said:

And you have no idea how much misery is behind that seemingly simple sentence.

 

I had a houseboy in Saudi, and he ironed my shirts wile I went out desert camping/diving weekends. He was unbelievably keen to work for me. it was only when I left that I found out I had been paying him double the usual rate these guys get that I realized why. I was a hopeless colonial...

 

Someone in Bangladesh now owns a small farm which I paid for and I'm pretty happy about that.

[catjones 1,208]

17 hours ago, john g. said:

How about this, catjones? Different story- same country!

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/05/british-man-detained-in-uae-after-wearing-qatar-football-t-shirt-to-match

 

I've done my share of travel and there are places I won't work in or travel to.  You can find injustice in Switzerland and have a great time in Libya, but I don't make my travel plans based on a newspaper article.

[john g. 33,474]

I agree with that approach!

[Mackle 513]

If it were not for Brexit, I'd probably be thinking that I might as well give it 18 months and see what it is like. The loss of my right to reside in Germany once I have been gone for.. 6 months under the withdrawal agreement I think? - is what makes it a really difficult decision.