Chipotl

Hello all i have a job contract for UAE in Dubai visa -app not yet submitted but i have 3 month notice in The Uk and whilst i have had the offer and contract sent back i have heard so many stories of one offered and signing and then offers and contracts withdrawn after resigning that i have become very wary to ensure i only resign at right time from curre t job to. Ot be left hanging. I feel current employer will be understanding of decreasing notice when i announce it however i am unsure when to actually resign and time goes by (1 week now since i signed) so i am worried new employer may not want to wait for me that long after visa has been submitted and approved and pull the offer? Any one had same predicament when they moved and how did you manage it to ensure current employer happy , notice period decreased ans future employer happy to achieve best result for all?i obviously do not want to set off at wrong foot with new employer either but I ve heard best to wait till visa is issued forst before resigning but this could be 5-6 weeks after signing the contract altogether or more plus another three months notice on top at worst case- will it not be too long to wait for the new job to start and alsow oukd the visa not have expired by then? Please can someone offer some advice?

Miss Ann Thrope

Others can correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure you need to be here in the UAE for the visa to be issued as you have to go through medical and other bureaucratic procedures which have to be done here. Most people (everybody?) enter the country on a visit visa and start work (though this is technically illegal everybody does it). It takes a couple of weeks to get your visa sorted during which time you're in a kind of limbo so need to ensure your employer pays for your accommodation and provides you with cash as you won't be able to open a bank account etc. That is certainly how I did it though that was over 10 years ago.

Have you checked out your employer and how trustworthy they may be?

Anyway, if you need to be ehre and you're ready to come the that would suggest you need to resign now if you have to see out your notice. But wait for others with more recent experience to weigh in....

DXBtoDOH

Miss Anne summarised it well enough.

A preliminary work visa can be organised for you but it won't be converted into a final work visa until in country due to the health screening requirements. Most people (99%?) arrive on a visit visa and get their work visa within a week or so, in theory. Why I say 'in theory' is because some companies will play games and try to postpone the visa till the end of probation or because of incompetence, making you do visa runs and paying your salary in cash.

jam25mack

Who's the employer? Western company or local set up?

Chipotl

A local set up

Chipotl

Thank you to all- i understand the being here part s to close off the process but to be honest i am unsure how the whole thing works hence holding off my current resignation...i am sending attested documentation etc at the moment is that not the visa initiation that takes place initially?

jam25mack

Without naming your prospective employer only you can make a call.

I would judge it on the process so far. How professional have they been. How was the interview, how are they at getting back to your emails etc...

Local companies can be dodgy, but can also be very good. Are they a big set up? Whats the business? A they a big player?

carcajou

I worked for a large organisation and my advice to everyone was don't resign until they send you the plane ticket.

Middle Eastern HR does not work like Western HR and any number of things you could not possibly have dreamed of (and cannot control) could still derail your employment, even if you have been offered a position and signed a contract.

I would be very open and honest with your current employer and tell them you are intending to leave, but you can't give an exact date.

Better yet: Ask for unpaid leave of some duration (like 6 months) to give you time to suss out whether the new position is right for you. Then if it's not you can just go home.

mission

no employer is gonna do that.

scrubbedexpat141

You've signed the contract and have 3 months notice and you haven't resigned?

How long are you going to wait to resign? If it's another few weeks then you're at a 4 month notice period.

At that point the major risk is the new employer being tired of waiting for no reason.

Miss Ann Thrope

guess what Scamp does for a living??!!

Bahtatboy

On the other hand, what's the OP's current employer going to do if he leaves without working his notice? I'm not recommending doing that (I wouldn't do it unless my employer had really pissed me off), but in some circumstances its right and/or doesn't matter.

Johnnyboy11

I'm with this approach, there's no sentiment in business. Ask yourself how much notice you would get if you current employer went into liquidation tomorrow?

carcajou

A fair number of employees at my organisation had done that, which is why I suggest it.

Standanista

Agreed on needing to be in the UAE for the final residence visa to be issued, because of the medical exam as you rightly say.

For initial entry, my experience in 2014 was different but that was joining a government organisation, not a private company. My employer emailed me a PDF copy of a UAE Ministry of Interior Entry Permit, "Employment/I", valid for 2 months, 4 days before I flew out. I printed that out, got on the plane, landed in DXB, was met by a lady from Marhaba and she picked up the original copy of the same document and whisked me through immigration (there are desks in arrivals where you pick up your permit, before you reach passport control). I handed my passport in to HR the following morning, spent a couple of days getting photographed and fingerprinted, filling in interminable forms and doing the medical, and two days after handing it in the passport came back with a UAE Residence Visa in it, valid for 3 years. They also put a dirty great sticker on it which covered the entire back cover, all in Arabic (I don't have a clue what it said but I didn't like the look of it so eventually managed to get it off with aftershave).

A quick check on the UAE MoI website reveals that there are a variety of Entry Permits, for everyone from Imams to domestic workers to shepherds (i.e. it doesn't just apply to the public sector), so if your employer is playing it by the book, that is what they should be organising for you.

We had people take 3 and even 4 months to turn up after accepting a job offer but as above, that was with a large government organisation that was well-staffed and could afford to wait, and where things often took a long time to happen anyway so people were used to it. I guess it's the OP's call. Have you spoken to the new employer and asked them whether three months is okay? If you're confident that they're legit, I think I'd be resigning now rather than leaving the Emiratis hanging on for so long, in case the job evaporates in the heat.