Xpatuae

Hi CRES

After the Skype interview, how long did they took to inform you to submit the documents? Documents which they requested are scanned copies or the originals?

Thanks in advance.

PPPTTT

What is your current status, as im also waiting for last 4 months as documents were submitted in April 2019.

ariskar

My status:

-Interview over Skype - end of March 2019
-Offer letter (Grade 15 engineer - ADNOC Onshore) - mid June 2019
-Sent all documents including attested degree - mid July 2019
-Flew me to AD at their cost put me in hotel and did medical test - beginning August 2019
-Asked further inforomation (medical) - mid August 2019
-Informed medical passed, they applied for employment visa and work permit - late August 2019 (they told me employment visa takes 2-3 weeks to be issued)
-Waiting for employment visa (British passport*)... (they said it will be sent online to be printed, I will have to enter UAE within 60 days of issue and have no holidays within first 3 months of probation period work!)

*I am a dual British-EU national

jam25mack

Wow! That's a lot of medical tests. Back in the day it used to be a blood test (HIV and Hep whichever one it is) and a chest X-ray. Done.

ariskar

There are two tests. The one that ADNOC as a company does to ensure you are fit for the job (ousourced to NMC.ae) before approving your hire and applying for your entry permit visa and the statutory one you do for the residence visa in country (the one you described: blood for HIV, Hepatitis, chest Xray for Tuberculosis).

ShirleyG102

ariskar

Salary is negotiable, allowances are fixed and tied to pay grade, 17 in the case you present.

The gross package including general allowances for a PG 17 should be at least 30,000 AED with most likely around 35,000 AED per month after negotiation.

The accommodation allowance would be 200,000 or 225,000 AED / year (I don't remember which - paid directly to landlord/agent providing rented accommodation) and is a fixed policy based on pay grade (17) and is quite generous compared with Abu Dhabi rents. Good luck!

ShirleyG102

ariskar

In my experience there was a possibility to negotiate, however the margins they would be willing to accept were relatively low (10-15% max over the initial offer). They appeared stiff at first with me too. Try to negotiate a good deal upfront as from what I hear remuneration improvements over time are slow or in some cases inexistent.

ShirleyG102

ariskar

I was talking about ADNOC Onshore (E&P - former ADCO), but now they are unified with Offshore and other departments in HR terms.

There are 20 grades in total for Expat and Emirati employees with different compensation ranges. There are 4 Executive level grades which are only for Emirati citizens above those 20 professional PG. Grade 15 and above employees may have additional perks (better accommodation/ticket class for business travel, etc.).

I am starting work with them at the end of this month as a grade 15 (I am 31 years old with 7.5 years relevant experience) and got **See PM**. I negotiated a grade increase from 14 to 15 to start with, which I think would be more difficult if you start with a PG 17 offer, it all depends on your experience, background and if you have internal connections/referrals. More difference in the accommodation allowance than salary to be honest. I didn't accept their initial offer and asked for better, on the basis of joining as an internal referral.

ADNOC generally do not offer the best salaries in UAE, however I think they are still attractive for people coming from higher tax paying countries in Europe and the western world. In change, you have a bit more job security and good other benefits (lunch at work, good holiday allowance, education allowance for up to 4 children, furniture allowance, car loan, medical insurance for you and family, etc.)

Good luck!

See PM

ShirleyG102

ariskar

Thank you! I am about to start late October, I am still in England. I will be working with ADNOC Onshore in one of their Abu Dhabi offices.

You only sign the employment contract after you enter in the country with an employment entry permit (visa). The only document you will have till then is the offer letter.

I don't know about holidays, but what I heard from 3rd parties it is 38-42 working days per year plus public holidays. During Ramadan month the working hours are reduced by 2h per day. Not sure about sick leave/pay rules yet, but that rarely concerned me.

Some other potentially useful information:
-Their furniture allowance: 45,000 AED (about 10,000 GBP), barely enough as most large properties in UAE are unfurnished.
-You may have to pay for your flat/villa security deposit, about 5% of rent. To the best of my understanding ADNOC will not cover that.
-You may need a lot of cash to start with (5-10k) until they start paying allowances, salary, reimbursements, etc.
-Shipment of personal effects: 150 kg/family member. You pay they reimburse you.
-Your flights they book.
-They will arrange 1 month of temporary accommodation while they do the paperwork of your visa, contract and Emirates ID, giving you also time to find a property to rent.
-Your family flights to join you in the country you pay for, then they reimburse.
-You can only sponsor residence visa for family after you get yours and rent accommodation. This takes probably about a month from your arrival to start work. They can come as free visitors (assuming UK passport) for about 30 days. So it is wise to join you a few weeks later than you go to start to ensure they don't have to leave or extend visit visa, also have an address in UAE to ship your personal effects to.
-They mentioned the first 3 months during your probation period you cannot take annual leave (can still travel on weekends Fri-Sat and bank holidays). I heard from existing employees you may take some leave for personal/family reasons in that period, however this is likely unpaid and not guaranteed. I recommend you plan for a one-off move, as I also am.
-From offer letter to entry visa, you need to attest degree and provide a lot of documents and previous employer letters, etc. and some bureaucracy. It may take 1-4 months till you are ready to go. Do not plan resigning current job or work commitments until they issue employment visa entry.
-Employment visa entry is valid for 60 days, you have to enter UAE to start within 60 days of issue. When HR communicates it likely will be an effective 50-55 days notice... If you have 2 months or longer notice period where you currently work (as applicable), plan to work around it.
-Print about 25 (not exaggerating) UAE standard passport/ID pictures, you will need it for various paperwork during the first month!

ShirleyG102

ariskar

My offer letter didn't have any reference to annual leave. I PMed you a redacted version of my offer letter template. Please be scam aware, quite common regarding fake ME job offers. They would not ask you to pay for anything. Only expense you have to incur is to go to embassy to attest documents/degree.

They would fly you at least once at their expense before joining to do a comprehensive medical discussed earlier in this thread.