Hi - new to the forum and thought I might be able to get some advice re moving to Abu Dhabi. Just been in Dubai for 10 days holiday and had a look round for job - been offered one in AD and one in Dubai - i am a midwife and am thinking of taking post in AD at Corniche Hospital.(I have a husband and 2 children aged 14 and 18) Can anyone give me any info re accommodation, schools/colleges and costs etc??? Any help greatly received

jo

hiya, first of all will your husband be working? what sex is your 18 year old?

Accomm - prices are high. To get somewhere half decent I think you would need an allowance of at least Dhs250K per year. (Anyone been looking recently who has more up-to-date info?)
Schooling - Is your 18 year old still in full-time education? Waiting lists at most/all (?) UK curriculum schools, so you would need to check if you could get them a place.
Corniche has a good rep though and as far as I know is considered a decent place to work. Don't know though if they would provide you with enough of a housing/education allowance etc to make it worth your while.

BSAK /Cambridge school both cater for your children, but I know that BSAK is full for GCSE and waiting lists as is the 6th form .

My cousin bro lives in the Corniche and i'd agree with HAWK, you're gonna need a housing allowance of at least AED 250k. As to school fees, i aint got a clue about that.

School fees for BSAK for secondary in September is almost 18,000 a term

And the 6th form is more I think, Grace?

no thank god its the same, with the addition of exam fees

Be grateful for small mercies I suppose!
But the exam fees add up just a bit, don't they?

they are about 240 dhs per exam for A level, 2 exams per subject and then if you take the early entry exams in Jan thats another lot of money.

It all adds up, plus the change in uniform for 6th formers

GSCE exam fees are cheaper, but you will spend a fortune on the revision booklets, oh joy

Oh dear!!!!! this is sounding very daunting and maybe not a great move financially???? lol!!!!

At the moment they are offering 60,000dh per year for accommodation so i'm assuming that might be enough for a shed????? Do ALL schools have to be paid for??? only my 14 year old prob for education - my 18 year old is at college here doing mechanics....... maybe it would be cheaper for me to pay for him to stay here lol!!!

My partner will also be looking for a job when we get there. At the mo he works for the ambulance service but is a qualified mechanic, has worked in Gatwick airport and also done a stint for the prison service. Anyone got any ideas regarding jobs for him???? How hard is it to find work???

Thanks for all your help so far
jo

Partner or husband???

Not been rude but an important difference.

Illegal to live together and not married !!!

You need at least 150k for accomodation-will get you a 2 bedder in noisy old part of AD.Anything else will be off island which means you will have a trek to Corniche and teenage kids will get very bored.Also probably need two cars.
If you are intent on coming,you maybe well advised to leae 18yr old at home as unless he is in full time education,you could run into difficulties sponsoring him.Don't think there is much hope for him continuing his Mechanics Course in AD,it would need to be school at @ 50k p.a.


Your partner can forget about the prospect of earning a reasonable salary as a mechanic.This type of work mostly done by expat labour from Asia/Africa for buttons.

For you to be able to make it work,your partner would need a job which offered housing allowance too.At the back of my mind there is a rule that two 'married' people employed by a ministry/govt dept cannot receive double rent allowance-this would preclude his options of working within the 'Health Service'(ambulance experience) as a viable financial option for you.

You really need to look at his skillsets and be inventive....i.e could his medical training translate into HSE or trainer in Construction or Gas &Oil Industries.

His Prison Service....what in house training did he undertake? Is he a trained negotiator or conflict resolution expert?His airport experience??? can you use poetic licence and flesh that out to maybe an airport security expert bringing in his prison learning?.......lookit: careers.etihadairways.com/ehire/english/careers/jobDetails.aspx
So much in the UAE is about talking the talk...
Depends how much you want the move.
I understand the Corniche looks for long hours for mediocre salary(tax free of course) and most of the midwifes are single or divorced combining their allowances to share accommodation with one or two other MW's...not conducive to family life though.
Good luck with your decision.

yasmina also do gcse starting this year and a fab school
as for ure older lad ....leave him in uk to finish college as not a lot here ....
They are opening a prson in ad for young offenders .....dont know any other details but ill try to find out for you .....

thanks for your suggestions Eva i'll look at the website you suggested. As far as the long hours at the Corniche, this is no different to the hours i work in the UK, as its 12 hour shifts here too - bonus to long hours is that you only have to work 3 days per week lol!!!!! I am going to contact them with regards to housing allowance and see if they are able to increase their offer - probably a long shot but i'll give it a go. I also think that leaving 18 year old at home is better option until we get sorted out then perhaps he could come out at a later stage. I didn't realize that this was going to be so difficult financially - need to sit down and do some serious calculations as I don't want to move out there and find that I cannot afford to live!!!!

Lobby lou - if you could find out details of new prison that would be great - thanks.

And Poitin - not married as yet but were planning on doing it so can just bring it forward