Brenster

Read somehwere not that long ago that there is a law in Dubai designed to stop people 'job-hopping', can anyone expand on this and tell me what it is as I don't want to leave my current position only to find that I can't legally get another one in Dubai.

Cheers in advance,

Bren

TA5

i may be wrong, but to change the sponsor on your residency visa you have to cancel it, leave the country, then come back and get a new one

my coworker had to do that, luckily he could just hop on one of our flights to kabul (cargo) and come back in the same day, all for free

goingdubai

i'm not sure on this either since i don't have any personal experience, but as far as i know it works this way:
leaving the country for a change of visa status is not required in the uae, however, since this is a fairly new law, companies, out of habit, still send their employees on visa change flights out of the country and most of the time this 'habit' is driven by the change of visa process being more expensive or more of a hassle.

as far as the change of the job is concerned, there are some restrictions on that:
if the current employer is willing to give a no-objection certificate to change the present job and if other conditions are fulfilled – such as serving a minimum of one year with the present employer – and the job category on the visa falls into the excempt category, then there aren't many obstacles to change jobs.
the excempt categories are:
1)Engineers.
2)Doctors.
3)Agricultural advisors.
4)Qualified accountants and auditors.
5)Administration officers who are graduates.
6)Technicians in electronics, scientific equipment and labs.
7)Licensed Drivers for driving heavy vehicles and buses, if transfer their sponsorship to similar party
8)Persons working in private oil companies when transferred between companies.

however, there might be a 6 months ban if certain conditions are not met, such as changing jobs with less than a year employement, not being in the excempt category, changing job categories, etc.

please feel free to correct this if anyone has better insight into the laws

Face81

As far as I know, there are some categories, as listed above in another post, by goingdubai, that are exempt from having to make that visa change flight. The laws were re-written after the Kish Airline disaster in Sharjah earlier this year.

Found this on Gulf News:
"To join another company or employer, you must obtain a no-objection certificate from your sponsor in addition to a new work permit from the new employer. Otherwise, your sponsor will be able to impose a ban on your passport."

Your welcome....in advance! haha

-Face81

goingdubai

very true...that flight was one of those visa change flights with a bunch of expats not really needing that visa anymore et the end of it
however, it still seems to be a cost difference of 500dhs from what i hear...being able to do a visa change flight with all costs for roughly 500dhs and do the visa change in the country for about 1000dhs. i'm sure it also depends on the size of the company and their internal capabilities which way they'd prefer their employee to change the visa. but very important to be on good terms with the current employer when leaving.

Face81

Very true goingdubai. You must be on ur best behaviour or you risk that ridiculous 6 month or 1 year ban on your passport. If it really is just a matter of 500dhs, then you might as well pay the extra cash and not leave the country. I feel so sorry for those Kish Airways crash victims. Their lives had to be lost for the law to be changed. Very sad indeed.

Alot less hassle invoved that having to book a seat on a flight to nowhere and back. Just an added head ache if u ask me. If you planned to make a holiday of it though, its a different story.

-Face81

goingdubai

company paid visa change holiday...sounds good enough..;-)

Face81

Hahaha....sure.....next thing u will be asking for is a visa change flight to NewYork or Bangkok, oh and Emirates Airlines please! hahaha......I better get a job soon then, so I can leave it and go on one of those free visa - change holidays!

-Face81

goingdubai

once a year...perfect...hehe

Face81

Perfect!

Arent u going to introduce yourself then? Your profile doesnt give away much! Are u in Dubai? U seem rather mysterious!

-Face81

goingdubai

unintentionally mysterious..
unfortunately i'm not in dubai right now. i just came back from a trip there a few days ago though. i have relatives living and working in dubai and i'm also trying to find a career opportunity there. born raised in germany, studied worked in the usa, currently working in turkey and ready for my next move. background in consulting and management. single male and looking forward to my next chance of dubai bar hopping...hehe

Face81

Kewl......ur backgroud is almost as complex as mine.

I went to Istanbul in 2002. I really enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of the people. And the city itself, just so historic and interesting. i loved it so much that I have it down on my 'places to live for a while after I retire' list! hahaha

You were in Dubai and u kept it a secret? You sly fox - you should have told us forumers. hehehe....we could have shown u a fair few places to let your hair down! Where were u staying anyway?

Have a look through some other threads on careers here. They may prove to be useful.

-Face81

Face81

That must have been some adventure! Why Kabul though? I am sure there must have been other, more scenic options?

-Face81

goingdubai

yeah, next time i won't keep it a secret, was really a trip on a very short notice and i stayed with relatives there in jumeirah. and of course a trip on lovely emirates airlines...however i have to admit that the trip back looked like a visa change flight!!
istanbul is definitely one of the great cities - as long as one can afford it. it's very expensive to live a nice standard of living here...dubai is so much better with its cost/value ratio.
i have probably read almost all career related threads here, but most of the advice doesn't seem to apply to me. i'm looking for a job level that gets usually covered by executive recruiters and isn't necessarily posted on the well known job websites etc. so my career change campaign involves more of direct resume targeting to headhunters and companies without necessarily applying to open positions. also my background isn't really a fit with the mainstream jobs in dubai, i'll have a harder time finding something that is a good fit. it'll take some time i'm sure, so i'll just keep visiting until then...that's fine too!!!

Face81

Just sent u a PM. U r bringing me upto my 50th post!

-Face81