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Moving to AD with family

Moving to AD with family

Old Sep 25th 2008, 10:12 am
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Default Moving to AD with family

Hi All, I have a final interview in AD on the 11th October to finalise packages etc but am becoming massively concerned with housing and schooling. I have two kids aged 5 and 3 and i'm picking up the impression that i have little hope of getting them into a school any time soon. Is that correct?

I've also been advised that Al Raha is the best place for me to look for accomodation but am i right in thinking that it will cost me arround 360k for a 3 bed place and will find it hard to get somewhere quickly?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Old Sep 25th 2008, 11:59 am
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

Originally Posted by St Albans_Fletch
Hi All, I have a final interview in AD on the 11th October to finalise packages etc but am becoming massively concerned with housing and schooling. I have two kids aged 5 and 3 and i'm picking up the impression that i have little hope of getting them into a school any time soon. Is that correct?

I've also been advised that Al Raha is the best place for me to look for accomodation but am i right in thinking that it will cost me arround 360k for a 3 bed place and will find it hard to get somewhere quickly?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Everyone, I have a smiliar request as St Albans_Fletch so thought it best to continue here and not open a new thread. I got a job offer in AD and what worries me is the accomodation. If all goes well I will be coming in October and looking for a 3 BR flat or villa for my family (wife and a kid of 4). The company offers 195k AED towards rental. Is it possible to get anything decent for that or should I immediately negotiate for more? I've also heard about Al Raha, anyone living there might advise about rental costs? How long does it take to commute to the centre, my office would be in Khalifa Energy Complex? Any ideas about similar compounds like Al Raha with kindergarten/pre-school in place (my wife doesn't drive)?
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Old Sep 25th 2008, 12:26 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

near to raha gardens is humpty dumpty and little smarties, but in the heat they are too far to walk with kids and stuff in tow, there is a major problem with reception age kids, ie 4/5 year olds, i was told that yasmina is not even putting people on wait list and the wait list at bsak is 50+, obviously if they are 3/4 they can attend a nursery, but i know that hd is pretty full and i would guess that ls may be heading that way, its new this year, but you would need to talk to the schools to get the uptodate information, as it does change here, yes the bigger ones in raha are going for 360 but perhaps that is all they are releasing at the mo, they do smaller ones and they should be cheaper when they are released (in theory anyways). i do know that a lot of people have decided that this year it really is not worth moving over here with all this uncertainty, its bad enough for people living here already, with the way things are increasing etc but everyone's situation is different so some with the right aged kids will get a place somewhere others wont. luck of the draw.
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Old Sep 25th 2008, 12:56 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

With regard to accomodation is there no way you can get the company to provide this for you?
If not then you will have to hit the streets and ring lots of numbers you see. Yes it is difficult at the present time but if you look hard enough and dont give up there are places out there.
195K is a good amount of money but it will depend on what you want and where. To be honest and not to put a downer on your plans if I was coming out with a family I would want accomodation provided.
Schools are another thing, so far this school year I dont know anyone I work with who hasn't got a place for their children but it does depend on age. Ring the schools and check.
The compounds here dont have kindergartens on site.
Lastly make sure the company will pay for a decent amount of time in temp accomodation when you arrive.
Good luck

Last edited by The magic key; Sep 25th 2008 at 1:01 pm.
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Old Sep 25th 2008, 1:07 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

It does seem a real problem. Its a shame as i have a great opportunity for me and my family but if i am going to struggle to get my kids into school or even find somewhere affordable to live i wonder if its the right thing to do.

I am also assuming that school fees are also high and that waiting lists are dependent on who you know!
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Old Sep 25th 2008, 1:22 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

Originally Posted by The magic key
With regard to accomodation is there no way you can get the company to provide this for you?
If not then you will have to hit the streets and ring lots of numbers you see. Yes it is difficult at the present time but if you look hard enough and dont give up there are places out there.
195K is a good amount of money but it will depend on what you want and where. To be honest and not to put a downer on your plans if I was coming out with a family I would want accomodation provided.
Schools are another thing, so far this school year I dont know anyone I work with who hasn't got a place for their children but it does depend on age. Ring the schools and check.
The compounds here dont have kindergartens on site.
Lastly make sure the company will pay for a decent amount of time in temp accomodation when you arrive.
Good luck
Thanks for advice. The accomodation should be provided, but they gave me a ceiling for the housing rental at 195k and looking at various posts I start to fear it will not be enough for a decent 2-3 BR apartment or villa. I thought it wise to look around a bit before I say yes to the offer, or start to negotiate.
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Old Sep 25th 2008, 2:21 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

School fees are around 36k dirhams a year for your eldest, they rise the older they get.
Yes there are problems but only you can decide.
It does seem to work out in the end.

Last edited by The magic key; Sep 25th 2008 at 2:24 pm.
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Old Sep 25th 2008, 3:10 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

You are right, i'm not expecting it to be easy but from what i can see a bit of pain and hard work at the beginning can lead to a great experience.

Thanks for your advice.
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Old Oct 1st 2008, 5:22 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

St Albans...........don't despair too much, I arrived in AD just over a week ago and am living in temp accomm in Khalifya City, I will be moving into ARG sometime next month, but my company is providing the villa, they are I believe 300K+, but from what I seen in town then apartments are available for approx 200K it all depends on what you require, my villa hasn't got a garden, well a very small yard, but no grass.

As for schools, if you believe everything you hear then you'll never make the jump. I'm currently on my own because I thought schools would be a problem, but after visiting 2 schools, I have been verbally offered (this does need confirming officailly) places for my girls 5+6, and I was told of another school that had spaces, the problem is that just phoning them will not get the repsonse. Like I said I still need confirmation from the schools but as it stands everything is looking good.

I would advise anyone coming over here, to come on their own if possible and sort everything out before bringing the family out.

Good luck and I hope you make the move, so far I'm loving out here
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Old Oct 1st 2008, 5:49 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

there are places in some schools such as cis and perhaps chouefiat in kca that has always been the case, but most people require places in british schools such as yasmina, bsak and pearl whereby there are big waiting lists, if you are not too bothered, especially when the kids are so young you can go on the waiting lists and then hopefully get something for september next year, there will be another british school hopefully opening up then, but for the most popular schools reception aged children are very difficult to get in but do remember that you cannot just change curriculum part way through the year and there is also a rule that you cannot after middle of january change schools full stop within the uae (but i have heard that for younger aged group perhaps there are ways around this).
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Old Oct 1st 2008, 7:37 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

Originally Posted by markhighpeak
St Albans...........don't despair too much, I arrived in AD just over a week ago and am living in temp accomm in Khalifya City, I will be moving into ARG sometime next month, but my company is providing the villa, they are I believe 300K+, but from what I seen in town then apartments are available for approx 200K it all depends on what you require, my villa hasn't got a garden, well a very small yard, but no grass.

As for schools, if you believe everything you hear then you'll never make the jump. I'm currently on my own because I thought schools would be a problem, but after visiting 2 schools, I have been verbally offered (this does need confirming officailly) places for my girls 5+6, and I was told of another school that had spaces, the problem is that just phoning them will not get the repsonse. Like I said I still need confirmation from the schools but as it stands everything is looking good.

I would advise anyone coming over here, to come on their own if possible and sort everything out before bringing the family out.

Good luck and I hope you make the move, so far I'm loving out here
It really depends on your standards - if you are not too choosy about the type of school you want for your children you will certainly get a place but remember that not all schools work to the same standard.
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Old Oct 1st 2008, 7:45 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

Originally Posted by soukie
It really depends on your standards - if you are not too choosy about the type of school you want for your children you will certainly get a place but remember that not all schools work to the same standard.

That's a reassuring helpful post









Not
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Old Oct 2nd 2008, 8:19 am
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

How big is the diffence in standards between the schools? Is it realistic that i wouldn't get my 3 and 5 year old into the English schools before September?

Must admit to being excited at the thought of coming over and have prepared myself for the accomodation fight but the schooling is the final hurldle now!
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Old Oct 2nd 2008, 10:01 am
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

have u tried any schools????u might get in some have opened extra classes xxxxas for ure 3 year old u could get them in nursery xxwhere r u hopin to live ???humpty dumpty kca still have a few places and im sure others do 2
as for housin if ure happy to put in leg work ...lots seem to be gettin things this way...driving around and ringin up ads on gates have got a few i know props in kca and mohammed bin zayed city in budgetxx
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Old Oct 2nd 2008, 12:02 pm
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Default Re: Moving to AD with family

you roll a dice... in our case it has all come together... we got a place at Al Yasmina but distance was just too far and was not altogether comfortable
with the bus journey, on the off chance called the pearl (who incidently had
told me 3 weeks earlier that no places!) and low and behold a place had come up only 30 mins earlier, took the place and within 2 days my son had swapped schools. Moral of the story, if you really want something just keep
trying at it, places at schools seem to magically appear and it really does help
if you go in, in person. Its not easy, and you can feel completely dis-illusioned at times but when you get through to the other side you realise it
was worth the struggle
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