Dilan

Hello everyone

First post

I currently work in IT in central London...I've got several MCP's, CCNA and am currently working on my CCNP, so qualification and experience wise (approx 5 years) I'm pretty ok.

I'm thinking of moving to Dubai....London is getting far too expensive with no discernible increase in quality of life.

Have a few questions that people will hopefully be able to help with -

i) In general, do companies pay for your accomodation out there, or is this quite rare? In a lot of the adverts on jobserve they seem to.

ii) I'd like my g/f to come with me. She currently works for the NHS in Occupational Therapy, but has no qualifications. What is the job market out there like for women? From what I've heard it is pretty liberal compared to the other Gulf states, but is this the real truth?

iii) If I do pay for accom, how much is the rent for an average 2 bed flat near the city centre?

iv) Is there any reason why I shouldn't go to Dubai?

v) What is the normal interview procedure?

Thanks a million.

shoushou

Balushi???????


(Just joking...)

shoushou

Hi and welcome
To answer some of your questions;
i)companies do pay for accomodations,you can negotiate it in your pay package.
ii)Theres a good job market for females here i Dubai.Depending on her skills and qualifications of course.But in order for her to come over and live,she should find a job,since she will need company sponsorship as long as youre not married.
iii)Monthly rent near the CC for 2 bed is upwards of USD2,500 a month.There are cheaper places though.
iv)No reason you shouldnt.At least live the experience.
v)Interviews are the same as everywhere else.You go in,get butchered,and get out...Pretty straightforward...

Plus,you should take a look at the FAQs,youll find a lot of answers and tips and addresses of recruitment websites there...

Good luck!!!

willmore

TINO!....just kidding!

Jammy_Dodgers

Regardless of MCP's,MCSE's CCA's, CLP,PHD's ,BA's you will be competing against many Indians who will be more qualified and will work much more hours for much less money that you would consider.

Thems the facts

shoushou

That too...And hello babeh...

Malteser

Mind u Dubai is not cheap either. Only perk is tax free pay....

littlejimmy

Too true.

Also, a note of caution - if you are planning on having kids over here, get married or don't bother. It saves a lot of hassle. And if you don't want kids - be careful!

chags

hey

that rent is understated by a long shot. a 2 bed near city centre will cost you AED 8,000+ per month. in fact a studio far from town in a low end development (international city) will cost you AED 3,000 pm.

TA5

There is a difference between USD and AED. Approximately 3.675 times difference, so from your estimates, he was very accurate.

chags

sorry, i read it has AED...ignore my post

Eeyore

It's getting rarer. Since Dubai isn't considered a hardship posting any more (i.e. the world and his wife actually *want* to come here to live), companies are realising that they can offer fewer and fewer perks and still attract staff.

If you're in IT, I would suggest that you'd have to be extremely senior indeed to expect to get accommodation paid for. As has been said, if you have to pay your own rent, expect to budget anything from AED 8000 to 10,000 per month for a nice apartment in a decent location (and you can pay much, much more than that, of course).

For someone without qualifications, not great... it can be difficult even for highly-qualified women to find jobs here. As shoushou says, if you're not married and she doesn't have a job, she can't get her own sponsorship and can only live here on a visitor's visa which needs to be renewed every 60 days (by leaving the country and re-entering).

No, not really... as long as you're realistic and don't fall for Dubai's slick and impressive global marketing. Yes, the sun shines all the time, the petrol is almost given away compared to the UK and there's no income tax, but overall it's not a cheap place to live and it *will* be a lot more expensive and much harder work than you expect it to be.

Dilan

Thanks everyone for their replies, much to ponder.

Yeah, I've got a few friends out there already, and they agree about Indians being prepared to work for much less, and more hours.

I'd like to do it though, more for the experience of living abroad than saving any money.

Just one final question - do you have to be out of the UK for more than a year for the tax free income to work, or could I go there on a 6mth contract only and not have to repay the UK govt any of it?

littlejimmy

To avoid paying any tax on your overseas income back in the UK, you need to be out of the country for a full tax year - and that year starts in April. So if you go away in May, you have to work nearly 2 years to qualify. Great rule!

You also have to declare yourself as a non-resident.

Eeyore

Sadly, it's not quite as simple as that...

If you look at the Inland Revenue website, you'll find that although you do need to be out of the country for a full tax year to not be liable for any taxes during that year, that in itself is not enough to be considered non-resident for tax purposes.

The bottom line is that if you really want to be sure (or at least 99% sure) of not being liable for UK taxes on your foreign income, you need to live abroad for a minimum of 3 years, ensuring that you do not exceed the limit of days that you are allowed to spend back in the UK (and just to be awkward, that limit is officially averaged over 3 years).

Going away for just one year, even if you leave the day before the tax year starts and return the day after it ends and don't spend any time in the UK at all over those 12 months, isn't guaranteed to allow you to claim non-resident status. The UK has a tax treaty with the UAE, so the Inland Revenue can easily obtain information on your Dubai earnings should they decide that you need to be taxed on them. And that wouldn't be fun.