psychedelic

Hi,

I have been transferred to Dubai and would be coming with spouse and two children in tow in the next two months...package of 18K AED / PM excluding pvt medical insurance...and working at the Dubai Internet City....can anyone please answer the following queries:

A). Is the package decent enough for living in Dubai or have i made a blunder in negotiating ?

B). Where to live if ur working at the DIC?....and can u get a decent apartment for 60-70K per annum?

C). Are there any good schools close to the DIC?...Is it advisable to register my kids in schools right now??

D). Any idea on CAPEX (furniture/tv/etc) for setting up an apartment in Dubai?

Cheers

Psychedelic...

Englishmum

I don't live in Dubai, but here is an expat website set up by a British mother who lives in Dubai:

http://www.expatmums.com

Just go to the message forums and at the very least you will get info about the schools there (I've heard good things about 'Horizon School'). You should also be able to glean info about accommodation, cost of living, furniture etc. Actually, for furniture or small household appliances you will almost certainly be able to buy things very cheaply from expats who are leaving Dubai - the turnover of expats is constant and there are always 'garage' sales.

Also check out:

http://www.timeoutdubai.com

CarolFraser

I agree with Englishmum - expatmum.com has loads of posts on schools, costs of living etc so it can be very useful trawling through old posts as some threads end up with fairly detailed info.

Re schools your kids are very unlikely to get into any school for the summer term as most don't take new pupils during the last term. Also, register with ALL of them for the new school year starting in Sept as the waiting lists are huge. I found it much easier getting anywhere once we were actually here as I suppose so many applications are speculative you can't really blame the schools for not wanting to do too much for you before you're actually here. We arrived last August & our 5 year old didn't have a place, but once we were here I immediately got him an interview at Jumeirah Primary School & he was offered a place that day so started at the beginning of the school year, so don't be too disheartened at apparent lack of progress.

DIC is close to the Jumeirah/Umm Suqueim areas that are popular with ex-pats, but are very pricey. We are in a townhouse in the Lakes which is far cheaper & very close to DIC. There is also the Greens, which is a new complex of apartments, again very close to DIC. Try looking at the Emaar website for info on these areas.

Can't think of anything else just now, but can give more info if you have any more questions. Just want to add that we absolutely love it here & would struggle if we had to go "home" now!

philipz

Living in DIC, well as CarolFraser said Umm Sequeim and Jumeirah are close, but you can find closer places at the Meadows, and other places in that area built by EMAAR.

For some other general info about living in Dubai, check out lifestyle in the UAE.