abmates

Hi,

Tentative – but got a job offer in dubai (in IT).. so wanted to know whats it like in dubai, living expense ( i read a bit on google, about aptmnts and villa etc.. ) but surely no villas as they are super expensive.. but what is a really good base package for the year ?
Approx current offer is AED550k/yr (inlcudes rental and travel allowance) and then school fees + medical + bonus are on top of this + yearly flights back to oz.

We are a family of 4 ( kids are 6 and 4). Wife will potentially work in near future as she will need to find job there.. (she is in advisory finance).

Primary motive to move is to experience a new market / upskill ourselfs in new digital economy taking place in middle east / save $$$$ to repay our house back in oz / and also save good $$ when moving back to OZ in few years time/ Closer to family in asia pacific.
Couple of our friends have moved to Silicon oasis and i think the office is on Sheikh Zayed Rd - Dubai.

So ideally we do need 3 bed aptmnt (good size and not matchbox size) and close to really good schools ? is GEMS really good ? but (what education system - IB or American or British) ??

What can be approx cost for aptmnt ( hear something about including chiller or so, what is this chiller?)

Whats been the experience ?

Please share ..
Ab

fth

I’ve just left Qatar back to Sydney and would add the following points.

- Don’t bank on the wife getting a job. The salaries and conditions can be lousy and the hours and holiday allowance might not work well with your kids’ schedules.

- “Financial Advisory” covers a multitude of sins. If advising members of the public/individuals, the expat market is full of sharks who are very commission hungry. The regulations are limited, and not well enforced with endless cold calling etc. For institutional work, the pros are flown in from London/Europe and New York for the big deals. PM me if you want to know more as I work in the financial field.

- Even with the wife not working, you will probably need live in help. Helpers with good references and experience can fetch a premium. In Doha 3,000+ riyals a month is not uncommon (on par with Singapore and HK). I’d imagine UAE is similar. You might want a 4 bed apartment or make sure it has a maids room which you believe is adequate for someone to live in (some rooms can be tiny.

- Have you both gained Australian Citizenship? If not remember to renew your PR you need to meet the 2 years in 5 rule to extend your visa. Also, you mention owning a house. There are extra land taxes for non-citizens who own land and don’t live there.

- Make sure that when you leave that you meet the Australian Tax domicile requirements to be considered non resident for tax purposes. The legislation may well change at short notice after the election and may get stricter (potentially limiting you to 45 days in Oz). Get good tax advice (in Australia). On the UK front, you may want to look into making class 2 NI contributions.

- As mentioned elsewhere. Always be prepared for an exit at short notice. Therefore avoid borrowing money locally unless you can repay, in full, at short notice and keep your professional network hooked in back in Aus.

- With your kids, Summers in the region are not great (think Sydney full on heatwave, every day, for 3 months or more) figure out a plan for what to do (goes back to your wife’s job).

- School wise, our son transitioned easily from the British system to the Australian one. Many Aussie teachers have UK experience. The British system starts at a younger age than Australian Schools and our son was “veteran” going into Australian kindy after 3 years of being in a formal school (FS1, FS2 and year 1) in Doha. Make sure you get formal school reports from your kids nurseries and maybe even get them attested with your degrees.

GEMs schools weren’t the first choice of parents I knew in Doha, but Dubai is a different market.

Whilst I can’t comment on Dubai, the Doha experience was that popular schools are massively oversubscribed especially for younger ages (older kids get shipped off to boarding schools in the UK). Can your employer help on obtaining a place?

- Contract wise, carefully check the health policy and its limits and exclusions. Also on the education allowance check on any limits.

- A chiller is a hugely important item during the summer as your “cold” water heats up so much in the the pipes and storage tanks, that people use their “hot water” systems to store colder water. A chiller fixes this, but does keep your electricity consumption up.

abmates

I will, Thanks for that.. just as a gist of what she does then her current profile reads something like this M&A / virtual CFO / Valuations/ Financial modelling/ Restructuring etc. advisory areas.

Yes. 3 of us born here and however, wife got her Citizenship 10 yrs back.

GEMS is pretty popular here and also OZ international school has also opened up in dubai since past 1 yr or so but is bit pricey on annual fees when compared with GEMS.

WIll check once i get hold of the contract details. and education allowance has a set limit per child per year.

psychopomp1

Apologies if I've misunderstood you but I thought a chiller (producing chilled water) was purely for a/c purposes? In my apartment I'm levied chilled water fees but water from the cold water taps is definitely nowhere near chilled, more like lukewarm.

abmates

Hi,
Just wanted to ask the members.. what area in DUBAI is most expats staying with kids (4yr and 6yrs or there about range) and what schools u find the best and is good.. with attention to a certain degree to the individual kids.

DXBtoDOH

Expats are all over. No one "best" area. Broadly speaking, western expats gravitate toward the south end of the city. A lot of Australians liked to live near the beaches in Jumeirah / Umm Suqiem, but budget plays a role. Endless housing estates on the periphery of the city in Dubailand and Springs/Meadows. If flats are fine, Greens/Views are popular, as is Dubai Marina and Downtown. But choices really are endless. A decent rule of thumb is find school places first then live near the school.

Huge number of schools. You get what you pay for. Popular options are JESS, DESS, Jebel Ali, Dubai College, GEMS Wellington.

abmates

My kids are small 4yrs and 6 yrs.. so no college ;-)

I liked greenfields school in Dubai investment park area, but can hardly find any good modern 3 bed+maid apartments, and in saying that, what nearby suburb we can look into without spending hours in travel time to school (ok with 15 mins drive or so). We are looking for area where there are good provision of grocery stores etc.
Any thoughts ??
Everything does point to only Silicon Oasis but wanted to see other good areas too.

Thank you.