Potentially moving to Dubai
 

Hi All,

We are a British family of 4 living in the UK. The company I work for is potentially considering relocating me to our UAE entity on a local contract so I will be leaving my UK employment and joining our UAE entity.
As a part of the process, I have been discussing my salary expectation. They won't provide any accommodation or school fees, but full relocation including household goods movement etc included. What sort of salary would be considered a decent salary for a family of 4? Something in the range of 55k to 60k? I have no idea and therefore seeking inputs.

We would love to rent a 3 bed apartment in a good locality - JBR, JLT or Marina. Will be looking to send our two kids to British Curriculum school - age 16 and 10.

Any advise please?

Thank you

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

School fees are going to make or break your decision. You're probably looking at 80 to 100k in school fees - per kid - at a top rated British school. Should budget 180k for the two. Which means 15k each month needs to be set aside for fees.

I daresay 60k is doable. Half that will go to fees and accomm. Other half to live off, travel, and a few pennies for savings. There are cheaper schools and cheaper accommodation but up to you.

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

I don't know Dubai, but two kids and no school fees sounds like a very bad idea to me. Your kids will almost certainly need to go to a British curriculum school which will not come cheap.
You definitely need to take that into account.

I know of one expat family (not Dubai to be fair) who had to move back to the UK solely as school fees were taking up over half the family income. Amazingly, they told me they hadn't even considered it before making the move.

Do some research and put together a realistic budget based off the research. Do forget to add incidentals like additional flights home because X is getting married or Y has died. Then add 10% or 20% on top. You have to think is that a realistic sum versus your salary, does it give you enough of a safety net and does it leave you with sufficient savings?

Edit: Someone managed to post a similar thing just before me. I think it shows how important an issue it is.

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

Aside of school fees which as has been mentioned will take a big chunk of your salary, likewise a chunk for housing, utilities etc.

The other question that this raises is are they actually sponsoring your family and providing medical cover ?

Assuming you will be doing the same role Is the salary you have quoted an uplift ?

There are plenty of threads giving you a good idea of living costs. Don’t overlook your UK tax liabilities.

plenty to think about ….. good luck !

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

UKMS globetrekker DXBtoDOH - Thank you for the inputs - very helpful indeed.
I note the issue around school fees so will be trying to negotiate on that to see whether the employer is willing to cover that.
UKMS - to answer your questions. Yes, the employer is sponsoring my family and providing medical cover. Its just there is a bit of a grey area around whether they will cover schooling or not. They used to but HR chap stated they are looking to get away with going forward. The role will be similar to what I'm doing in the UK and the salary I quoted will be including uplift etc but that is my figure that I've been thinking of. I am yet to see the contract to understand all the provisions in it to then negotiate. You raised an interesting question about UK tax liabilities - assuming for tax year 2021/22 I'd be considered as a UK tax resident (on the basis of spending more than 183 days in the country) and I believe I can potentially use split year treatment (means I only pay taxes for the time I worked in the UK - which would have come off my PAYE anyways). I understand from Tax Year 2022-23, there will not be any UK tax liability on my UAE income assuming I spend all of the tax year in UAE - is this correct?

Thank you

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

The topic of tax can be complex and my advice is always seek professional advice, it’s not always as simple as being tax free because you are not in the UK.

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

Any advise please? - 50k should do

Any advice please? - you'd be looking at 70k

...if you get my drift

Good luck with the move

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

On the topic of housing location …. If it’s possible I’d get your kids into a school first then decide where to live rather than the other way round ….. otherwise you could end up with a nightmare school run. Also throw into the mix where you will be based for work.

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

Thank you all for all your thoughts and comments. Very useful indeed. I am currently in the negotiation mode with our ME entity so let's see what I can get out of 'em. Tough nut to crack by the sound of it!

Re: Potentially moving to Dubai
 

Superb.