Qamy

Good Evening all. Your opinions please. I am planning on moving to Dubai or Doha next year for employment purposes. Now my dilemma is this. Many of the jobs state "Bachelors Degree required for visa issuance purposes". My interpretation of this is that the employer may or may not require a degree however the Dubai visa issuance office are more likely to grant a visa if the employee has a degree. I am looking for a job as a Marketing Manager, I am studying for an internationally recognised Level 6 CIM Marketing Professional Diploma which according to the British qualifications framework is the equivalent to a Bachelors Degree. Now my question is this. Will the Dubai visa issuance office give the above-mentioned diploma the same credibility as a Degree?. Let me know your expert thoughts,

Qamy

Good Evening all. Your opinions please. I am planning on moving to Dubai or Doha next year for employment purposes. Now my dilemma is this. Many of the jobs state "Bachelors Degree required for visa issuance purposes". My interpretation of this is that the employer may or may not require a degree however the Dubai visa issuance office are more likely to grant a visa if the employee has a degree. I am looking for a job as a Marketing Manager, I am studying for an internationally recognised Level 6 CIM Marketing Professional Diploma which according to the British qualifications framework is the equivalent to a Bachelors Degree. Now my question is this. Will the Dubai visa issuance office give the above-mentioned diploma the same credibility as a Degree?. Let me know your expert thoughts,

Bob

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=800219

Duplicate thread.

busybee2

a degree is usually needed.

Autonomy

maybe, but not entirely true either... at least some form of higher education certificate is required.

Nothing is clear out here, I'd expect this Level 6 diploma would be fine. Will come down to how much the employer wants the employee and the PRO's ability with the various ministries...

busybee2

yes there are some people without degrees but its very difficult to find a job unless you have a transfer, to actually get a job here they have to tick their boxes which "usually" means a degree to a skilled professional job. obviously people usually without degrees are not doing skilled professional jobs. even to get a job as a secretary nowadays they ask for a degree. to come as a graduate and fresh with no experience then that lies the problem, is my point.

busybee2

you know they have to have same same here, if its something they havent heard of even equivalent as a degree they will not contemplate such things.

scrubbedexpat141

Bingo.

"MCIOB is now equivalent to a degree" - The arguments I've had with candidates about that....yes, it may be true, but the Qatari client reviewing your CV will not give you approval or sign off to start with us unless they see BSc / MSc.

End of. Stop arguing. You're just coming off all stupid now.

Autonomy

I'd just like to point out that I don't have a degree and for 6 years here I was a Marketing Manager. Never once did I have any visa issues.

So I kind of think I have experience that proves that you don't need a degree to be a Marketing Manager in the UAE.

Sure some or most companies might require you to have the degree, I get that. I just want to point out that it is not impossible.

Brains1983

I left school to start working, and only have my standard grades / o-levels / GCSEs. Not a problem getting a visa, albeit my residence visa says I am a "commercial promoter" which isn't exactly an accurate description of what I do!

Qamy

Thank you everyone for your kind responses. I guess my concern is more to do with visa issuance purposes than employment. I'm looking to work as a Marketing Manager and most employers state that they are happy with both a Marketing Degree or a Marketing Diploma so that is not really an issue. On the residency permit I would like the status to be specified as 'Professional' rather than a lesser status such as 'Clerical', this I believe would improve my chances when calling my family over. In a nutshell, would a Level 6 CIM Marketing Diploma qualify for the 'professional' status on residency permit?.

mikewot

Does it really matter what you're called on that bit of paper? I'm very similar to Brains1983 except I'm called a 'Development Officer', whatever that is.

Bahtatboy

I worked in Abu Dhabi for 4 1/2 years for an international company (with its headquarters in mainland Europe). Of the white faces there, about 80% didn't have a degree--many City & Guilds or thereabouts. Never any problem with visas, although we did have a sponsor with a fair degree of clout (I think).

You'll have a "local contract" to satisfy the Labour Department, but nobody takes heed of it except for beaurocratic purposes (although there's always the possibility that the airheads in HR might, but even the shit-for-brains idiots I encountered didn't). You'll never have need to market yourself based on how you're described in the local contract, so don't worry about it.

busybee2

as long as you have manager on your visa you are fine.

Brains1983

I don't and sponsor my family without a problem.