Chriss72

Hi everyone, first post so please be gentle.

​​​​​I'm an aircraft engineer and have toyed with moving to Dubai or Abu Dhabi for sometime and I think the time is now. Hopefully in the next few months I'll be divorced and single😁😁. The jobs that I have seen advertised over the last few years, mostly include school fees. Are the opportunities for kids education and opportunities second to none and is it even a possibility for me to be a single dad out there?
I'm sure my boys (7 years old) mother won't agree and it'll potentially be another expensive court case, but I want to ensure that he has the best opportunity's that I can give him. I would need to look into maids/childminders/baby sitters for some of the time and also, it's been asked a million times before what is a realistic living budget? There is loads more I need to ask and will do so in different posts.. If you have got this far, thanks for reading

reddiva

Yes it is possible, i know of a couple of single Dads and many more single Mums here
Not all companies provide family benefits and school fees. Good schools are expensive expect to pay almost 10k per year for a decent primary school and then add on the cost of uniforms and other incidentals. Ideally you would need at least AED40,000 per month plus school fees, family medical and flight. Companies such as Emirates have debentures for schools. Maids are easy to come by are cheap and usually Asian however finding one that drives may be a challenge.
Government companies are a good route for you as they pay housing on top of the salary whereas private companies build all the benefits in plus they have better working hours Sponsoring your Kids wont be an issue as i imagine you will be earning enough to do that

csdf

Are single men allowed to employ a maid? I have a vague feeling that they're not.

DXBtoDOH

"Family" men are allowed to employ maids. He'll be classified as a family man because he has children.

OP, however, be aware that these maids are really what they are - untrained girls from the Philippines. They are not going to be the same as a trained nanny in the UK. Does it make a difference? Up to you to decide.

If you're an aircraft engineer then I imagine your prospective employers would be the big airlines and they do give out packages that come with school fees. You can find the Emirates allowances online and compare that with the school fees on the school websites. Many people with school fees still top up out of their basic salary.

reddiva

Global Aerospace Logistics - Corporate Website

They have a careers page and recruit aircraft maintenance bods however it depends on what aircraft you have worked on
These are a gov company and have many Western guys working for them

scrubbedexpat141

Who will have custody post-divorce?

If it's her, it's probably a non starter isn't it?
It it's you, then it's probably a very, very hard process to get her to agree to it all?

All I know is, regardless of law, neither of my parents would have ever got the other to agree to anything like this. It's not a move up the road and whilst your intentions sound absolutely bang on, is it nice for the nipper to not see Mummy that often?

Chriss72

Thanks for all the replies, it's the business jet world that I work in, so if anyone knows of any contacts that would be great. Regarding custody of the boy, it's currently a 50/50 custody deal and as bad as it sounds he's a proper dad's boy. The door wouldn't ever be closed to his mother, she could come and visit whenever and I'd even pay for some flights for her and she could have the boy during school holidays. It's not the best solution, but as a parent it's your duty to give your kids the best available? And I think the school and lifestyle there would be amazing compared to a crappy Bedfordshire village with mediocre school.

mikelincs

You would need legal written permission to take your child from the UK, so either a signed letter from the mother OR a court order.

DXBtoDOH

I'm beginning to see why the lady left you....

Plenty of mediocre schools in the UAE. Plenty of happy kids with great lives in the UK. Don't see the UAE as some magical playland. It's not.

Can't see a UK court giving you full custody just so that you can move to the UAE.

spouse of scouse

I'm sure that you and your wife agree that the most important person in all this is your son. I have no idea about the quality of education in the UAE, or indeed what it's like to live there as a 7 year old, the forum regulars will be able to tell you about that.

Some things to think about. Is his Mum equally as qualified/employable as you? If not, she may find it unaffordable to pay for flights and accommodation for visits to her son. What would your work hours be like? How many hours per day/week would your son be cared for by a nanny? Has your son developed friendships at his current home and school? What about extended family - do you have family in the UAE or are all your son's near relatives in the UK? Would it not be better for your son to have equal time with both his Mum and his Dad, as is currently the case?

Even a totally brilliant school won't make up for a lonely or unhappy childhood. He only gets one - I hope you and your wife can work together to make it a great one.

Millhouse

Don't do it man. Even if she is a total bitch he will hate you for taking her away from him unless she is completely on message, which it doesn't sound like she will be.

Millhouse

Don't be a prick. He may have left her.

Chriss72

Thanks for the replies, it's just a feeler to see if it's even a possibility. Obviously there is an awful lot to address here if the move was to go ahead.
The working hours would have to Sunday-Thursday to follow the school and I would hope a before and after school clubs would allow for the extra hours between the working day and the school day. If this isn't the case then I'd need to look at the maid/nanny/babysitter options.
Like I mentioned I'd offer flights to his mother on a regular basis and maybe she could even look for employment out there. She has a proven record in residential development sales.

DXBtoDOH

You know more about your circumstances and the people involved than we do. But the way you're rushing to into massively reorganising two people's lives just because you want to move to the UAE is leaving me a bit breathless. Right now I'm focussed on two things: you have a 50/50 custody split, which I assume is court ordered, and you've implied that your ex wouldn't be keen on the child moving to the UAE and living with you most of the time. You need to get that sorted out before you even begin to look at jobs and speculating what's feasible or not in the UAE.

Chriss72

I think your going off track here. I'm not rushing into anything here. My original post gave a very brief background and I asked the question, is even possible to be a single dad in the UAE. There is no deadline set on this and I'm not expecting anything major to happen in the next 12 - 18 months.