Relocating to the Gulf

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#2020185 22-May-2018 09:17

Thanks, that's some really helpful information, particularly on the excercise side of things. I'm fat enough as it is so looks like a gym membership will be on the cards ;)

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#2020192 22-May-2018 09:28

Handle9:

Thanks, that's some really helpful information, particularly on the excercise side of things. I'm fat enough as it is so looks like a gym membership will be on the cards ;)

Then I can't stress that part enough! You will likely find that any apartment block worth its salt has a gym in anyway, but if - like us - you lean towards the portly side, you gotta focus on it.

It isn't always easy to appreciate how many calories you burn just ambling around on a daily basis and that the frequency and duration of this low-key physical activity will likely drop significantly in Dubai

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#2020193 22-May-2018 09:28

I haven't lived in Dubai, but was in another low tax country for a year. Be aware that if you remain a tax resident in New Zealand (i.e. you have some kind of enduring link like property or family here), the IRD expects you to declare your worldwide income for tax purposes. They will give you credit for tax paid overseas, but you will pay the difference between the overseas and New Zealand tax rates. e.g. If you earn $100 and pay 10% tax overseas, but the relevant NZ tax rate is 20%, you will pay $10 to the overseas tax authority and $10 to NZ IRD (though that's very simplified).

The rules are quite a bit more complicated than that, but something to be aware of. You mention working for a multinational, so they will very likely either have a network of tax advisers or tax experts in house that can give you a better steer. It is well worth making enquiries since finding out about this at the last minute can result in a very large unexpected tax bill.

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#2020211 22-May-2018 09:48

mdf:
I haven't lived in Dubai, but was in another low tax country for a year. Be aware that if you remain a tax resident in New Zealand (i.e. you have some kind of enduring link like property or family here), the IRD expects you to declare your worldwide income for tax purposes. They will give you credit for tax paid overseas, but you will pay the difference between the overseas and New Zealand tax rates. e.g. If you earn $100 and pay 10% tax overseas, but the relevant NZ tax rate is 20%, you will pay $10 to the overseas tax authority and $10 to NZ IRD (though that's very simplified).

The rules are quite a bit more complicated than that, but something to be aware of. You mention working for a multinational, so they will very likely either have a network of tax advisers or tax experts in house that can give you a better steer. It is well worth making enquiries since finding out about this at the last minute can result in a very large unexpected tax bill.

Thanks. We’ve already taken tax advice and our accountant is happy we’ll be ok, particularly as I am on an open contract.

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#2073611 15-Aug-2018 01:42

We've been in Dubai for just over 2 weeks. As predicted it is hotter than Hades at the moment, with it being around 35-40 degrees when I leave the hotel at around 8:30am. The days have gotten into the high 40s and it's meant to be very humid next week. The heat is generally ok as we spend most of the time either inside or at the pool (well my wife and kids do). One thing that has surprised us is how hot parking buildings are. While outside is hot, parking buildings are insufferable.

I got my final residency visa today, which has actually been pretty efficient. The only holdup I had was the healthcare card took forever to arrive, if that had been processed quicker then I would have had my residency visa inside a week. When you move to Dubai you get an entry visa which gets you into the country however you need to have a blood test and chest X-Ray to prove you don't have communicable diseases etc. You the get you visa stamp which also lets them finish processing the magic card known as an Emirates ID. Without an emirates ID you can't get a credit card, connect power and water to your apartment, get a local drivers license, etc etc etc.

We have been very fortunate to meet a miracle working banker who got us a bank account with a debit card in 2 days and he's promised me a cheque book in a similar time frame now I have my visa stamp. Other people have taken weeks to get a bank account so we are very lucky to have met this guy through a colleague.

Renting a house is a very interesting process. Housing is horrifically expensive and you have to sign up for a years lease. The cheque is often paid in one lump sum. Having to write a cheque for approx NZD$77k is a bit eye watering however businesses will pay your housing allowance in one lump sum so it's not as bad as it sounds. When you rent a house you also have to provide your own white goods, including a cooker and dishwasher. You also have to pay for curtains! Annoying but manageable.

You can live relatively frugally if you don't go out much, which suits us with the kids. Supermarkets prices are fairly comparable with home but the meat and produce quality is better IMO. You also have more choice with food from all around the world. Most of the red meat is from Australia, NZ or South Africa.

So far it's been a generally positive experience and we are looking forward to getting out of the hotel apartment and into our own space. Our container arrives on Monday and we move on the 28th so that will be great.

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#2073661 15-Aug-2018 07:55

Handle9:

One thing that has surprised us is how hot parking buildings are. While outside is hot, parking buildings are insufferable.

Makes sense - you have the ambient heat, plus all the heat from the cars' drive trains and brakes, plus humidity from exhaust fumes.

Mike

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#2073713 15-Aug-2018 09:45

@handle9 glad to hear your start is positive. Will be interested if you feel like sharing as you go along.

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#2073792 15-Aug-2018 10:33

Fantastic update, really great to read you are settling in. Keep us all updated?

Did you ever use the BritishExpats MiddleEast forum section?

The little things make the biggest difference.

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#2074145 15-Aug-2018 18:38

Shindig:
Fantastic update, really great to read you are settling in. Keep us all updated?

Did you ever use the BritishExpats MiddleEast forum section?

I did have a look at it and got some information from it. The main forum I've used is expatforum.com as it's pretty active. Also the NZ in Dubai facebook group has been a great source of advice.

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#2074148 15-Aug-2018 18:43

networkn:
@handle9 glad to hear your start is positive. Will be interested if you feel like sharing as you go along.

Will do. It hasn't all been smooth sailing, especially packing up the house and handing over at work in NZ. IMO if we approach this as an adventure rather than expecting everything to be efficient and the same as home we enjoy the experience. The alternative is to be miserable and complain about everything which does no one any favours.

A big part of this was to have a truely different OE for us as a family. So far it's meeting our expectations.

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#2074250 16-Aug-2018 00:35

MikeAqua:

Handle9:

One thing that has surprised us is how hot parking buildings are. While outside is hot, parking buildings are insufferable.

Makes sense - you have the ambient heat, plus all the heat from the cars' drive trains and brakes, plus humidity from exhaust fumes.

There is a bit more to it. Cars don't get stolen much here so often people leave them running in the parking building so the aircon still works and the car is cold when you come back. Coupled with the rest it's really nasty.

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#2081759 31-Aug-2018 07:29

Big day today. We took possession of our villa and our container arrived. Last week was the Eid holiday which was a pain but also good for buying things for the house. The pain was that all government departments shut down for the whole week. The good thing was I got 6 days off. I ended up working a bit of it but all in all went pretty well.

I got my Emirates ID on Sunday which allows you to register your tenancy agreement and connect power and water (called DEWA). It's like an internal passport and you need it for everything possible.

I also had my first experience with cheques in Dubai. Post dated cheques are incredibly common here and bouncing a cheque is a very very bad thing. Unfortunately I write my signature like a train smash and do it a bit different every time. I managed to bounce a cheque which freaked me out a bit. Fortunately the other party was very cool about it because if you bounce a cheque here and they complain to police you go to jail.

Suffice to say I was sweating over my very large rent cheque today but it seems to have cleared.

My landlord is Egyptian and a bit eratic. The villa is around 10 years old which is not new by Dubai standards. We took possession today but there is a ton of maintenance he still needs to do but he is sorting it and he lives locally so it should be ok (hopefully).

The kids were rapt to have their stuff arrive and I was very happy with my new TV. The TV was a bit cheaper than NZ but not hugely so. Whiteware is much cheaper though. We bought a middle of the road Bosch washing machine for around NZD$600 and a similar Siemens (Bosch and Siemens appliances are owned by the same parent) dishwasher for about NZD$950.

I also got internet connected today. That is not at all cheap. Most of Dubai is fibre connected and houses generally have structured cabling. I'm payIng NZD$165 a month for 30/6, local phone and IP TV. It's not awful and so far performance seems pretty good but still. There are only 2 ISPs and they are both similarly expensive.

There is a real service culture here. People will come to you and generally are very keen to please. My bank guy waited for an hour and a half the other day for HR to fix a stuffed up form. Similarly I had the water delivery guy and the gas delivery guy come within an hour of us moving in.

Our nanny/maid starts tomorrow as well. It is pretty reasonable to have live in help costing around $1400 a month for 6 days a week. That cost includes visa, salary and an annual flight home. It's necessary with my wife working to 3:30 and the 4 year old finishing at 1:30pm. It also should give us a much more reasonable life style than we had at home with both of us working full time.

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#2086283 8-Sep-2018 23:05

surfisup1000:

I was asked to move to saudi but it would have meant i'd need to marry my girlfriend at the time if we wanted to stay together.

We are married but can you elaborate on this please? Do the authorities actively look for couples who are not?

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#2086285 9-Sep-2018 00:09

MichaelNZ:
surfisup1000:

I was asked to move to saudi but it would have meant i'd need to marry my girlfriend at the time if we wanted to stay together.

We are married but can you elaborate on this please? Do the authorities actively look for couples who are not?

In Dubai they don't actively ask questions if you are discreet but it does mean you can't sponsor your partners visa. As the husband you can sponsor your wife, children, grandparents and domestic help to be in the country. Similarly a wife can sponsor her husband etc if she is in certain professions (eg teacher).

If you are not married you can't do this so your partner would need to be in the country on a visitor's visa or be sponsored by their employer.

It's generally not possible to get a residence visa here unless you are sponsored. There are exceptions around free zones and setting up companies there but that is the general rule.

Not sure about Saudi but that is a much stricter country than Dubai so I would expect it to be even worse.

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#2086359 9-Sep-2018 10:04

MichaelNZ:

surfisup1000:

I was asked to move to saudi but it would have meant i'd need to marry my girlfriend at the time if we wanted to stay together.

We are married but can you elaborate on this please? Do the authorities actively look for couples who are not?

I don't know, I was working for a very large global IT company and this came from the company department who arrange such things. It is obvious though isn't it? Saudi have religious police who enforce islamic law.

Saudi is barbaric country by western standards. Work colleagues who went to Saudi returned with distasteful stories. I guess it was good money though, you could set yourself up for life with 2 or 3 years work (at the time anyway , before house prices went to a million bucks).

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