Moving to Dubai- Tax free heaven??

[toiletroller]

Does anyone have any contacts in Dubai, thinking about givin the place a try...

[aontroim]

What are you coming out to work at - construction?  Very fast pace of life in Dubai - major amounts of construction going on and all the workers at the coal-face are Indian / Pakistani / Nepalese etc and treated like absolute dirt.  Tax-free is no doubt a benefit and thr price of fuel/vehicles would make you cry compared to back home - petrol cheaper than water - about 15-20c a litre!

Trying to get around is a major problem though as traffic is a nightmare - the infrastructure at the minute can't cope with the number of cars on the roads and some of the driving i scary - not a day goes by where you won't see a major accident somewhere around the place.

It's going to be some spot in a few years once everything currently being worked on is completed - but still the arabic culture is a bit hard to get used to despite Dubai being somewhat more relaxed than the rest of the emirates & gulf states.

[mannix]

Is there financial work there? how easy are work permits to get?

[aontroim]

Mannix there is a bit of financial stuff in Dubai alright but for that you really want to be going to Bahrain - that is the financial capital of the Gulf and nearly all the big banks and financial institutions are represented there along with the many GCC banks.  A lot of ex-pats (mainly Brits but a fair few Irish and other Europeans) and seemingly a decent amount of work about.

I think you need to get a 'sponsor' before you can start to work there - just a visit you can get in for 90 days but you will need to get registered  and have a job to stay there (bahrain that is - not sure about Dubai) And the Arabs make it fairly clear that residency is never going to be an option in any of the GCC countries -  you will forever be an ex-pat no matter how long you stay for.

I have a contact working for Ernst & Young for over 10 years between Bahrain if you want any more info on the financial job market.