# Salary for moving to Dubai



## piyajaan (Mar 14, 2018)

Hello, My husband and I have been to Dubai a few times and love it. During our last visit he was offered a job as a kitchen designer with a monthly salary of 12,500 AED and told that with commission from sales he could make an extra 8,000 AED per month. I currently work in the civil service and we have a 3 year old son attending nursery here in the UK. 
We wanted to find out what the minimum salary would be for us to be able to relocate to Dubai and live comfortably. I will also be working but am unsure what sort of work I will be able to find at the moment. 
Does anyone have any ideas as to what our monthly salary should be to live in Dubai? We would more than likely rent a 2 bed flat, in a location that's more downtown (i.e not Jumeriah). We usually stay in Bur Dubai so don't mind travelling for work as long as it's near a metro station.

Any advice given would be much appreciated.

Thanks


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## UKMS (Jan 9, 2017)

piyajaan said:


> Hello, My husband and I have been to Dubai a few times and love it. During our last visit he was offered a job as a kitchen designer with a monthly salary of 12,500 AED and told that with commission from sales he could make an extra 8,000 AED per month. I currently work in the civil service and we have a 3 year old son attending nursery here in the UK.
> We wanted to find out what the minimum salary would be for us to be able to relocate to Dubai and live comfortably. I will also be working but am unsure what sort of work I will be able to find at the moment.
> Does anyone have any ideas as to what our monthly salary should be to live in Dubai? We would more than likely rent a 2 bed flat, in a location that's more downtown (i.e not Jumeriah). We usually stay in Bur Dubai so don't mind travelling for work as long as it's near a metro station.
> 
> ...


There’s lots of good advice in the sticky threads on here that will give you a good idea of the breakdown of the cost of living according to your chosen lifestyle. 

Has your husband actually got a firm written job offer or was this just a conversation ? Are there any other allowances ? Family healthcare or just him ? Housing ? Transport ? Setup costs? ....... Assuming not then my advice would be don’t move from the UK for a 12500 salary with a family, you could potentially end up struggling and unhappy, you can’t guarantee commission (many people are sold a commission dream here) and although you don’t mention your role in the civil service it’s not always easy for a spouse to find a job (not impossible but not easy especially factoring in childcare).

.


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## piyajaan (Mar 14, 2018)

Hi UKMS thanks for the reply. Husband does not have firm offer yet (I've advised him to get it in writing). And to ask the prospective employer what other benefits hubby may get. 
I work as a caseworker in immigration, unfortunately jobs in the British embassy are limited so it's difficult for me to transfer. I am currently studying part time to train as a teaching assistant as a career change. 
I will take some time to sit down and check through the threads on here but thanks for the info you've provided. 

There’s lots of good advice in the sticky threads on here that will give you a good idea of the breakdown of the cost of living according to your chosen lifestyle. 

Has your husband actually got a firm written job offer or was this just a conversation ? Are there any other allowances ? Family healthcare or just him ? Housing ? Transport ? Setup costs? ....... Assuming not then my advice would be don’t move from the UK for a 12500 salary with a family, you could potentially end up struggling and unhappy, you can’t guarantee commission (many people are sold a commission dream here) and although you don’t mention your role in the civil service it’s not always easy for a spouse to find a job (not impossible but not easy especially factoring in childcare).

.[/QUOTE]


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

The harsh reality is that Dubai's economic model only works for certain occupations and not for others.

A British family with a toddler wanting a 2-bedroom apartment in a decent area? You need to be making at least 30,000/month to justify the move. This can be between the two of you. But don't do it for any less than 30k. You will need to pay for the apartment (probably at least 8k/month for a cheaper and basic 2-bedroom on the outskirts of the city, you will not be living in Downtown unless you're content with a 1-bedroom, you will need to pay nursery fees (probably around 3k a month or perhaps even more), run two cars (probably around 4k a month for the two cars including payments or rental fees), weekly groceries (probably around another 3k a month for a basic British diet). Factor in another 2k a month for miscellaneous such as mobile phone plans and all the little things we spend money on such as Starbucks or a quick lunch out or small emergencies. We're up to 20,000 a month just to live. And this is a simple lifestyle counting the pennies. 

On top of this you'd want social activities, clothing, entertainment, and all of that. And I've left out things like petrol. Altogether you'd probably end up spending another 10,000 a month when averaged across the year. And there goes the entire 30k without a penny for savings. And I haven't even talked about the cost of setting up your apartment and furniture.


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## Toons (Nov 28, 2016)

I agree with the above, it would be very high risk.Having just moved here the cost of setting up is expensive. Even with a confirmation of the 12500 salary i wouldn't think no more about it it unless you had a job coming here as well.Having kids here makes this place even more expensive and ye would definitely need about 30k a month to live a a decent level. Think of the months the your husband wont make commission which can happen here very easily.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Being a kitchen designer isn't going to be like in the UK. The vast majority are expats and the vast majority rent, not own. People aren't replacing kitchens in their own villas. Landlords will leave the kitchens till it's absolutely worn out and then replace with another basic functional kitchen of basic units and basic white goods. And this is the luxury end of the market!

There are designer kitchens and custom kitchens but I'd venture it's a very small market. 






The video shows a typical upscale Dubai villa and just look at the kitchen. That's the norm.


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## avisharma (Mar 13, 2018)

Salary that your husband has been offered is very less compared to expenses, to raise a family & get a 2bhk you need at least 30K-35K monthly in Dubai. Bur Dubai is extremely crowded & equally expensive when it comes to renting an apartment. Commuting by metro is not easy anymore during peak hours sometimes you have to push people to enter at Burjuman to get to the red line. So you need a car, its a different story altogether. All in all it would be difficult for you to get by with this income. Incase if you choose to work and support your husband, your toddler's nursery would cost you as well. 

Here's a rough calculation.

Toddlers Nursery: 1K min per month. 
2BHK apartment: min 80-90K (areas like Bur Dubai, JVC, JVT) add approx 15K more for Jumeirah 25K approx for marina. 
Car SUV expenses 2500 (fuel, EMI, fines, salik)

I am not sure about the demand kitchen designer here. I'd suggest you to check if there's any type of project visas available for kitchen designer and ask your husband to work on 1-2 projects then decide on settling here.


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