# Difference between an employment visa and a residence permit?



## domink

hi,

have just received a scanned copy of my 'employment visa' from my company. Is this the same as the residence permit that everyone has been talking about? 

Apologies if this is a basic question 

thanks


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## qwert97

domink said:


> hi,
> 
> have just received a scanned copy of my 'employment visa' from my company. Is this the same as the residence permit that everyone has been talking about?
> 
> Apologies if this is a basic question
> 
> thanks



Employment visa entitles you to enter the country. After that you need to get medicals done and then the residence permit is stamped on the passport which entitles you to travel in and out of Dubai, get housing, driving license etc.


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## domink

thanks,
so given that i have the employment visa - how long does the process of getting the residence permit stamped take on average?

Just wondering coz i only have corporate accommodation for a month and if i can't rent a place without the residence permit, i might be in a spot of bother


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## Ogri750

How long it takes is down to how good your company's HR dept is.

If you keep hounding them (as I had to), should take no more than 3 - 4 weeks


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## domink

the HR dept seems to be reasonably efficient (at least by the standards of other HR depts ive seen), fingers crossed..

thanks for all your help guys


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## qwert97

One more thing to consider is that you cannot drive in Dubai unless the residence permit is stamped on your passport.


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## sgilli3

qwert97 said:


> One more thing to consider is that you cannot drive in Dubai unless the residence permit is stamped on your passport.



You can drive with an International Drivers License with a hire car though.


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## qwert97

sgilli3 said:


> You can drive with an International Drivers License with a hire car though.


Based on my readings- driving on international permit is possible only if you are on visit visa but I could be wrong.


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## Maz25

qwert97 said:


> Based on my readings- driving on international permit is possible only if you are on visit visa but I could be wrong.


My understanding is that you can drive on an international driving permit, as said in the previous post. You will have to hire a car as you cannot buy a vehicle unless you have your residence permit. However, once you have your residence permit stamped into your passport, it becomes illegal to drive on anything other than a UAE driving license. If you are from certain countries like UK, you can swap your license without taking a test. Bear in mind that your license and passport need to have been issued by the same country.


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## Maz25

rita.clancy said:


> Hello everyone
> 
> I'm moving to Dubai soon (Hopefully)
> 
> I just got my scanned copy of my 'employment visa' from my company. Is this the same as the residence permit that everyone has been talking about?


Please see above post.

I am going to make an assumption that you are from the UK, in which case:

Employment visa = UK work permit = document that entitles you to enter the country to take up employment
Residence permit = UK Leave to Remain = stamped in your passport after medical, entitling you to live in Dubai; renewable every 3 years subject to clean medical

They are 2 separate documents. Hope this clarifies the confusion.


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## rita.clancy

Hello everyone

I'm hopefully going to Dubai 

I have also just received a scanned copy of my employment visa from my company. 

Is this the same as the residence permit that everyone has been talking about?

I'm not sure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111


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