# Relocating from the USA (HELP)



## exp335 (May 10, 2013)

Hi,

I am relocating to Dubai at the end of the month. I have a few questions, as I have researched answers but there are conflicting responses. 

First, 

How long does it take to approve the Labour Permit. I am still waiting for the UAE embassy in the US to finish the attesting of my diploma, but once I send it to my employer how long will it take to be approved by to MOL?

Areas to live 

I am 25 and live in Los Angeles currently. I have a allowance of 85k-100k AED p.a. for housing. Where is the best area at that price to look? 

Banking-

I thought about just using my US credit cards and accounts in the UAE, but it is just not smart with the transaction fees. Is it easy for expats to get CC? What's the best bank to work with?

Any and all help will be much appreciated.


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## naidu (May 11, 2013)

*diploma certification*

hi can you tell how went about sending the certificates to UAE emabssy and how long does it take.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

exp335 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am relocating to Dubai at the end of the month. I have a few questions, as I have researched answers but there are conflicting responses.
> 
> ...


Hi

*Area to live* - this all depends where you will be working and what method of transport you propose to use.
Once you answer the above - there will be plenty of suggestions.
*Banks* - local banks seem best and provide accounts, cheque books, debit cards and credit cards. We use Emirates NBD and find them fine.

Cheers

Steve


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## exp335 (May 10, 2013)

I am working in Jebel Ali and will be purchasing a vehicle as I will be traveling a lot all over the emirates for work. 

Thanks


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## Expat Explorers (May 11, 2013)

*Moving to Dubai*



exp335 said:


> I am working in Jebel Ali and will be purchasing a vehicle as I will be traveling a lot all over the emirates for work.
> 
> Thanks


Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) or the Marina might be a good fit for you if you're looking for an apartment.

As for banking have a look at HSBC as they have an expat service.

Good luck
I run an expat travel blog based in Dubai so let me know if you want any more insights


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

When you receive the attested documents you will give it to your company's PRO/HR who will begin the visa process. You won't do it yourself.

How quickly you'll get the visa depends on the efficiency of the PRO/HR department. My company generally gets the visa done within two weeks, other companies may take as long as take two months. 

It is not a major issue to be working without a visa for a month or two, if that turns out to be the case. If needed the company will issue a form saying the visa is in process. 

You can't open a bank acccount without the visa. Emirates NBD is perfectly fine. None of the banks will be as efficient as an US bank but Emirates is probably one of the better ones in the UAE. 

Because you can't open the bank account without the visa you may end up having your first month's salary transferred to your US bank account or even paid to you in cash. Get used to handling large sums of cash periodically. 

Don't buy a car right away. I suggest you rent for at least six months. A decent rental will cost you about 2,000 AED a month. I find it odd that your company expects you to do a lot of driving around the country yet isn't paying for your car unless you have a designated transportation allowance.

Your housing allowance of 85-100K is very generous for someone who's only 25. It will get you a nice 1-bedroom (with change left over) in a popular building in the Marina, which is probably the ideal place for you if you're working in Jebel Ali. 

However, if you have the option of saving from the housing allowance I strongly you do so. Find a basic apartment in the Marina or the Greens for 65K and bank the rest. You're young so saving the extra money will mean a lot more in the long run than temporarily enjoying the most expensive apartment you can afford. I don't know what the rest of your package is like, but a lot of companies are offering packages heavy on the housing allowance at the expense of the base salary as a means of reducing the end of service gratuity obligations. Just because the allowance is 85K doesn't mean you have to spend 85K. 

Dubai is a very expensive city. Plenty of people come here on large packages and leave a few years later with minimal savings because they splurged on the most expensive lifestyle they could afford. Don't be one of them.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

Hi,

As the previous poster mentioned you cannot open a checking account ( I.e current account), but you can open a savings account instead before your arrival. You can also have your salary transferred into that account. I did it for two years.

You can also dodge foreign transaction fees with some US credit cards. Do some research. US HSBC premier holders for example are exempt of foreign transaction fees and the FX rate charged is the spot rate which is pretty good if you ask me.

It is not a bad idea to use your USA issued credit cards at all. I recommend that use it in big purchases. As per the credit card overhaul legislation recently passed, USA card holders enjoy the strongest customer rights compared to any other nation. If you make purchases using your issued US credit card, you have a strong say during a dispute.

If I may suggest, try to open an account in the US in a bank that Operates here in the UAE. Right off hand I would say HSBC and Citibank. Have a chat with them, they may offer facilities that local banks cannot especially real time remittances using Internet banking.

I operate with a global and a local bank.


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

Canuck_Sens said:


> Hi,
> 
> As the previous poster mentioned you cannot open a checking account ( I.e current account), but you can open a savings account instead before your arrival. You can also have your salary transferred into that account. I did it for two years.
> 
> ...


I would disagree pretty completely on most of these points. 

There are very few US credit cards that do not charge a foreign transaction fee in addition to giving poor exchange rates. You will pay to use your US card, especially on an expensive purchase. I honestly, can not see what additional protection you would have beyond fake charges which are unlikely (here you get an SMS immediately every time your local card is used). I keep my US card for buying on-line and making purchase in the USA that are shipped here. Other than that I use my local card.

HSBC does not have a strong US presence, they may have a branch in LA, but I actually think NY is their only location. Everyone I know that uses HSBC here, says the service is terrible. I originally had a Citibank account here, it was one of the worst banks I have ever dealt with. Plus while they give you "cheap" transfer rates the exchange rates was horrible, it is far cheaper to transfer money from my ADCB account to my US bank than it was to transfer between my two Citibank account. Additionally, Citibank in the USA has made their account minimums pretty high recently, so unless you have 10K balance you will not get a good account. Get a local account, either ADCB or Emirates NBD as these tend to be the best.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Just fyi: Using the US credit cards would give you the protection being referred to, but that would come at a cost. 

1. Foreign currency transactions on credit cards are charged a surcharge of anywhere from 1.5% -2.75% usually and higher in some other cases (depends on the credit card issuer's terms). Some banks like Capital One used to charge a flat fee (19.99 if I remember right) on top for foreign transactions also.. best to check with your issuer for the exact details. 

2. Apart from that you will be pretty much screwed over with the exchange rate that is applied on the transaction. 

In large purchases; the small percentage points, coupled with the crappy exchange rate will actually end up being kinda expensive.


p.s: too slow over here lol, don't mean to reiterate an earlier post, fbcj got his in before mine, but you get the point..


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

@fcbj. 

I said banks that have global presence and not banks with several branches In the US.

At least in NYC where I used to live there was an HSBCeverywhere. Actually HSBC is spread out in entire NY state. You can go to HSBC and run a search for branches for you state.

In regards to your criticism about protection. Google US credit card bill and read it. Suffice to say US has the strongest legislation protecting customers who happened to own US issued credit cards. It is a fact.

In regards to fx rates, that one that I explained you get spot rates during your purchase. You cannot beat fx spot rate. It is a fact. Google spot rates.

@ Sarawat. Isaid some us credit cards you don't pay foreign fees. Do research.

All in all some of you are paying huge fees because you did not do your homework properly.

I get 99.95% when I transfer from HSBC UAE to HSBC US AED to US and that's for me a phenomenal exchange rate.

Could I get more ? Yeah I could but I am not willing to lose 1 hour to do that when it takes me tops 2 minutes online. Very convenient when you are travelling the funds are there on the spot.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Canuck_Sens said:


> @ Sarawat. Isaid some us credit cards you don't pay foreign fees. Do research.
> 
> All in all some of you are paying huge fees because you did not do your homework properly.
> 
> ...


To get the 'free' international purchases, most of the time you would need a platinum (premium tier) credit card or a credit card specific to international purchases which would not be as good for local purchases. Seeing as the OP is still in the States, gonna go out on a limb here and say he/she have not gotten an international specific credit card. 

You do know that all the credit cards here offer protection also ? Most of the times it is dual tier, one from the bank the other from the card licensure (master card / visa). I have claimed baggage lost/delay allowances, flight delay allowances and order dispute protection via my credit cards. Worked everytime no issues ... hmmm research ....

Don't know about anyone else but I believe in giving relevant, useful and realistic advice. Why do I say this ?. Look here:
HSBC Bank Accounts | Premier Current Account UAE

Wait I'll save you the trouble (I am a nice person), excerpt:
Requirements (when applying from the UAE):

a. Maintaining a balance of AED350,000 in deposits and/or investments 
or
b. Monthly net salary transfer of AED50,000 or above for the first 12 months after which point (a) applies.** 
or
c. Mortgage drawdown of AED3,000,000 or above for the first 24 months after which point (a) applies***

So effectively you are recommending to the OP to use the HSBC premier banking services in order to save an hour (your post) of his/her time and get the best rates, but in order to do so meet the eligibility requirements I mention above .... 

Oh btw .... OP is 25 years old ..... see what I mean about realistic advice ? I rest my case ....

p.s: my family has been here for 32 years ... there isn't a money transfer service/method we have not tried new and old .... might I ask you to do your research ?


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

@Saraswat 

There are other card issuers who offer no transaction fees, it is not only HSBC USA WHO DOES. Go ahead and knock yourself out finding those. I provided the one that offers. 

In terms of protection, I have 4 credit cards from 4 different countries. And only the US one has more protection thanks to the legislation passed that supersedes any card scheme rules something you all fail to see in that country. You fail to see because you don't know and I am not here to teach all the specifics surrounding card scheme rules and legislation.

Don't mistake it with insurance it is not that.

A card issued in the UAE does not offer the same level of protection that a US card offers. So yeah for big purchases, air tickets you name it i want the best protection I can get should a problem arise and that's a US card. If my card charged 2.5 % in fees I would gladly pay if I had not any option. In my case they don't charge either.

Go ahead make a big purchase with your UAE card and start a dispute. Before you do that be prepared to have some good chunk of cash aside because it will take months for the process to end. The rules here tend to favour more the merchants than you as a customer.

A dispute resolution in a US card is fairly quick and due to the law, it benefits you until the process is exhausted. For example, it won't create any financial burden on you or raise high fees should you lose the battle like here

At the end for those who have the choice, what would you do ? 

As to my Canadian card I just use it to maintain my credit score, as it stands today it is a piece of garbage.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Get the capital one international credit card... no fees, no international fees, no intereste as long as you pay it off each month. Best card to have imo.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

@Canuck, 

Dude why do you insist on putting inadequate / poorly researched information out into the forum. First with the HSBC current account for best transfer rate arguments, which you subsequently dropped and did not refer to in your reply interestingly enough. And now with this 'The U.S consumer protection act is the be all-end all of credit card protection in the world. 

Here, since you have already proclaimed as to not have enough time to do this, let's just assume I am an individual with nothing better to do. Within 10 mins of reading your post, I have the following links for you:

FRB: Press Release--Federal Reserve approves final rules to protect credit card users from a number of costly practices--January 12, 2010
FRB: Credit Protection Laws
FRB: Credit Card Rules (WYNTK)
FRB: Credit Card Rules (WYNTK) August 22

*Please note the domain name of all links, *.gov*, meaning they are U.S government websites and not some random blog.... 

In the interest of keeping this post relatively short, I am not going to paste the info here... all I will say though is that in all of the above links (again federal reserve of united states links, the authority in these matters), *nowhere*, and I mean *NOWHERE *does it mention *anything*, and I mean *ANYTHING* about the government instituting a system of consumers being given extra protection in case of fraud, disputes, reimbursement etc... 

The consumer protection act that you so aggressively seem to champion in your posts has to do with what credit card companies are allowed to do with interest rate increases, billing cycles, fees charged on late payments, debt collection etc.. 

Before telling everyone else to get on 'Google' and do research, do your *own* research and make sure to not put some erroneous, half baked stuff out on the forum ...

p.s: @OP sorry for the divergence in your thread, I shall stop contributing to it now, hope everything works out for you and you make it out here alright, congratulations on the new job....


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

First, 
_
How long does it take to approve the Labour Permit. I am still waiting for the UAE embassy in the US to finish the attesting of my diploma, but once I send it to my employer how long will it take to be approved by to MOL?_

You will need to be here to start the process, which will take a couple of weeks, stay on top of them to make sure they get it done in a timely manner. JAFZA (Jebel Ali Free Zone) can be slow at times so might be a bit longer. Are you sure you are an American? You misspelled labor!  


_Areas to live 

I am 25 and live in Los Angeles currently. I have a allowance of 85k-100k AED p.a. for housing. Where is the best area at that price to look? _

Look at the Marina first if you can find a place within your budget, about 20-30 minutes to Jebel Ali as long as you get a building with decent access to the freeway. JLT would be next choice.

Banking-

I thought about just using my US credit cards and accounts in the UAE, but it is just not smart with the transaction fees. Is it easy for expats to get CC? What's the best bank to work with?


Very easy to open an account and get a card, I use HSBC without a problem so far, you just need a letter from your company. HSBC allowed me to open a current account (without checks) with a letter before my visa was done. I use my local CC for most things as I am paid in AED.

_Any and all help will be much appreciated._

Glad to help with any questions as long as you stop spelling like a POME!


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## Roadworrier (Jul 3, 2012)

TH: Because you can't open the bank account without the visa you may end up having your first month's salary transferred to your US bank account or even paid to you in cash. Get used to handling large sums of cash periodically. 

RW: I've been here over 6 months and my company still hasn't been able to initiate salary transfers from the US firm to my UAE account because of various cost and bureaucratic issues with setting up the local branch of our US firm. As long as you are paid to your US account, what will happen is that they will continue to withhold taxes and social security. If you are on a green card and not a US citizen, they may be able to not withhold. You'll need a tax lawyer to figure some of these things out. While there are tax benefits to being a US expat (income under $96k is not taxed) , they are not as plentiful as those for UK expats (who don't pay taxes at all). Bottom line is whatever tax benefits you get may not be experienced until you file the following year.

TH: Don't buy a car right away. I suggest you rent for at least six months. A decent rental will cost you about 2,000 AED a month. I find it odd that your company expects you to do a lot of driving around the country yet isn't paying for your car unless you have a designated transportation allowance.

RW: Agree 100%. Demand at least AED2500 transportation allowance, which will allow you to get a Corolla / Jetta level vehicle plus cover some/all of your fuel. If you have to drive all over the UAE, the Yaris or Fiesta you will end up with on a lower monthly rental will get tiring very quickly.

TH: Your housing allowance of 85-100K is very generous for someone who's only 25. It will get you a nice 1-bedroom (with change left over) in a popular building in the Marina, which is probably the ideal place for you if you're working in Jebel Ali.

RW: Agree on the Marina if you are young and single. But 1 BR's are going up in price - studios are OK and less money if you can get a nicely laid out one that isn't too small. There are 1 BR's in Park Island for AED100k, you can find some 1 BR for less in non-Emaar buildings (with commensurately less build quality). Prices are somewhat inflated now, but I think part of the demand is "phantom" demand, meaning they want you to think things are even better than they are. Be careful on estate agents, most are blithering idiots. BetterHomes and Provident are two of the better-known, more reputable ones. However everything is relative, 95% of the firms have agents who will just give you an address and not bother meeting you. BetterHomes at least provides an agent who knows the local area, will show you 3-4 nice places in your price range and will negotiate something. Go for the best place for the least money and don't be afraid to play one place off the other. Make the agent do some work for their usual 5% fee. 

Oh, one more thing. Before you get your residence visa, which will allow you to get a bank account and then an apartment, make sure your company puts you up in a hotel or hotel-apartment for the first month. Make sure they give you at least an AED15k allowance for the first month. The Gloria Hotel is not bad, that's where we stayed the first month. No alcohol in their restaurants, but it is right next to the Internet City Metro station. and the higher floors can offer nice views allowing you to get your bearings.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Oh... forgot to mention, that capital one card is from the usa if that wasnt evident. Get it before you leave. No international fees.... did I mention that? Anywhere you go...

Find the Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards.


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## shahbaz (May 8, 2013)

HSBC will be good for you , HSBC providing very good services in dubai , and for living you can choose some areas at Sheikh zayed road


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

I took a stroll over to Dubizzle and there's plenty of 1-bedrooms in the Marina for around and under 80K. Even Park Island has a few apartments listed at about 80k. As for building quality, they certainly vary but not necessarily that much. All one needs is an apartment with a functioning AC and a chilled swimming pool. Everything else is extra. 

I agree that this escalation in rental prices is bizarre and seems to be phantom as it's not reflecting what those of us on the ground are experiencing - no major hiring booms bringing lots of people to Dubai, yet plenty are leaving as contracts end. There's something very artificial about this rent escalation and methinks it's a miniboom due for a correction by the end of the year. 

There are one bedrooms in my building in the Greens (Fairways) that are now asking 100k, which is what I pay for a two-bedroom. These same apartments were renting for 65-70K two years ago! I pity the poor muppets who agree to spend that much. 



Roadworrier said:


> TH: Because you can't open the bank account without the visa you may end up having your first month's salary transferred to your US bank account or even paid to you in cash. Get used to handling large sums of cash periodically.
> 
> RW: I've been here over 6 months and my company still hasn't been able to initiate salary transfers from the US firm to my UAE account because of various cost and bureaucratic issues with setting up the local branch of our US firm. As long as you are paid to your US account, what will happen is that they will continue to withhold taxes and social security. If you are on a green card and not a US citizen, they may be able to not withhold. You'll need a tax lawyer to figure some of these things out. While there are tax benefits to being a US expat (income under $96k is not taxed) , they are not as plentiful as those for UK expats (who don't pay taxes at all). Bottom line is whatever tax benefits you get may not be experienced until you file the following year.
> 
> ...


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## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

US cards also tend to have much better reward packages and offer things like car rental coverage. It can be useful when you are traveling outside the UAE. On the other hand, a UAE debit card is accepted much more readily than a US one in the EU because US cards generally don't have a chip. 

I'd also make sure you use your US cards enough to keep them open. The US as a general matter is a bit flummoxed by the idea of an American living outside the US and who isn't on government orders. So if you can keep your cards open and keep your credit score decent, I think your transition back to the US will eventually be easier. 

HSBC are an absolute pain. I regret opening my account with them. The amount of cash they demand you maintain in your account to get premier status is laughable- literally, I laughed in their salesman's face when he told me. It's not smart to keep that much cash onshore even assuming you have it. 

Bear in mind also that exchange rates are pegged to the Dollar. You won't face exchange rate risk that is an issue for many expats here so don't let those concerns influence you. 

I'd second the Marina as a place to live for a young single person. The Greens is nice also and cheaper but doesn't have the same walk-to-bars-and-restaurants factor. 

I think renting a car for 6 months is excessive. Just rent for at most a month and take it from there. You'll probably want to buy a car before long, and maybe not a Camry.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

The Greens isn't cheaper than the Marina. If anything it's more expensive when comparing similar apartments. Methinks the big fire in JLT has scared people away from highrise living to paying over the odds for a lowrise apartment in the Greens.

The advantage of renting a car for six months is to make sure that the job is actually going to work out. One doesn't want want to buy a car as soon as they've arrived only to flunk their probation period or decide after a few months that the job/company/country isn't right for them.

There must be a reason why one frequently sees cars being offered on Dubizzle by people selling them after only a few months' ownership.

I am actually juggling the decision of whether to buy versus rent after having driven a company car for the last six years. I've concluded there's no substantial savings in owning car versus renting one (comparing buying a second hand Pajero/Land Rover to renting a Yaris/Lancer). 

Hidden costs in owning a car, even if you pay cash for the car, rapidly adds up. Cost of insurance + servicing + estimated repairs + higher petrol expenses if you have a 4x4 + _depreciation _ (the hidden factor people tend to forget) across a year only comes out to a sum marginally less than renting a basic Yaris/Lancer, and car ownership comes with a major variable: unexpected and expensive repair bills that people who rent don't have to worry about. In short, the advantage of owning a car is to drive something nicer than a basic rental but there's no financial need to hurry into a car ownership as soon as possible. 



Simey said:


> US cards also tend to have much better reward packages and offer things like car rental coverage. It can be useful when you are traveling outside the UAE. On the other hand, a UAE debit card is accepted much more readily than a US one in the EU because US cards generally don't have a chip.
> 
> I'd also make sure you use your US cards enough to keep them open. The US as a general matter is a bit flummoxed by the idea of an American living outside the US and who isn't on government orders. So if you can keep your cards open and keep your credit score decent, I think your transition back to the US will eventually be easier.
> 
> ...


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## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

Something else I meant to mention but which I forgot to earlier is that a "local" credit card is pretty much essential once you live here. You will probably want to use your credit card to manage local living expenses such as paying your cell phone, DEWA, home phone and so on. While you can get by with tourist-friendly activities such as renting cars with a foreign credit card, in my experience they are not accepted for things that residents do. I'd still try to maintain a US card but you will need a local one too.


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## turbinedude (Jan 25, 2013)

naidu said:


> hi can you tell how went about sending the certificates to UAE emabssy and how long does it take.


in the US, 4 weeks,,,
i went thru authenticate4me...
google this name,.he did a great job


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## stamboy (Apr 1, 2013)

Roadworrier said:


> TH: Because you can't open the bank account without the visa you may end up having your first month's salary transferred to your US bank account or even paid to you in cash. Get used to handling large sums of cash periodically.
> 
> RW: I've been here over 6 months and my company still hasn't been able to initiate salary transfers from the US firm to my UAE account because of various cost and bureaucratic issues with setting up the local branch of our US firm. As long as you are paid to your US account, what will happen is that they will continue to withhold taxes and social security. If you are on a green card and not a US citizen, they may be able to not withhold. You'll need a tax lawyer to figure some of these things out. While there are tax benefits to being a US expat (income under $96k is not taxed) , they are not as plentiful as those for UK expats (who don't pay taxes at all). Bottom line is whatever tax benefits you get may not be experienced until you file the following year.
> 
> ...


SUPERB RESPONSE :clap2:

Are you a Mad Max fan by any chance Road Warrior?


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## PVD04 (Feb 17, 2010)

Roadworrier said:


> TH: Because you can't open the bank account without the visa you may end up having your first month's salary transferred to your US bank account or even paid to you in cash. Get used to handling large sums of cash periodically.
> 
> RW: I've been here over 6 months and my company still hasn't been able to initiate salary transfers from the US firm to my UAE account because of various cost and bureaucratic issues with setting up the local branch of our US firm. As long as you are paid to your US account, what will happen is that they will continue to withhold taxes and social security. If you are on a green card and not a US citizen, they may be able to not withhold. You'll need a tax lawyer to figure some of these things out. While there are tax benefits to being a US expat (income under $96k is not taxed) , they are not as plentiful as those for UK expats (who don't pay taxes at all). Bottom line is whatever tax benefits you get may not be experienced until you file the following year.
> 
> ...


Most of this is accurate except for the tax part and I disagree a bit on the car. Your employer does not have to continue withholding taxes while you are receiving your salary in your US account. My salary was paid into my US account the entire time I lived in Dubai and taxes were not withheld. As for the car, I see renting as a waste of money. I bought a car used for 36,000 when I arrived, drove it for two years, and sold it for 21,000 when I moved out. That works out to about 800/month, which is cheaper than anything you can rent. Even if I had given the car away at the end it still would have been cheaper than renting.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

You're not including the additional costs of car ownership. Ok, the car 'cost' you 15,000 over two years, but add the insurance for two years, the servicing costs and any extra repairs you may have had. Perhaps you were lucky and needed no repairs or new tyres but it's rare for an used car to go two years without incurring additional repair costs. If you had a 4x4 your petrol costs will also be twice as high as for a basic Yaris (my company's 4x4 cost 120 AED to fill up - weekly, the rental Yaris cost 65 AED to fill up - biweekly). That's a differential of 3,000 AED across the year or almost two month's car rent as I'm currently paying 1750 a month for the Yaris. And of course there's the annual registration and testing fees. Plus, for many expats renting a car offers a peace of mind as they're not tied to expensive assets in Dubai and that may be worth the extra 10 or so thousand a year.

Buying something used will still be cheaper in the long run which is why I will buy a car at some point this summer, but there's something to be said about being new in this country and in a new job and not rushing right into a car ownership for a while to make sure that everything will work out, that you do like your job and want to stay in this country and the firm looks stable enough and you aren't facing the risk of redundancy. Too many people blew a lot of money on cars and fancy rent as soon as they arrived in Dubai, only to have everything go belly-up unexpectedly, which left them in a bad position. That's why I always urge restraint and caution to people who've just moved here. The original poster can wait six months before deciding to buy or keep renting and the 'savings' from buying right away versus six months later is marginal. 



PVD04 said:


> As for the car, I see renting as a waste of money. I bought a car used for 36,000 when I arrived, drove it for two years, and sold it for 21,000 when I moved out. That works out to about 800/month, which is cheaper than anything you can rent. Even if I had given the car away at the end it still would have been cheaper than renting.


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

I think there are good arguments on both sides of the purchase/rent debate. In the long term if all goes according to plan owning will be cheaper. What is nice about renting is it saves a lot of hassle (car breaks down, one phone call and khalas loaner vehicle in an hour). You do not need to deal with maintenance or registration, getting tested, etc. Plus no down payment (or even worse loan). To me it is worth the extra expense, mainly because I know if something happens the worst situation is I eat three months, I don't have a car I need to sell.


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## exp335 (May 10, 2013)

naidu said:


> hi can you tell how went about sending the certificates to UAE emabssy and how long does it take.


Just finished the process. I took 2 weeks and 1 day door to door. I used US AUTHENTICATION services.


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