The first three months of a new expat's life in the UAE can be mired by paperwork. Pictured, Dubai Marina. Sarah Dea / The National
The first three months of a new expat's life in the UAE can be mired by paperwork. Pictured, Dubai Marina. Sarah Dea / The National

The survival guide to your first weeks in the UAE



For many new expatriates, the first three months of life in the UAE can feel like a red-tape obstacle course. These tips will make the journey to month four much smoother.

UAE residency and ID

• Your passport must have at least six months left to run for UAE residency – check in good time before you arrive.

• Get your education certificates attested in advance and bring them with you, along with birth certificates and a marriage certificate if you intend to sponsor dependants.

• Bring passport photos for you and the family – you’ll need more than you realise.

• Ensure your employer, as your sponsor, has your employment visa waiting at the airport when you arrive. You are landing as a would-be resident, not a tourist, and cannot work on a tourist visa.

• There are three key pieces of ID you need – residence visa, Emirates ID and labour card. You cannot travel outside the country while your residency is being processed.

• Without your residence permit you will find it hard to get started on buying a car or renting a home. Stay patient.

Banking

• It takes time to set up a bank account, so bring enough funds to cover two months – the first month’s salary may be late and early outlays can be high.

• Some international banks allow you to open accounts in advance if you bank there already; others may allow a basic account without residency – you will get a debit card but no chequebook or lending facilities.

• Choose your bank carefully – look at fees, remittance costs, conventional and Islamic banking and whether you can pay utility bills easily with online banking.

• To open a bank account you need a letter of no objection from your employer, your original passport with a residence visa, an Emirates ID and a labour card.

• Credit reporting is new to the UAE and most banks still evaluate your employer when assessing your creditworthiness. Some companies are treated as non-listed companies. This makes it hard to apply for a loan. Check this if you’ll need credit.

Renting

• Take time choosing an area and use a reputable and registered agent. You must pay your rent upfront – either three, six or 12 months’ worth, depending on your contract and landlord. Negotiate hard, and not just on rent – the number of rent cheques and whether your landlord provides maintenance are also negotiable.

• In Dubai, the Real Estate Regulatory Agency has made the Ejari registration of rental contracts mandatory. In Abu Dhabi this is called the Tawtheeq.

• Most UAE accommodation is rented unfurnished, which includes white goods. Second-hand options are plentiful and often half the price.

Utilities

• Utilities (electricity, water, sewerage) come from a single provider (Adwea in Abu Dhabi, Dewa in Dubai, Sewa in Sharjah). You cannot apply without your tenancy contract.

• The two telecoms, broadband and subscription TV companies are du and Etisalat – you are normally limited to one or the other by where you live.

• You can get a basic mobile 90-day SIM card aimed at visitors at the airport without residency, but will need a residence visa and Emirates ID to get a prepaid or postpaid contract from du or Etisalat.

Education

• Waiting lists are long at popular schools, so research in advance and contact them before arriving (and certainly before paying a deposit).

• Once in the UAE, you will need residence visas, birth certificates and immunisation records.

• Fees are high – ranging from Dh2,500 a year to more than Dh90,000. Nurseries can also be expensive (up to Dh60,000 a year). Check the ratio of teachers and assistants to children – this controls both quality and cost.

Driving

• Bring your home country driving licence with you if you are eligible for it to be converted to a UAE licence (about 30 countries are). Otherwise enrol for driving lessons.

• Don’t rush to buy – leasing a car is cheaper in the early months. If you do buy, your no-claims certificate from your home country may be valid. Third-party insurance is mandatory for all drivers.

• Remember, once you have residency, you must apply for a UAE driving licence.

Health care

• Your employer should provide health insurance – but not necessarily for your family. You may need to insure your dependents yourself.

• A health card from the Ministry of Health allows treatment at government hospitals in emergencies for half the cost of a non-card holder.

pf@thenational.ae

How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
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  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Guide to intelligent investing
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  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
Arsenal's pre-season fixtures

Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney

Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney

Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai

July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing

July 29 v Benfica in London

July 30 v Sevilla in London

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed

Power: 620bhp

Torque: 760Nm

Price: Dh898,000

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Results

Stage seven

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s

3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s

3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
AndhaDhun

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan

Rating: 3.5/5