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| Get a residency
visa |
| Through your company - The vast majority of companies
will organize the visa procedure on your behalf, sorting
out the necessary paperwork and making the necessary payments.
This means that all you have to do is take the medical,
which involves paying a trip to a hospital to take a blood
test and a chest scan. Providing the tests come back clear,
you should have your visa within three months of arriving.
If you leave your job in the first year, your company
may charge you for the visa.
Arranging your own visa - If the company which
is taking you on does process your visa application
for you, you'll need to head to the visa section of
the Department of Naturalization and Residence. Here
you'll need to provide: an application from (available
on site); your passport; three passport sized photographs;
your original entry permit if you have one (if you come
from one of 33 states including the United States, the
United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and
many EU countries, you'll be able to enter Dubai on
your passport, without the need for an entry permit);
your original medical check-up document; a copy of the
valid commercial license and copy of the valid establishment
card (get these from your work) and an original receipt
from the Ministry of Labour (labor card-again, get this
from your work). You'll need to pay Dhs300 residency
fees for a three year visa. See www.Dubai.ae
for more info.
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| Get a mobile phone
connection |
Select from Etisalat or du?
Etisalat & du are the two mobile phone options currently
available in Dubai. Du charges by the second and a prefix
to a du mobile number is 055 (Etisalat uses 050). See
www.du.ae
for further information. Visit Etisalat at: http://www.etisalat.ae/
If you want to set up a contract arrangement, then
you will need to have your residency visa. You may find
your company can handle getting a contract SIM card
for you. If your company has no such facility, then
you'll need to head down to Etisalat HQ on Baniyas Street
in Deira yourself. At time of publishing, it cost Dhs185
to set up a phone contract, which includes a connection
fee (Dhs100), quarterly rental (Dhs60) and SIM card
(Dhs25). You then have to pay Dhs60 every three months.
You'll need to bring your passport with your residency
visa in it, a copy of your passport including the residency
visa page and a letter from your employer detailing
your income. You'll need to fill in a form, wait in
line and pay the fee.
If you lose your SIM card, you can get a replacement
for Dhs50.
Paying your bill is simple: you can either set up a
direct debit or pay by cash at Etisalat HQ or at one
of the automated payment machines which you'll find
in most mall including City Centre, Al Ghurair City,
Lamcy Plaza, BurJuman Centre and Wafi City Mall.
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| Register with DEWA |
| DEWA stands for Dubai Electricity and Water Association.
You need to register yourself as a tenant either online
at www.dewa.gov.ae or in person with copies of your passport,
tenancy agreement and deposit of either Dhs1,000 for an
apartment or Dhs2,000 for a villa (which is redeemable
when you end your tenancy). Both water and electricity
bills in Dubai are calculated by monthly meter readings
and you can then choose to either pay your bill in person
or set up an online account. DEWA EBPP is the online system
for bill payment; through this new system you can view
and pay your DEWA bill(s) through the internet. This payment
method is open to all DEWA customers in good standing.
DEWA Main Office: Next to Wafi City, Bur Dubai
(04 324 4444) open daily 7:30 am - 8 pm for bill payments
and 7:30 am - 2:30 pm for enquiries; closed on Friday.
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| Hire domestic help |
| Many families and households choose to employ housemaids
or other domestic help during their time in the UAE. For
the most part maids originate from the Philippines, Bangladesh
or Sri Lanka. Skills and experience varies from individual
to individual; normally you will be able to find someone
to cook, clean and mind children for between Dhs600 and
Dhs800 per month if you housemaid lives with you, or Dhs900
to Dhs1,300 if she does not. If you take it upon yourself
to sponsor a maid, you incur the responsibility of paying
for their visa, health card, repatriation ticket every
two years, and most of their incidental expenses, including
food.
To retain the services of a full time house help you
must have a monthly salary of over Dhs6,000 and your
employee must not be related to you or of the same nationality.
As an employer you must sponsor your help and take it
upon yourself to deal with all residency papers and
other such bureaucratic matters including the statutory
medical test. It's common practice to find a maid through
an agency, although many people hire someone on the
strength of a personal recommendation from a colleague
or a friend.
| www.alkhadam.com
aims to provide a unique service in the UAE by helping
employers to search for suitable maids or domestic
help online. Agencies can manage their maid's bio-data
by becoming a member of alkhadam.com. |
|
Domestic help agencies
• Helpers 04 395 6166
• Home Help 04 355 5100
• Ready Maids 04 339 5722
|
If you decide to sponsor your own live-in help then
you will have to pay for their residence visa. A residence
visa for a maid costs approximately Dhs 5,000 (Dhs4,800
for the government fee, Dhs100 for the residence visa
and Dhs100 for the labour card). UAE nationals will
also be charged an extra Dhs1,500 for sponsoring a housemaid.
The residency visa is only valid for one year and it
is illegal to share a live-in maid with another household.
An alternative, and cheaper, option is to get in part-time
home help. There are a number of agencies that offer
domestic help on an hourly basis. The standard rate
is about Dhs25 an hour, with a minimum of two hours
paid work per visit.
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| Manage pets |
| Firstly, have your animal vaccinated and its booklet
or pet passport updated (in English) by a vet in your
country of origin. Then you need to obtain a certificate
from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the
country from which the animal is being exported, certified
by a vet over there. Book a space for your pet with your
airline, although be careful to do your research before
booking tickets as not all airlines will carry animals.
Dubai Kennels and Cattery (04 285 1646), the Doghouse
(04 347 1807) or the Ajman Pet Resort (06 743 1629)
can help you with this, as well as with customs clearance,
collection from the airport delivery and boarding your
pet for a short amount of time - if you require it.
You can also get advice about the necessary requirements
from your local vet or the originating country's local
embassy. There is no quarantine for pets brought to
the UAE. You need to get a UAE pet health certificate
if you plan on taking your pets on anywhere with you.
This can be obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries (04 222 8161. P.O. Box 1509, email,
maf@uae.gov.ae). You need to submit a copy of the
pet owner's passport, including the residence visa page
along with an import application form and a copy of
the pet's vaccination booklet along with a Dhs 2,000
processing fee.
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Note: All external
links open in a new window. DubaiCityGuide.com is
not responsible for the contents of external sites.
* All information correct at the time of publising
- July 2007 |
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