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A Complete Guide To Living In Dubai: What Expats Should Know
You see the flat on a Tuesday evening in Jumeirah Village Circle. The agent unlocks the door, mentions two other viewings that morning, and asks for four cheques, a copy of your passport, and the page with your visa information. The rest of the process happens on WhatsApp. This includes a photo of the contract, a pin for the handover, and a voice note about the air conditioning. You sign the contract, pay, and then you get the keys.
If this was your first month, most of what happens next is already written down somewhere you can read. Rent caps, insurance duties, school ratings, licence records, toll rates. The city runs on registers, and the mistakes that cost real money are the ones where somebody took a promise instead of opening the record. This guide covers the practical parts in the order you'll meet them, and points to the record each time.
Dubai is long and thin, and almost everything is along Sheikh Zayed Road. Marina, JLT, and Downtown are the most expensive options and are on the Red Line. JVC, Sports City, and Al Furjan offer more square metres and charge you for the drive: JVC has no metro, and a bad morning drive to Downtown takes an hour each way, plus tolls. Mirdif is just outside the airport and is even cheaper. Villas are found in Arabian Ranches, The Springs, or Town Square.
Two things people don't understand. Schools are grouped, so when picking a school for your child, you should think about the school first and the neighbourhood second. If you can't get to the metro easily on foot, it's probably a two-car household. This costs more than the extra rent for a smaller place near a metro.
The variable half swings too hard between households for one number to mean anything. The fixed charges do not.
First, you get an entry permit. Then, you take a medical fitness test and do the Emirates ID biometrics. After that, you get your residence permit. The paperwork takes two to four weeks to process, but longer if the document needs to be attested.
Here are three things that people don't talk about when they first make an offer. The Emirates ID is like the hub for all your information, so everything else, like your bank account and phone contract, depends on it. If you stay outside the UAE for 180 days in a row, your residence visa lapses. The same applies to dependants' visas. Golden, Green and Blue holders are exempt. When a job ends, there is a cancellation period. Read the number on the cancellation paper, because most employment visas get 30 or 60 days by category; Golden and Green are up to 180, and overstay costs AED 50 a day. Make sure you keep the contract registered with MOHRE, not just your offer letter.
Your employer is licensed by either the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) or by a free zone such as DMCC, IFZA, or DIFC. This determines which register answers questions about the company. A mainland search will not return a free zone firm so that an empty result may mean the wrong register rather than fraud. It also determines your rulebook, since DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws and courts. Ask which authority issued the licence before you sign.
Not by whatever the renewal message says. Decree No. 43 of 2013 caps the increase on one comparison: the gap between your rent and the average for similar units in the Land Department's index.
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Your rent against the index average |
Maximum increase on renewal |
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Up to 10% below |
No increase |
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11% to 20% below |
5% |
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21% to 30% below |
10% |
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31% to 40% below |
15% |
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More than 40% below |
20% |
The Land Department works the sum in its own guide: an index average of AED 80,000 against a contract of AED 60,000 puts that tenant 25% below, which permits 10%, or AED 6,000. Use the calculator on dubailand.gov.ae or the Dubai REST app. Since 2 January 2025, the figures have come from the Smart Rental Index. This index grades buildings on an individual basis, so two towers on the same street can differ.
The three dates are as important as the bands. If either side wants to change a term, they must tell the other at least 90 days before it ends, unless your contract says otherwise. If a contract is allowed to run past its expiry date and nobody complains, it will automatically renew on the same terms. If a landlord wants to take back the flat to sell it, move in or gut it, they must give 12 months' notice through a notary or by registered post. A WhatsApp message is not that notice.
You can say that none of this helps once the cheques are handed over. Also, filing at the Rental Disputes Centre costs 3.5% of the yearly rent, at least AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000. So, for a lease of AED 90,000, the cost would be AED 3,150. You should open the index before the 90 days are up, not after.
Every lease must be registered in Ejari. It's not just about paperwork. It also includes your DEWA account, your family's visa application and any rental dispute. The internet is decided by your building, since Etisalat and du split the city between them, and a new tower can take weeks to connect. Ask what is live there before you sign.
To sponsor a spouse and children, you need a valid visa, an Emirates ID, a certified marriage certificate, a registered Ejari, and a salary above the threshold. The minimum amount is AED 4,000, or AED 3,000 with employer housing. This is not a universal figure. It depends on who is sponsoring whom, and GDRFA sets a higher bar in several cases. Get the attestation started first, as it takes the longest.
Insurance can be tricky. Article 10 of Dubai's Law No. 11 of 2013 says your employer must enrol you and pay for it. Article 11 says that sponsors must do the same for the people they bring in, even if they are not their employers. Your company insures you; your family is your bill. Basic plans also have a restricted choice of hospitals, so read that list before you need it.
Schools are rated by the KHDA, with ratings ranging from 'Outstanding' to 'Very Weak'. You can find all of the reports on khda.gov.ae. First, check the date. Inspections were put on hold for 2024-25 and 2025-26, so the grade might be from 2023-24. Popular schools ask for a deposit; ask what happens to it if you decide not to go.
There is no such thing as a freelance domestic worker in the UAE. If you need a cleaner for four hours a week, you can use a licensed company or a Tadbeer centre to arrange it. Hiring someone privately is against the law, and the fines for the household could be as much as tens of thousands of dirhams.
If your licence came from a country on the RTA exchange list, you can swap it without tests, usually in one visit. The list includes fifty origins, and RTA updates it, so check rta.ae rather than a blog. Off the list, budget for a full course over several months. Do not drive on a home licence once you are resident: it is an offence, and insurers can reject the claim.
No personal income tax on salary. Business profit is taxed at 0% on the first AED 375,000 and 9% above, which applies if you have a freelance permit instead of a job. VAT is 5%. Salaries arrive through the Wage Protection System, so a late one leaves a dated record.
Everything above means paying a company: the management company, the movers, the cleaners, the man who fixes the air conditioning in August. The Land Department's guide tells tenants to take a copy of the trade licence, check the trade name, licensed activity, and expiry date, and pay only into the name of the owner or the leasing company. Most guides recommend using a reputable agency instead. The DET register is public and free:
Agencies and PRO shops price this lookup into their fees. We publish one free, so take that as an interest declared.
Since January 2023, non-Muslim residents over 21 have been able to get a personal alcohol licence for free. The 30% municipality tax was returned on 1 January 2025, so prices moved back up. You cannot take alcohol into Sharjah, and drink-driving is a serious offence here. During Ramadan, Salik is busiest from 9 am to 5 pm. Pets need an import permit, a microchip, and current vaccinations arranged before the flight, and summer heat restrictions can be problematic.
Your employer cancels the work permit and the visa, and the grace period starts on that date, not your last day at the desk. Before flying: close DEWA with a final reading so you get your deposit back, cancel the Ejari, settle Salik and traffic fines, close the bank account while your Emirates ID still works, and reclaim the rental deposit at check-out. Book the flight after the cancellation date is confirmed.
If your employer houses you and the year is short, half of this never reaches you. Bring a family, sign your own lease, hire your own contractors, and it becomes the year's admin, most of it answerable in a minute once you know which register to open. Trouble starts on that evening in JVC, when the cheques leave your hand, and nobody has looked anything up.
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