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Moving to Dubai

Some tips:

1. I prefer Virgin over Du or Etisalat as they allow you to Pause number (and pay just 10AED/month during these months while you are away) but still your number will work and someone can call you even then. They also offer eSIM. Also, on the other side, if you pay your plan for the whole year in advance they offer 50% discount.

2. Use any VPN that works. People tend to use TurboVPN there for the calls (as it's free). Some major VPNs are blocked so make sure it works before buying one.

3. You could find great deals if you want to stay in hotels but then you can't prepare any of the food yourself nor store it. Some hotels even offer monthly rates (like Rove -> Monthly Hotel Stay Rates In Dubai - Starting From AED 4,999 - but note that their rooms are quite small). Stay in a hotel a couple days first before committing to one month. I could give you some tips about staying in private at JimBeam1795[at]protonmail.com
@JimBeam , would it be fine to pop you a mail?
 
I'm relocating to Dubai in the next few weeks. Freezone company is setup.

For those that have done the move, any practical tips to share?

Examples:

- For the initial period, is a hotel preferred over a serviced apartment or hotel?
- Sim cards: any particular preference for Du, Virigin or Etisalat?
are you still around to share some practical experience which you must have gained after you posted your thread?
 
@JimBeam can you pay services in dubai with foreign debit mastercard/visa card or do they have any limitations, that it has to be issued in UAE or credit mastercard/visa card only?
some services can only be bought by gcc credit cards afaik etisalat postpaid, paying for ejari.
But regarding consumer experience, all foreign cards work. You just need the highest limit possible since the shopping experience is thru the roof.
 
Anyway, since exchange rates for everything else than USD suck there, if you have EUR, GBP etc. it's advised to pay everything by card as the fees will be lower than if you exchange the money at the exchange office/bank.

The spreads for EUR, GBP are now almost 10% while on USD is about 0.5% (meaning that you'll loose about 0.25% for exchanging USD but for exchanging EUR or GBP you might lose 4-5%).
Rates if you pay with debit cards are much lower.
 
how much is advisable to budget in Dubai for first month ?
My estimates are
Airfare + accomodation + groceries + phone + internet + commute to and fro banks and office + $2000 surplus

But not sure about additional costs and the items ( and possible fee + duty )
 
how much is advisable to budget in Dubai for first month ?
My estimates are
Airfare + accomodation + groceries + phone + internet + commute to and fro banks and office + $2000 surplus

But not sure about additional costs and the items ( and possible fee + duty )

Depends totally on your lifestyle.

Airfare: 200$ Economy/3k$ Business
Accomodation: from 5-6k$/month Airbnb/Short
Groceries: 1k$
Phone/Internet: 100$
Commute: Uber 500$
 
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You can stay at hotel serviced apartment's for less than $5-6k.
(I stayed this year at Radisson 1BR premium suite for 10k AED/month but at a distant location)
Just look at hotels for long term stay option offers (or ask them if they can provide).

I also stayed a month for (560 AED/day) or about $4,5k in a massive 90sqm2 serviced apartment in Dubai Marina.
Depends on what location are you after and what comfort are you looking to get.

If you plan on driving:
Rent-a-car: ~2,000 AED gets you cars small SUV like Duster, Creata or Kicks or ~3,300 AED you can get Outlander, Sportage, Xtrail, Koleos
Petrol: ~200-400 AED (depends on usage)
Salik: ~100 AED (road tolls, depends on where you are and how often you drive on SZR)

You also need to include parking (some public ones are paid using SMS and costs 3AED/hour, crappy garages in buildings are 5-10 AED/hour, better parking at Blue Water islands, JBR etc are 20 AED hour or you get 3 free hours if you spend 100 AED in restaurants there just give them a ticket to validate it when paying the bill)

If you have emirates ID you (you are a resident) you need to swap your driver's license.
It usually costs ~1,000 AED (details New to the UAE? Here is how to convert your driving licence to a UAE driving licence).
It's one time fee and the first drivers license lasts 2 years and after that one the renewed one lasts 5 years (and is super easy to renew at the ATM-like machine, literally takes 2 minutes).
 

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