kidy
Am visiting Dubai on tourist visa, can I find a job and apply for a permit?
How easy is it? I am South African.[/u]
dbxsoul
Firstly as a South African you need to have a minimum of a high school qualification, prefrably a tersiary qualification in the field that you are applying for a position in.
Your qualification has to be attested in Pretoria, first at the Dept. of Forgien Affairs and then at the UAE consulate. It is always better to do it yourself or have a friend get them attested for you.
This is an attestation not a certified copy! It will cost you about 400 - 500 Mbeki's! The originals have to be sent, they will not accept copies! This process can take between 1 week and 3 weeks!!!
The originals then need to find thier way back to you, and then need to be attested (again) in the UAE - can't remember which department.
South Africans have to also have security clearance, this means when your prospective employer applies for a work permit for you a clearance certificate has to be issued - they check your background and see if you ever did, or still do belong to any political groups that may be "non grata" in the UAE. This takes about a week.
You said that you were traving on a tourist/ visit visa, if they catch you working on this you will be deported. From personal experience don't work on a visit visa, or let an employer lead you to believe that you can. If you do, they can string you along and not pay you at the end of the month, they can even blackmail you into working for them with the threat of having you deported! At the end of the day your legal rights are zero if you do not have a valid work permit and labour card!
I employ people... the very first question is "do you have attested documents/ certificates?", if they don't it is not worth continuing the interview!!
Good luck!
if you have any other questions mail me at