Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

[CANMAN]

Hey there,

New to the forum and like many of you, have decided or thought about moving to Dubai for employment.

I just have some questions.

I'm Canadian and planning a 1 mth trip to Dubai in Nov. to look for employment. Can someone advise me of where will be the ideal area to stay while looking for employment? (Close to some Recruitment agencies)

I read in some posts that attesting for the degrees can be done in the UAE by Emirate Post, then read again that this process has been canceled, so how have some of you gotten your degree/certs attested?

I have 7 years of working experience in logistics/supply chain and product development, does anyone know with this type of experience, how difficult it is to land a gig?

Thanks in advance much appreciated.

[bridge]

Hi,

I believe you need a little more than 1 month to look for a job. Give yourself at least 2 months. Make sure you find yourself a good recruitment agency as they can help immensely.

The best option would be to stay in Sharjah as it's the cheapest. Allowing you to stay longer if you wish.

In terms of degree attestation, Empost does not offer this service anymore. Have it done in Ottawa in the following order:

1. Department of Foreign Affairs. If you send your degree via mail, it takes up to 25 working days. Whereas if you go in person, they do it on the spot.

2. UAE embassy in Ottawa. You need to sign a consent form and pay a 50 dollar fee. Make sure you call your university prior to sending it to the embassy as they need to verify with them that you are indeed a graduate.

3. Department of foreign affairs in UAE. Done on the spot.

I have personally sent my degree for attestation to Ottawa and it has been over a month and haven't received it. So best thing would be to get it done before you arrive as it may be required if you find employment and they need to process your residency application.

Good Luck.

[dbxsoul]

Staying in Sharjah will put you off wanting to work in Dubai.

Any kind of cost saving that you may have with accommodation will be offset by the amount of time spent in traffic and the amount of money spent on travelling back and forth.

Look for cheap/ shared accommodation for the duration of your stay (Karama, Diera, Satwa, Bur Dubai, International City – not the best of areas, but a good place for temporary base), hook up and share with a friend; look at the notice boards in some of the supermarkets (Choitram/ Spinney's) as people regularly post accommodation to share.

[CANMAN]

Thx bridge, but let me get this straight.

I will have to get my degree attested with the

1. Canadian Dept of Foreign Affairs, then
2. UAE embassy in Ottawa, and finally
3. Dept of foreign affairs in UAE

You have to go through 3 different Gov't agencies!!!

In terms of 2 mths for looking for employment, don't the UAE only issue out 30 days visiting visa?

Thx

[CANMAN]

Thx for the info dbxsoul,

I was planning on staying in a hotel apt...the cheap ones were $180 avg per night.

[dbxsoul]

$ CAD or USD?

If it's US the 660 EAD is expensive per night for a room or 600 AED if it’s CAD.

Obviously it’s a lot more comfortable than a 350 AED room. The downside with looking for work during the “winter” months is that it is prime tourist time, hence you end up paying higher rates for accommodation that you would during summer.

As for attestations, yes, this is the process three government offices. Personally I’d do just the first two; leave the last Foreign Affairs (in the UAE) till last, if you are successful in finding a job the company PRO can do it for you.

You may only need a month to find work, but will need to be able to support yourself for two months as you can only expect to be paid at the end of the first month’s employment.

The attestation process is not peculiar to the UAE, and is required throughout the Gulf region, in fact if you have a Saudi consulate closer to you than a UAE consulate you can have the attestation done there as they are both acceptable. Most countries that employ expatriate or non-resident labour insist on qualification attestation – this even includes the USA, UK, Australia; it is simply more pronounced in the UAE as most of the labour force is expatriate.

[arniegang]

JBR are letting Aparthotel rooms for 700dhs per night.

[bridge]

Yep that's the process. The best thing you can do is have your degree attested before coming as employers often prefer those that have degrees attested even if you are more qualified for a certain position.

[CANMAN]

$ CAD or USD?

If it's US the 660 EAD is expensive per night for a room or 600 AED if it’s CAD.

Obviously it’s a lot more comfortable than a 350 AED room. The downside with looking for work during the “winter” months is that it is prime tourist time, hence you end up paying higher rates for accommodation that you would during summer.

As for attestations, yes, this is the process three government offices. Personally I’d do just the first two; leave the last Foreign Affairs (in the UAE) till last, if you are successful in finding a job the company PRO can do it for you.

You may only need a month to find work, but will need to be able to support yourself for two months as you can only expect to be paid at the end of the first month’s employment.

The attestation process is not peculiar to the UAE, and is required throughout the Gulf region, in fact if you have a Saudi consulate closer to you than a UAE consulate you can have the attestation done there as they are both acceptable. Most countries that employ expatriate or non-resident labour insist on qualification attestation – this even includes the USA, UK, Australia; it is simply more pronounced in the UAE as most of the labour force is expatriate.

I guess I can stay in a Hotel Apt for a few weeks then look for shared accommodation..makes more financial sense.

The Saudi consulate is located in Ottawa, the same city as the UAE consulate. So makes not any closer, but thx for that info

[CANMAN]

Yep that's the process. The best thing you can do is have your degree attested before coming as employers often prefer those that have degrees attested even if you are more qualified for a certain position.

So bridge, will you be getting the Dept of F A to forward your attested degree to the UAE Embassy in Ottawa or you will have them send it back to you and then you send to UAE Embassy for authentication?

This seems like a very long and annoying process.... could this take up to 2 mths??

[bridge]

FA will forward your degree to UAE embassy. Include a return envelop so that the embassy can send back your degree.

I am still waiting on FA to forward my degree to the embassy and its been over a month!

You have no other option but to do it this way unless a new law is enforced and changes everything. Which could happen any second...

[CANMAN]

Seems like it would be a lot easier to fly to Ottawa and get it done in a day.
I know FA can get attested on the spot if you go in person, but do you know how long will it take the UAE embassy to attest?

[CANMAN]

Hey Bridge..have you called the FA to check??
Also..I was finally able to talk to someone at the UAE embassy in Ottawa, and found this out.
Once FA forwards to the UAE embassy, they will only attest if they have an official transcript from your University/College.
So, if you they don't have your transcript by the time they receive your degree from FA, you will have to wait (till who knows when) until they contact your school to get your transcript.
Like I said earlier, this process can up to 2 mths, I think I'm just going fly to Ottawa once I get my school to send my transcript to the embassy and get it done in 1 day.

[bridge]

Actually the embassy does not require your transcripts. They can simply call the school and verify that you are indeed a graduate. If you call your university they will be able to speed up the process. Depending how lazy the school is, this alone can take up to 2 weeks!

Anyways my degree has finally been processed at FA and they will forward it to the embassy. Hopefully this will all be done within 10 days.

[Carrots]

Hi, I am currently living in England and have been working in London for the past 11 years.
I have been offered a job in Dubai and as long as comp etc is right then I hope all will go to plan and I'll be out there in Feb 2008!

I have a few questions if anyone can kindly advise?

I'm being put up in accoumadation for one month and will be working in the DIFC the gate..
Can anyone suggest a good reasonably priced area to rent after this period?

My fiancee will be coming with me so she needs to look for a job. She currently has a good education background with good GCSEs, A-levels and a Law degree. She is working for an investment bank in London at present and has 2 years expereince with them.
Can anyone please advise the best course of action she could follow to apply for jobs in Dubai?
The issue we have is that, as were not maarried yet my work will not provide her with a Visa. If she gets a visit visa (2 months) and doesn't find a job after that she will have to return to the UK. So we are hopeing she can find a job prior to our arrival in Dubai.


Also any information you have for a new-comer to Dubai would be much appreciated, e.g. Cost of living etc...

We haven't actually travelled to Dubai before so its going to be a big shock for us. Would you recommend having a short break in Dubai before I agree to my contract to see if we like it or just go for it?

Thanks

[dbxsoul]

Hi, I am currently living in England and have been working in London for the past 11 years.
I have been offered a job in Dubai and as long as comp etc is right then I hope all will go to plan and I'll be out there in Feb 2008!

I have a few questions if anyone can kindly advise?

I'm being put up in accoumadation for one month and will be working in the DIFC the gate..
Can anyone suggest a good reasonably priced area to rent after this period?

My fiancee will be coming with me so she needs to look for a job. She currently has a good education background with good GCSEs, A-levels and a Law degree. She is working for an investment bank in London at present and has 2 years expereince with them.
Can anyone please advise the best course of action she could follow to apply for jobs in Dubai?
The issue we have is that, as were not maarried yet my work will not provide her with a Visa. If she gets a visit visa (2 months) and doesn't find a job after that she will have to return to the UK. So we are hopeing she can find a job prior to our arrival in Dubai.


Also any information you have for a new-comer to Dubai would be much appreciated, e.g. Cost of living etc...

We haven't actually travelled to Dubai before so its going to be a big shock for us. Would you recommend having a short break in Dubai before I agree to my contract to see if we like it or just go for it?

Thanks

http://www.dubaiforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=205138
http://www.dubaiforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=23858

[CANMAN]

Hey Carrots there are lots of threads regarding cost of living, looking for employment, etc.. on this forum, just do a search.

FYI..I'm kinda in the same boat your fiancee is in, I'm trying to look for employment in Dubai prior to my trip there. But so far, I have not rec'd a single response. Think I'm just gonna take my chances and go to Dubai and apply to jobs with a local address and #. If I can't find anything, I'm off to Hong Kong.