United Arab Emirates (UAE) Information Guide
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United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Dubai's towers rise from the desert of the United Arab Emirates. Hot weather, an international expat community and top-class shopping and dining are on offer here. Travel deeper into the UAE to discover magnificent sand dunes.
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United Arab Emirates (UAE) - An Expatriate Guide
Overview and Culture
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I moved to Abu Dhabi from Ottawa in April 2008 to help start up an English newspaper, The National, serving the UAE and region. I had always wanted to work abroad and never had the nerve or the opportunity - when I got this chance to work with other newspaper from all over the world, it seemed like an obvious thing to do...
We moved to New Zealand in 1997 to get away from the crime in South Africa. We moved again from NZ to Dubai in 2005 as NZ was getting far too expensive, plus we did not enjoy the wet weather which seemed to last for 6 months of the year. Moving to Dubai my husband got a flat and was there for 4 months before we arrived...
I'm Young and Foolish - A British expat. After working on short contracts in Europe in the early 00's we decided to look for opportunities to live and work abroad. I took a Contract in Saudi Arabia, but unfortunately the security situation rapidly worsened and I did the first year out there alone. My family joined me for a short while when the situation calmed down somewhat before moving onto another contract in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE ...
I have settled in really really well here, and far better than I imagined with a little baby! Don't worry about it, all you have to do is be quite open to getting out and meeting people. I've made lots of friends here with babies and to be honest I've found most of my good friends live near me in Arabian Ranches or the other popular areas like Springs/Meadows etc. Most mums drive everywhere in the heat, but in the Autumn/Winter we'll be able to walk around more and there are little shopping precincts/lakes/parks etc in these areas...
Yvan needed to do his visa run, so we set off Friday morning (i was told the later you go the longer the line gets, which was true). It was amazingly simple, he got out at the 1st check post and had the exit stamp done at the counter (I have a residence visa so didnt need to get out of the car) drove past 2nd check post (which was the customs one). They smiled and waved us onward (nice lads)...
I've lived in Dubai for 5 years now and have been an expat for nearly 30 years in 10 different countries. I've recently gone through the divorce process in Australia and am very clued on what the rules are. I have first hand experience. If you move your tax residence to the UAE the Australian CSA MUST close your case. Make sure that you send them the actual date that you left and always make sure that on the departure card that you tick that you are leaving Australia permanently.
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