The Moving to Dubai Checklist: What to Sort Before You Fly

Almost everything on this list is easy at home and difficult once you have landed. That is the entire reason the list exists. Work through it in the weeks before you fly and your first month will be dull, which is what you want.

Documents to sort before you fly

Take digital copies of every one, stored somewhere you can reach without your laptop. You will be asked for the same documents repeatedly in your first month, by different people, in different formats.

Attestation, and why it matters

Attestation is the chain of official stamps that makes a foreign document acceptable in the UAE. Typically your document is certified in the issuing country, then by that country’s foreign ministry, then by the UAE embassy there, and finally by the UAE authorities once you arrive.

It is not difficult. It is slow, and each step happens in the country that issued the document. That is why doing it after you leave turns a two-week errand into a three-month one involving couriers and a relative doing you a favour.

Money and admin at home

The cash point deserves emphasis. Between a security deposit, agency commission, Ejari registration and a DEWA deposit, the first weeks demand a real sum before any salary arrives. Our cost of living guide sets out the numbers.

What to actually pack

Bring far less than you think. Almost everything is available here, and shipping a container is expensive enough that it only makes sense for genuinely irreplaceable things.

What is worth bringing: a stock of any prescription medication with the prescription itself, professional clothing suited to heavily air-conditioned offices rather than the outdoor heat, and any electronics you would find annoying to replace. What is not worth bringing: furniture, bulky kitchen equipment, and winter clothing beyond one jacket for January evenings and over-cooled cinemas.

Local rules newcomers get wrong

Dubai is relaxed by regional standards and stricter than most Western visitors expect on a handful of specific points. The people who get into difficulty are almost never being deliberately provocative, they simply did not know.

• Public behaviour: swearing, rude gestures and public arguments are treated more seriously than you would expect, including online.
• Alcohol: legal in licensed venues, not legal in public, and drink-driving is treated with zero tolerance.
• Dress: no rigid rule in most of the city, but malls and government buildings expect shoulders and knees covered. Our guide to dress and abaya shopping covers this properly.
• Photography: do not photograph people without permission, and avoid government and military buildings entirely.
• Ramadan: eating, drinking and smoking in public during daylight hours is not done, whatever your own faith.

Your first week, in order

1. Day 1-2Sim card and transportA local number unlocks almost every other process. Pick up a Nol card the same day.
2. Day 2-5Medical test and biometricsYour employer will usually book these. They gate everything that follows.
3. Week 1-2Emirates ID and residence visaThe Emirates ID becomes your everyday document, more than your passport.
4. Week 2-3Bank accountDigital accounts open in hours, traditional banks in three to seven working days.
5. Week 3-4Tenancy and EjariSign, register, then connect DEWA. In that order, because each step needs the last.

Nothing here is difficult. It is simply sequential, and trying to jump ahead is what causes the frustration people describe.