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

Most of this list is simpler to sort out at home than once you have landed. That is the reason the list exists. Work through it in the weeks before you fly and your first month should 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. For a document issued abroad, the issuing country’s foreign ministry attests it, then the UAE embassy or consulate in that country, and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) adds its own attestation. Where MoFA’s digital attestation service runs, as in the UK and India, one online application covers both the embassy and MoFA, and most requests take 2 to 3 working days.

None of this is difficult. The catch is that the home-country steps have to happen where the document was issued, and the physical document has to be handed over, even for the digital service. That is why doing it after you leave means getting the document back to the country that issued it, by courier or through a relative.

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, so a shipment only makes sense for things you cannot replace.

What is worth bringing: your prescription medication with the prescription itself (no more than three months’ supply), 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 and rude gestures are illegal, including online, and can lead to jail or deportation.
• Alcohol: legal from age 21 in licensed venues and, with a Dubai liquor licence, at home. Drinking or being drunk in public is illegal. So is drink-driving, whatever the amount: it can mean prison, a fine of AED 20,000 to 100,000, or both, plus a licence suspension.
• Dress: most of the city has no rigid rule, but in public areas such as malls you are expected to dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered for women, and swimwear is for beaches and pools. Our guide to dress and abaya shopping covers this properly.
• Photography: do not photograph people without their permission, and keep government buildings and military sites out of your pictures, since photographing some of them is illegal.
• Ramadan: Visit Dubai says there are no restrictions on eating and drinking in public for people who are not fasting, and restaurants operate as normal during the day. It suggests avoiding eating, drinking and smoking in public spaces during fasting hours, out of respect for those who fast.

Your first month, in order

1. Step 1Sim card and transportA local number unlocks almost every other process. Pick up a Nol card the same day.
2. Step 2Medical test and biometricsYour employer will usually book these. They gate everything that follows.
3. Step 3Emirates ID and residence visaThe UAE government portal says you must complete the residence visa procedures within one month of entering the country. The Emirates ID then becomes your everyday document, more than your passport.
4. Step 4Bank accountBanks ask for your Emirates ID, so this comes once it is issued. Opening the account can then take from a few hours to two working days, according to Gulf News (2021).
5. Step 5Tenancy 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.