Almost everything you need in your first three months in the UAE depends on something else being finished first. Get the order right and the admin is mostly waiting. Get it wrong and you lose weeks.
The order most employment moves follow
- Your employer arranges an employment entry permit before you travel.
- You enter the country on that permit.
- Medical fitness screening.
- Emirates ID application, including biometrics.
- Residence visa issued and linked to your passport.
- Emirates ID card arrives.
- Bank account, which normally waits on the residence visa or the ID.
- Tenancy contract, then its registration.
- Utilities connected, which waits on the tenancy.
- School places confirmed.
Details differ between emirates, and between mainland and free zone employers. Most companies have a public relations officer who handles the visa steps on your behalf, so ask early who that is and what they need from you.
Start these before you fly
- Document attestation. Degree and marriage certificates often need attesting in the country that issued them. Doing it after you have left is slower and more expensive.
- School applications. Places fill by year group rather than by term, and popular year groups can close long before you arrive.
- Housing research. Rent is often paid in a small number of cheques, and many landlords want to see a residence visa. Knowing the norm stops it being a surprise.
These can wait
Converting a driving licence, furnishing beyond the essentials, and choosing a long term neighbourhood. Give yourself one rental cycle before deciding where you want to live. The area that suits your commute in week one is often not the one that suits your life in month six.
