Hi folks
I'm having an insane idea around my mind ... Is there anyone who visited Dubai? The insane idea would be ... trying to find out whether it would be fair moving there to work in the fastest growing economy (Oil's Gods) of the world.

Any advice would be higly appreciated.

Cheers
Nick

Ciao,

I am currently located in Dubai, but may be moving to Switzerland for work in the summer.

What would you like to know? Feel free to ask anything and I'll try to help.

A presto,

Matt.

I lived in Dubai for 3 years. PM me with any specific questions. Cheers

I've spent a lot of time in Bahrain (similar kind of economy and environment) and been in Dubai shortly for a visa trip.

I like it, it is a very different life style but I like it.

Bear in mind that in Dubai you do not pay taxes, the salary is high (for westerners) and the life cost is quite cheap. There you can afford a much better life style that you'd afford here with the same salary. The food is excellent, you'll find every possible kind of restaurant. Everything that is prohibited by their religion is nevertheless widely available, I mean alcohol and mercenary sex...you'll see a lot of locals making a wide use of both Drugs are the only thing strictly prohibited and the police enforces the ban very seriously (some expats have been sent to jail for having smoked a bit of "ganja").

One example: for 30-40 Euro per month, a guy will wash your car every day.

On the downside: the traffic is horrible, constantly jammed and the locals drive like maniacs. The weather in summer is way too hot, and you'll spend most of your day inside with the aircon. It might be boring if you stay there for a long time, there's not much to see and to travel.

"Dubai itself is not tax free, although this generalization is often made."

Loved Dubai, there is a vibrant nightlife and a lovely beach. Many benefits of living there including a two year interest free car loan (and cars are exceptionally cheap) if you could wait until Ramadhan, many dealers have special offers on. A friend of ours saved around $500 by losing weight during the month of denial

This thread is in dire need of some pics.....






Never been, but a few friends have djed out there, they said it was amazing but far too hot.

OOOOHHHH how lovely. We lived in Muscat for three years and visited Dubai at least once a month because it was much more lively than the sunny Sultanate. You do get used to the heat although the governement under report the temperature. AFAIK, if the mercury hits 50 degrees celcius work can stop. Imagine all the building work grinding to a halt. Another thing I think I know is that 80% of the worlds cranes are in Dubai and the surrounding emirates at the moment due to the building boom.

Interesting link. But it is still tax free enough for the occasional Dubai resident to be astonished about the concept of taxes in Switzerland, as was recently demonstrated in this forum...

Def. Cost of living is infinitely smaller than Switzerland's, health care is world class and the insurance is generally provided by employer. Since reading this thread, I've been on the msm to a friend who lives in Abu Dhabi and made tentative arrangements to go and see her in July. Can't wait.