Do you need help with Jobs, Visa, Accommodation or Entertainment offers in Dubai? Dubai has a number of free classifieds that advertise job opportunities, apartments and villas for letting short term or on an annual contract basis, cars from 4×4 to small runaround vehicles, and what to do for entertainment in your leisure time.

Here are a few of the popular publications that are must read for anyone seriously considering coming to UAE to make it. Please be aware of bogus advertisers in Dubai.

Firstly, check out Gulf News (Gulfnews.com). This is a daily publication in paper and online. It is probably the most popular publication for the middle class. The online version has sections on News, Business, Sport, Life,…etc. But to the right side of the banner, you will notice links to Classifieds, Jobs, Wheels, and Property. Browsing through this site is free. Should you want to read the Newspaper’s ePaper version then there is a free 7 day trial.

Another popular website is dubizzle. This has grown into a phenomena in Dubai and especially popular with real estate agents, buy and sell merchants. One man bands wanting to make a quick sale for cash for unwanted items. Expats leaving or arriving in UAE should check this website. If you are not based in UAE then registering for membership is not possible as you will require a local mobile number to have your account verified.

Others to consider are Emirates 24/7 and Arabia Business. Both online publications compete with Gulf News.

So there are plenty of choices for you to browse through to find out what is hot in Dubai. Should you require further help then send your enquiry and we will endeavour to help you.

Expats living in Dubai on a 30 day visit or tourist visa, wanting to extend their stay without incurring heavy fines, can make a trip to the nearest boarder to Dubai.
Hatta (part of Oman) is the closest boarder to Dubai. A car ride from central Dubai to Hatta is about an hour’s ride. Local tour operators also run a bus service from Deira to Hatta for the Visa run to Oman.
If 4 people can share the costs then the journey is quicker and you can be back in Dubai within 3 hours. By bus, allow for an extra couple of hours.
The visa itself is valid for 30 days and costs AED200 or about $60. The bus fare is currently AED40 to/from Hatta. So, if you plan on staying in Dubai for a while then you need to allow for around AED250 of additional costs for renewing your visa every 30 days by travelling to Hatta and back.

Dubai goverment offices are very strict about validating your application by verification of required proof. Before you can submit valid proof, it needs to be attested. The following is the correct procedure for getting your documents attested in UK before they could be accepted in UAE.
If you need to have power of attorney (POA), a further education or professional qualification certificate, marriage, birth certificates, or name change deed poll then here are the steps that will save you time and money.

1. Take the copies of the document or original if required to your nearest solicitors. They are qualified notary public and as such authenticate your document. This is the first step and you must do this. The cost is probably no more than £5 for first doument and maybe £2 for each subsequent document.
2. Now you need to go online to http://www.fco.gov.uk and follow the instructions to print the application form for submitting you request for attestation by UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office. This service is a combination of online and postal only. There is no office to go to.
3. Read the form carefully and complete it offline.
4. I would recommend making the payment online because you are given a reference at the end of the payment process which you will need to record onto the application form. Note that each document attested costs £30.
5. I would also recommend that you pay the extra £6 for the return of your documents via recorded delivery. So for 3 documents, you need to pay £96.
6. Post the application form and the documents to be attested and wait a few day before they are returned to you, duely attested.
7. Now you need to take these documents to UAE Embassy in London. Their website is absolute crap and is usually down. But here is their location address in London.
UAE Embassy
48 Prince’s Gate
London, SW7 2QA
Opening hours are 9:30am to 1pm Monday to Friday. On my last visit, I was told to return after 2pm to collect the attested documents. They will charge £20 per document.

Try to get all the documents that you require to be attested done in one go.
2.

A recent growing concern in Dubai is alarming the police. Bogus companies are targetting vulnerable individuals, enticing them with jobs in Dubai. The jobhunters instead end up getting caught in a web deceit. Police are warning jobhunters to be aware of job offers and promises from such companies.

There is a growing number of unregistered and fake companies that trap unsuspecting and innocent jobhunters through advertising nonexistent vacancies.

If you are looking for a job in Dubai and if you are asked to open a bank account or give out your bank details before you have had an interview and have been given a written job offer then this is a red flag. The crooks will try many angles to convince you. For instance the account is required for money transfers that are part of your job. Stay away from these jobs as you will end up giving your money to them and will never see it again.

Regardless of Dubai being a muslim country and everone is honourable and their word is considered the truth. Do not believe it, because, the gangs are international operators from all corners of the world.

If you perspective employer does not offer a labour contract, without which you can not work in Dubai, then you should be concerned about it being an illegal operation. Also, the company has to have a bank account in ots own name and make payments and can not use employee account for its benefit.

So, if you have been duped or suspect an illegal employment opportunity in Dubai then let the local police know.

What do you pay the service charge for for a real estate property in Dubai and why are some owners unwilling to pay service charges for their property in Dubai?

Here are 7 reason for service charges

• Common area services and maintenance
• Specialised services such as fire systems, lifts, swimming pool, building maintenance unit
• Management cost (Interim OA manager and/or developer)
• Building Insurance cost
• Contingency costs for spare parts, materials, improvements etc
• Utility bills such as Dewa and Palm District Cooling (capacity and consumption)
• Master community service charge

Here are 5 common reasons why owners fail to meet their obligation

• Financial constraints on the part of owners
• Owners are living abroad
• Lack of understanding of what the service charge is for
• Lack of awareness that the charges are an annual affair
• Lack of understanding by owners that issues concerning individual units have no connection with common area and service maintenance

These days you read about Dubai real estate that it is a buyers market or that there is plenty of stock to choose from or that renters are going upmarket for better value for money. All of this may be true but the so called real estate agents are not helping Dubai’s image of a choice destination.

Of course, there are lots of ads publicising availability and choice. However, you find that when you get in touch with the agents, you get the bad news that either it is no longer available or that a viewing is difficult to arrange. Why is that?

Unfortunately, it is the owner that is at the heart of the problem. In order to get the maximum exposure, the owner will choose far more agents to market the property instead of a select 2 or 3. Sometimes, you will see the same property being listed in 10s of property related websites where listing costs nothing.

So, when that particuar property is off the market after being let, the other agents are unaware but contniue to advertise availability. This is the real problem. As a prospective client, you end up chasing a dead end.

So, when an agents tells you to visit the property without their presence, you know that the agent does not know the current true status of that property. I fthere isa lesson here, it is that to avoid agents who tell to carry out a viewing without their presence.

Dubai is a small city and therefore there are not that many schools for learning to drive. Only a handful of driving schools are allowed to operate. For example, Emirates driving institute, Belhasa driving center, Dubai Driving Center, and Al Ahli. None of these could be classed as cheap and the service from each varies considerably.

From experience, Emirates comes top in rating and customer service but it is probably the most expensive of all by several hundered Dhirams. Al Ahli seems to be unreliable and you may be disappointed on ocassions when the instructor fails to make it for a pre-booked lesson. Not good at all! Essentially, you got to be lucky to have with a good instructor.

If you are planning to go home for a few weeks, it may be better to do an intensive driving course and take the test back home. Whilst it may seem practical to do the learning Dubai, the cost and unreliability of service definitely outweighs the benefits.

If you do get your driving licence in DUbai, then you need to be aware that A UAE license is not recognised in UK. Driving in UAE is not the same as in UK and you may need a few lessons in DUbai to familiarise yourself with the rudiments.

A ‘visa run‘ in Dubai is one way to get a visa extension for tourist visitors who want to stay longer than originally allowed to. The visa run is legal and involves about 4 hours round trip to the nearest border where you exit and then re-enter Dubai with a stamp.

Visa run is time consuming and can cost around £50 to £60. However, there are alternatives. For instance, if you don’t want to leave Dubai then you can visit Dubai’s NR Department (DNRD) and get yourself a 30 day extension for just over £100. It does not require a long drive to Hatta where the border is.

There is another lesser know option and you may be able to get a ‘longer visa‘ for Dubai stamp for some extra fee. Take your passport and plenty of cash to the immigration dept next to Jaffilia Metro Station, close to the Trade Centre roundabout, near Bur Dubai police station. It is amazing what is possible with enough cash here. You have to visit that office as you can not do this online.

One bit of advise is to go there early, even before 8am to avoid queues. Typing office needs to complete your application, followed by the office issuing you with the visa stamp. If you time it, you can be in and out in 20 minutes. Ladies might get seen to faster as there tends to be no queue in their section.

So, go to bur Dubai office early, take cash with you, as they do not accept any other method of payment, and you will have your visa for a little extra, much quicker than a long drive to Hatta and back.

Dubai real estate law requires that if a third party is to act on behalf of legally registered owner or owners of a property then a valid power of attorney document must accompany any transaction forthat to be legally binding in Dubai.

Let us take an example of a wife and her brother in law who jointly own a property in Dubai and wish to give a power of attorney to the husband to be their representative.

The quickest and easiest option is for all three to be present in Dubai and visit the Dubai court to have the specific POA drawn up and attested. Alternative is for all three to have the same document drawn up in their own country by a Notary Public and for it to be legalised at the UAE Embassy in that country. The document will then have to be brought to Dubai and legalised at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is important to know that the power of attorney document must be in English as well as Arabic. Otherwise, it will not be accepted by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Power of attorney documents lasting longer than 12 months run the risk of being rejected.

Do you need help with drafting a Power of Attorney? Contact us with your enquiry today.

On 28 June 2011 the U.A.E.’s federal government agreed to lengthen the period for real estate investor visa from 6 months to 3 years. This is an almost reversal of the previous step when the property visa period was shortened to six months from five years. That decision received massive critcism from from homebuyers and investors.

Residential real estate sector analysts are predicting it to be a much needed boost in a stagnant market. However, for the changes to have real impact, the government needs to make it clear that the extensions won’t be changed again soon.

This is the right time to be getting your residentail visa application for Dubai going. There is already a clamour to get in the queue. Please do not underestimate the effort. It will take a lot of time, money, and jumping through several hoops before you have the document confirming your status.

If you are unable to travel to Dubai and wish to save on expensive travel costs then let us help you on the ground in Dubai and assist you with your application. For a fee way less than air fare and accomodation and time costs, we will do the running for you to get the necessary paper work completed that you require.

Contact us with your enquiry today.