UAE Vs The World

Okay the blog this week was supposed to be a rant at customer service- but then someone from the UK tweeted me (@Audiomonkee) saying they’re coming to visit to Dubai-and wanted to know what is and isn’t allowed in the UAE. I replied saying ‘normal things’ are allowed, having only 160 characters.

However, I do think it’s brought up an important point. The UAE, while it does have random idiosyncrasies, is also one of the most liberal places in the region. Yes, there are rules and regulations, but as far as I know, all societies are made up of certain rules. In the UK you can take pictures of government buildings, in the Ukraine you can’t. In Malia, you can have sex on the beach, in Dubai (and mostly everywhere else in the world) you can’t.

The UAE has got some bad rep recently, thanks to some frisky Brits and equally frisky tabloid papers, which is why I hope I can help you make an informed decision about the country. Firstly the couple infamous for their sexual exploits on the beach would have been breaking public decency rules in pretty much most of the world and an insider has told me that the couple who were charged for kissing in a restaurant were warned numerous times before they were dobbed in.

The UAE bases a lot of its rules on a culture based on a mixture of Islam, Gulf culture and the nomadic and pearl diving heritage it has. Because of the set up, women and men tended to have different tasks and did tend to be separated from each other in a lot of situations. This is something that has stuck, but does not mean the female population here are downtrodden. In fact, Emirati girls are higher achievers than the boys at school and university. This week, I met two who were convinced that there’ll soon be more Emirati women in the UAE cabinet than men, they say like everything, it needs time to help perceptions change, and they are right.

Consider the fact that the UAE is forty years old on December 2^nd, England is hundreds of years old-yet in England only around 22 percent of women make up the parliament today, while a very similar number of women are in government in the Emirates. In the UK, the first woman elected into parliament was in 1919 after the war, in the UAE, women were in parliament since parliament existed. This is an excellent article by two women I have interviewed many times

http://www.dsg.ae/PUBLICATIONS/PublicationDetail.aspx?udt_826_param_detail=501

Around 40 years ago, there were less than 50 cars on the UAE’s dirty, sandy roads…and today it’s got over 400 skyscrapers and a few million cars and an annoying but quite advanced toll system.

The point I’m getting at, is the UAE is a relatively young country and it will make mistakes but its positives outweigh the negatives by far or so many of us expats will not live here.

Of course there are a lot of rules I, and many others, don’t agree with; for example this week a girl was fined 300 dirhams for falling asleep on the metro. When I called the RTA to ask why, the simple answer was it’s a rule. Another metro story, earlier in the year, a colleague of mine was fined for running in the metro station, when I contested it with the police officer, he said the train comes every 8 minutes, just wait and be patient.

Those rules really infuriate me, just like all the bureaucracy it takes to do something simple like cancel a visa or move jobs, but at the same time living here is easy, its safe and there is a strong cultural awareness. Children here are very respectful of older people, to the point I can always tell if an expat has been born and raised in the UAE or their home country.

So, yes, getting back to my point...walking around showing overt public displays of affection are frowned upon, but I don’t really know any society where this is actually okay. I’ve been on buses in England where people do their best to look everywhere but at the couple who are trying to swallow each other’s tonsils at the front. It really isn’t pleasant, whether or not you’re a prude and I say hallelujah to a government that fights for my rights to look all around a bus and have a tonsil-free view.

Things you need to know

This post will cover four short topics that you really need to know if you live here.

Paying Fines

Getting fined for traffic offenses in the UAE is quite a regular occurrence for a lot of people…mainly because they don’t stick to the speed limit. Paying them is quite simple and the government has been lenient on people who owe thousands of dirhams-some of them have been pardoned and others have been given the option of installment payments.

In Dubai you get two different authorities that can fine you, the RTA (For issues like parking) and the Police (for issues like speeding). The good news is you can pay both types of penalty at either office. There is also an online facility, which makes life incredibly easy. I have included the sites below. I’ve made sure they work, so if they don’t, please let me know on feyaza@gmail.com

These are the online sites for the 3 most important emirates:

Abu Dhabi

http://www.adpolice.gov.ae/en/Portal/e.services.aspx

Sharjah

http://shjpolice.gov.ae/en/index.html

Dubai

http://www.dubaipolice.gov.ae/dp/jsps/home.do?switchLanguage=en&noCache=1320981524980

(The Dubai website has a ‘most-wanted’ section on the home page, which is quite fun…they’re mostly Europeans at the time of writing)

What to do in an Accident

If you ever meet in car crash-whatever emirate you’re in and however minor- you must always call the police. The officer will come out to you (within an hour depending on traffic) and will determine who caused the accident. Usually the person who has caused the crash will be given a 200-400 dirham penalty for being so ridiculous.

Your insurance details will be taken and depending on the circumstances, you may have to go with your crash-partner to the police station.

If your car has been damaged-whether you caused the crash or not, you will also have to visit your insurance office and determine how much excess you will have to pay and where to send your car, they very rarely sort this kind of thing on the phone.

In the cases of crashes with damage to your car, expect around 3 days of hassle.

Salik Toll

Salik was introduced in Dubai to curb the traffic, at first these ‘gates’ were remarkable, for four dirhams, you passed through with ease and bypassed all the other cars. Then everyone decided they don’t mind paying Salik and if you now try going to Deira at 5pm using Sheikh Zayed Road, you will be stuck in manic traffic coming from Abu Dhabi. Same goes for the opposite route in the mornings. (Also, they’re not really gates, they’re more like square arches that use Radio frequency technology, so its all automatic; your Salik tag is charged every time your car passes through one of them)

There are four Salik toll-gates-two of which are on Sheikh Zayed Road and one on the way to the airport. They can be avoided by using other roads, I know lots of people who never pay Salik, but you still need a tag.

You will never be charged more than 24 dirhams in a day and if you take less than half an hour to pass from one to the other gate on Sheikh Zayed Road, you’ll only be charged once.

You can get a Salik application form at some banks or you can apply online. It costs about 100 dirhams- 50 of which is credit. It’s one of the easiest things to do. You’ll need ID and car registration card. This is the website

https://customers.salik.ae/app/RegisterOnline.aspx?culture=eng

Please note, you will be fined if your salik tag isn’t fixed-starting at 100 dirhams and then doubles every time you cross a gate. Also, if you don’t have enough credit on your tag, you will be fined 50 dirhams every time. However, you do get 4 ‘free’ passes before you’re fined for no credit. Since your mobile phone is registered to salik, you’ll get an SMS every time your pass by a toll without credit. I haven’t tested this out but have heard that if the credit is topped up within two working days, the penalty will be waived.

E-gate

Getting an e gate card, is the easiest thing ever and has changed my life. I haven’t waited in an immigration queue at a UAE airport for years. It costs 200 dirhams and needs to be renewed every year. You will need to physically go to the offices in the airport, DNATA buildings or DNRD yourself, since your picture and fingerprints will need to be taken and officials will have to see you are who you say you are.

It takes about 10 minutes in total, and your card will be issued in front of you. You will then be able to bypass the queues use the e-gates at any airport in the emirate.

Please note you should always take cash, and the prices may change so bring enough.


EDIT: As of January 2012, you can link your e-gate card to your ID card; just take your ID card to the DNATA offices, pay the fees and voila.

I haven't decided what to talk about in next week's post as yet, but am considering a rant on customer service in the UAE, and how to maintain your sanity. 

Getting a Emirates ID Card

 If I remember correctly, the first mention to the public of ID cards happened sometime in 2008.

The idea was to have super card that will eventually link bank accounts, health logs, drivers licenses, traffic fines, e gate cards etc and will massively contribute to the ease of the nation. It’s also more convenient for the government to have the records of its mostly-expat population, so in the event of death, for example, it will be a quicker and more convenient way for the government and families to deal with the situation of closing bank accounts and other records.

However, over the past two or three years, the application deadlines for expats and nationals have changed constantly to accommodate the apathetic attitude of the public to the cards. This was partly due to the fact that the online registration form did not work very well (You had to download some type of software to go with it and if you made a mistake you needed another form and would then have to download it from a different computer, it was slightly crazy), the ID card centres were always insanely busy and some government departments and banks had no idea what an ID card was. Dubai’s RTA had also made things easier for people who didn’t have an ID card saying it wouldn’t make it mandatory for people applying for drivers licenses etc to have an ID card.

As a result, the government has had to take a more hard-line approach to get people signing up to the card, it announced more achievable deadlines and also fines for people who didn’t sign up by that time.

The deadlines are separated between UAE nationals, government departments, each emirate and people who already have ID cards and need to renew them. I’ve attached a sheet with information regarding the deadlines, as you will see some deadlines have already been passed. People who have missed their deadline will be fined 20 dirhams per day to a maximum fine of 1,000 dirhams.

If you’ve just arrived in the UAE and are applying for a visa, your HR department should also set up an Emirates ID application for you since the visa and ID card application is now linked.

I hadn’t applied for my ID card till this week and only then because I was writing this blog (Even though I know the process I wanted to experience it) I think the main reason for my procrastination was possibly because of the queues. I had forgotten however that women in the UAE don’t really need to queue. The first part is really easy; you hand your passport over to a reputable typing centre (some are in the ID card centres but can get full very quickly) they fill in a form for you. This could take up to a day depending on how busy they are and the fees will be up to 400 dirhams at the typing centre.

You should get an sms before your appointment (I got mine the day of my appointment and had I not already known when it was thanks to the typing centre, it would have been a mad scramble)

When I got to the ID centre (I went to Al Barsha), there were about 40 men in a queue and my heart sank since we were apparently supposed to collect a ticket before heading to the appointment. This is a bit strange since you shouldn’t need a ticket to tell you when to go for your appointment since you have already been given a time.

Of course, since I was female I didn’t have to wait in the queue and someone very kindly scanned my document from the typing centre and handed me a ticket. Still, what a pointless hassle for the men! A friend says its because they need to check your documents are in order, but I honestly think this could be done during you ’appointment’

After that though, smooth sailing! You wait for your ticket number to be called, head to the appropriate desk and get your fingerprints and a picture taken. And then you’re done. The ID card should take around 6 weeks I’ve been told.

This is the Emirates ID website which may be of some use http://www.emiratesid.ae/en/process-and-fees/registration-process.aspx

Thank you for the positive and kind comments on Facebook and Twitter and please recommend my blog to people who are moving to the UAE.

As always if you have any questions or comments, please email me or comment below and I will do my best to help.

Next week, I’ll do a number of small topics and bunch them together Paying Fines, What to do in an accident, Salik Toll and e gate.

Working in the UAE

In order to live the UAE, you must obtain a residency visa or be a dependent of someone who has a residency visa. As a result, most people who live here will have jobs or be able to stay on an investor visa (I will cover this at some point).

As a side note, women who are unmarried can stay in the country on their parents’ visas, which is quite useful; men can only do this until the age of 18.

Depending on which sector you work in, the benefits you receive with each job will differ. However, there are some things that apply nationwide and to every employee. This is a fairly wide topic and I expect I will have to add to it intermittently.

We’re quite lucky in the emirates, since your employer is duty-bound by law to provide you with health insurance and a ticket back home.  If you have a family, the employer will usually also cover their visas, medical insurance and tickets back home.

Visa and medical test

To get a residency visa, everyone is obligated to take a tuberculosis X-Ray and a blood test for HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis, leprosy and in some cases pregnancy. Except for pregnancy, please note positive results of any of the others will result in immediate deportation. In the case of pregnancy of a woman applying for a job, it is up to your employer to decide whether you should still be employed. If you are unmarried and pregnant, it will be treated as a criminal offense here.

Leaving before your contract Ends

This can be tricky, but things are getting better here. According to UAE Labour law, you aren’t allowed to move from one employer to a competitor-unless you receive a NOC (No Objection Certificate-learn this, you will need one for a lot of things) Usually employers aren’t so kind as to provide you with an NOC, which means you will either have to work in a completely different industry-which for obvious reasons can be impossible-or be banned from working in the UAE for at least a year. The UAE is working to change this rule. This article may help you to understand it better.

http://www.thebigprojectme.com/2011/06/12/uae-expat-labour-laws-to-change/

Things to be aware of

·      Some private companies try to keep hold of your passport when you start working with them. This is illegal, and usually an HR department will back off if you bring this to their attention. They may compromise and take your labour card instead. The Ministry of Labour works very hard to ensure that contracts are adhered and will penalise companies that try to rip you off. The worker's rights are taken quite seriously and your complaint will be taken seriously.

·      During Ramadan every employee, Muslim or not, should work 2 hours less in the day. In government companies, it's an 8 hour work day and usually the timings are from 7.30 to 3.30- but 7.30 to 1.30 in Ramadan. In private companies the timings are usually 8am-5pm and in Ramadan 8am to 3pm. However,  some private employers don’t follow this rule and will go through extreme measures to ensure their employees work the regular 9 hours. If you do work a 9-hour day during Ramadan you are entitled to 2 hours in lieu per day. Ministry of labour inspectors go round to ensure companies are sticking to the Ramadan hours, and you can contact them to organise a 'spot' inspection at your office if your company is not abiding by the law.

·      If you work on public holidays like Eid, National Day etc, you are entitled to the days off. Eid holidays fall on a different date each year since Muslims work according to a lunar calendar. You should get 30 days of annual leave

·      When you sign a contract, your company may offer you a ‘furniture allowance’ of around 8-10,000 dihams. You will have to pay this back if you work for the company for less than 2 years. You also have the option of an interest free loan from your company to pay your rent if your landlord is asking for the full yearly amount in one cheque. Try not to do this though, and instead look for a place to stay where the landlord asks for 4 or more cheques. 

·      Your company medical insurance doesn’t usually cover dental, maternity or optical. You may want to think about an additional medical plan for these things

·      Most companies will work through the working week (Sunday to Thursday) with Fridays and Saturdays off. However there are a few businesses that work 6 day weeks (Saturday to Thursday) but the Saturday will be a shorter working day than the rest of the week

This is the link from Gulf Talent, which has a translated version of the UAE labour law for more information.

http://www.gulftalent.com/repository/ext/UAE_Labour_Law.pdf

If you have any questions at all, feel free to comment or email me and I will be happy to answer them. Similarly, if you feel I have left anything out, please let me know. I would love to have positive or negative feedback.

Renting in the UAE

This post is going to give quite a broad overview, or it will never end, because this is a HUGE subject. I’ll start with a background before moving on to where to live.

It’s advisable to use an estate agent to find your property, because all the paperwork will get done in half the time. This costs a commission of around 2,500 dirhams, and is usually worth it. Also, the agent usually knows someone who can sign up to the water and electricity department for you (for about 200 dirhams more) which means you don’t have to sit in the queue for hours. Make sure your agent is reputable, use one that has either been recommended to you or from a big company, as this could save you problems later. 

When you sign on to a property, make sure you read the tenancy contract and your landlord signs it before you do. Also make sure you have his details, because a lot of times, he will live in another country and you will probably not see him during the entire transaction>and because they have the agent’s details, people tend to forget about the landlord.

Usually, on top of agent’s commission, you will have to pay a deposit for the flat of 5 percent of the rent. Sometimes, there is also a cooling deposit (for air-conditioning), which means you will pay for AC every month on top of the water and electricity bill- though sometimes the landlord takes care of this. When you sign up for water and electricity, you will need to put a deposit down of around 1,000 dirhams, depending on your emirate. All of these funds will have to be paid by cash or cheque.

Pets are not welcome in some apartment buildings, it seems to be a fairly new concept here and while it isn’t a hostile environment to pets, it can seem so sometimes. Pet owners that don’t use leads in public places could be fined and the government are planning pet parks, but for the time being, if you have a pet, find out the situation at the apartment building you’re moving into.

Where to live?

The most populated emirates in the UAE are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman. The last two because they are incredibly cheap to live in-and while they aren’t far (in UAE terms) there is so much traffic in the mornings and evenings heading in and out of them; that they may as well be in another country. People who do take this route usually have a big family and tend to carpool, or carpool to the Rashidiya metro station and I presume, stock up on podcasts.

Traffic is a problem generally across the Emirates because of many of the road structures being incomplete or not updated. The increasing population also makes things a bit congested (as I write the population of the UAE is at just over 8.2 million) but you’ll soon learn routes that will take you where you want to go without traffic. Just like you will learn all about how the road signs, roundabouts, four way lanes have the potential become something completely different overnight, without warning. You'll also learn that road signs end before they've directed you to where you want to go, and sometimes they are placed at the start of the exit you were supposed to turn into, which means you miss it. I have heard the relevant road authorities are looking into these issues.

Every new apartment block in the ‘new’ areas of Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi usually have communal gyms and pools, many of them have 24 hour security (which is completely unnecessary but comforting nonetheless) I'll put the prices in dirhams per year.

Renting in Abu Dhabi:

Even though the emirate of Abu Dhabi is biggest in the country according to its landmass, the city itself is crowded and expensive to rent in. Prices have dropped by over 30 percent in the last 3 years but in Dubai they’re dropped by more than 60 percent. Many people prefer to commute the hour-long journey from Dubai where the rents are much cheaper. However there are cost-effective options out of the main city but still within the Municipality of Abu Dhabi, like Khalifa City.

Working on a two bedroom apartment in dirhams, I’ll just give you a broad idea of how much the rents are in some of the newer areas of Abu Dhabi.

Al Reem Island- 140-160,000

Al Reef- 100-120,000

Al Raha Beach 140-160,000

Danat Abu Dhabi – 100-130,000

Ras Al Khadr – 150-180,000

Khalidiya- 150- 180,000

Khalifa City A 60-90,000

Khalifa City B 80-120,000

Except for Khalidiya, many of these places are in quite inconvenient (in my opinion) locations. It’s difficult to get to the main road, schools are few and far between and supermarkets or corner-shops are not within walking distance. However, it’s all changing pretty rapidly and some shops deliver.

Renting in Dubai

Having lived and rented in Dubai myself, I feel most comfortable talking about this emirate, also having house-hunted here A LOT, I know so much more about it more from personal experience than the research I had to do for this post.

There are many places to rent in Dubai, and I can’t go through all of them so this is just a very, very broad overview.

Undoubtedly, the cheapest places to rent in Dubai are International City and Discovery Gardens. However, they come with their own problems such as over-crowding and not always the best type of clientele, but there are little grocery stores close by and lots of restaurants around. Discovery Gardens has my favourite mall across the road from it (Ibn Battuta) Rents in these areas start from 30,000 for a studio apartment and 38,000 for a 1-Bed. There is metro access here.

Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) and Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR)- the last two are not in Jumeirah, I mention this because everyone who comes to visit me assumes they are. I presume they were given this name exactly because Jumeirah is a famous area. Rents in these places have gone down to half in some parts.  They are close to the beach, have metro access, in reasonably convenient locations and close to shops and supermarkets. If you pay for a school bus, most stop by these areas. JLT is the cheapest option with a 1 bedroom starting at 52,000. In the Marina area there are a bunch of new buildings that have opened and the starting price for renting is around 55,000 for a 1-Bed. It’s more advisable to walk around the different buildings you want to look at and speak to the guards at the front desk, they usually have keys to view certain apartments, know the prices and can put you in touch with the owner directly-which also means no commission fees. In JBR it’s ever so slightly more expensive than the marina, but prices here are dropping too.

Motor City, Mirdiff and Bur Dubai- I love Motor City and while it seems far out; it isn’t really, its about a 20 minute drive from the Marina and 10 minutes from Mall of the Emirates/ Al Barsha area and excellent access to Emirates Road, which has no salik and is more convenient to get to Bur Dubai than Sheikh Zayed Road in my opinion. It’s got great, facilities and lots of walking, it’s close to the Autodrome but not really noisy, unless you live right opposite the course I suppose. There isn't any metro access. 1-Bed rents start at 50,000. 

Mirdiff rents start at 40,000 for 1-Beds, there is a lot of walking areas here also, but it actually is far out. There is the Mirdiff City Centre mall close by, which is a good mall. 

Rents in Bur Dubai start at 45,000 for a 1-Bed, it’s a convenient area to live, has metro access, shops and schools close by, right next to the actual area of Jumeirah and great especially if you work here, there are pavements/ sidewalks, but the traffic is insane.

Jumeirah- Jumeirah Road, Al Wasl Road and Sheikh Zayed Road are all parallel to each other. There are mainly villa-sharing options in this area and this is illegal, unless you are part of the same family. There are some apartments in Jumeirah 1, which are highly over-priced in my opinion. However if you are moving with your family, you could rent a 4 bedroom villa for around 120,000 dirhams, sometimes less. There are a lot of ladies clubs, kids clubs, open and closed beaches, hotels, small malls. It’s very social, possibly because it is one of the oldest areas in Dubai. I loved living in Jumeirah, some Starbucks delivers-Oh! They deliver in Motorcity also.

Areas I haven’t included because of time constraints but may be worth a look, Al Barsha, the Greens, the Lakes the Springs, Downtown, Green Community (Jebel Ali)

Renting in Sharjah

Sharjah is a very convenient emirate to live in, except for the traffic. My friends who live here seem to have extremely cheap cleaners, everything gets delivered, cheaper food prices, all kinds of Indian and Arabic restaurants dotted about, and unlike Dubai, it feels like the Middle East. However, Sharjah residents do, sometimes for weeks, have to put up with power cuts during the height of summer. This causes a host of issues like having to walk up hundreds of flights of stairs because lifts don’t work, stewing in your own sweat because the air-conditioning can’t be turned on and all your food in the freezer going off. However, SEWA (the Sharjah electricity and water Authority) says it tries to anticipate the problem and this year, it was much better than last, and the year before that. I remember only a week of power cuts in 2011.

Sharjah residents have told me that Al Nahda and Taawun are the best areas in the emirate. From what I’ve seen, Al Nahda comes across as more crowded yet cheaper. A 1-Bed here starts at around 38,000. In Taawun it is much more expensive-1-Beds start at 48,000-but its also a ten minute drive (apparently) to Sheikh Zayed Road and therefore Dubai and close to the Sharjah Corniche area with some beautiful views.

Just an interesting note, in Sharjah, for some reason, I have heard that many buildings claim to offer a pool and gym, when they don’t. When this is questioned, the landlord usually replies that they mean to open them in a few weeks and will show tenants a room that is ready to hold gym gear and another area with a dug-out pool. The tenant is satisfied, moves in but the pool remains devoid of water and the gym remains empty. So, if you’re the kind that needs a pool and gym (who isn’t?) then make sure your building has them before you move in.

What to do in case of a dispute

The rules differ depending on the emirate you are living in. It is advisable to ensure you have a photocopy of all the cheques that you have given to the estate agent including the deposit cheque/ receipt, your tenancy agreement and your landlord’s passport copy.


Also, once you sign your tenancy contract, make sure you have registered on the RERA website as a tenant. If you do not, they may not be able to help you (http://rpdubai.ae/English/about_us/about_ld.aspx ; http://www.abudhabi.ae/egovPoolPortal_WAR/appmanager/ADeGP/Citizen?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=p1374&lang=en )

In most emirates, you can raise a dispute with your municipality rather than the land department. Usually the law is in the tenant’s favour because the government are aware of the unscrupulous nature of some estate agents.

Bringing a case forward however involves a lot of running around and document translation. This can be done at any typing centre, which are sometimes poky little offices dotted around the older areas of your emirate (Like Bur Dubai) where your documents will be translated according to government requirements for a small fee.

I hope this post has been useful for you, next week I plan to tackle working in the UAE and your working rights, and the week after that Emirates Identity cards.

As always, feel free to contact me if you think I have missed something out, have any questions about the blog, or if you think I should add anything. Happy house hunting!