Moving to Dubai

Moving to Dubai comes down to a handful of property decisions: how you will get a residence visa, which area to live in, whether to rent or buy, and what it all costs. Everything else — opening a bank account, signing a tenancy, connecting the power — follows from those.

This guide is the map. It takes each stage in turn and links to the detailed guide for it, so you can plan the move without holding all of it in your head at once.

Almost everything — a long-term tenancy, a bank account, school enrolment, a car — needs a UAE residence visa and an Emirates ID. Most people arrive on an employer-sponsored work visa. If you are self-sponsoring, the main routes are the 10-year Golden Visa (which you can get by owning property worth at least AED 2 million) and the remote-work and freelance permits.

Sort the visa route first, because it shapes everything after it, including whether buying a property is part of your plan.

Dubai is a city of distinct communities, and the right one depends on your budget, your commute, whether you have school-age children, and the lifestyle you want — apartment and beach, or villa and garden. Shortlist a few areas before you look at individual homes.

Our area guides and the "best areas for…" lists are built to narrow it down:

Most newcomers rent first — it keeps you flexible while you learn the city and decide where you want to settle. Buying tends to win the longer you will stay, because you build equity instead of paying rent, and a property worth at least AED 2 million can bring the Golden Visa with it.

Weigh the two, and if you are buying, read up on the process and the costs:

Once you have signed for a home, a short run of admin turns it into a place you can live in:

• Register the tenancy (Ejari). A long-term tenancy must be registered on Ejari — it is what you need to connect utilities, enrol children and sponsor family.
• Connect DEWA. Set up electricity and water with DEWA, which takes a deposit and a connection fee; the 5% housing fee is then added to your monthly bill.
• Budget the move-in costs. A security deposit, the agency fee, Ejari and the DEWA deposit come on top of your first rent cheque — our renting guide and the rental cost calculator add them up.

Housing is by far the biggest cost, followed by school fees for families, utilities and cooling, transport and health insurance. There is no personal income tax, but a 5% VAT applies to most goods and services.

We don't quote prices — they vary by area, school and lifestyle — but our cost-of-living guide shows what makes up the total and where to check each figure from the authority that sets it.

If you are moving with children, schools often decide the area — so shortlist them early. Private school fees and inspection ratings are published by the KHDA, Dubai's education authority. Health insurance is mandatory for residents; an employer usually covers the employee, and you pay for dependants.

Both feed back into the area choice and the budget, so settle them alongside the home, not after it.