Moving to Dubai from the UK with a family

A family move to Dubai has more moving parts than a solo one, and they depend on each other. Your family’s visas depend on yours. Your children’s visas depend on attested documents. The tenancy you sign affects the sponsorship. This guide gives you the order of steps that works for UK families, what to budget for, and the UK tax point that catches families who move in stages. Visa conditions change, so we link the official and detailed guides rather than repeat figures that go out of date.

Moving to Dubai from the UK with a family: the order of steps

1. Choose the residence route for the main applicant. A job offer, your own company, or a Golden Visa.
2. Start school applications. Popular schools fill early.
3. Attest your documents in the UK. Marriage and birth certificates.
4. Plan your UK exit. Departure date, split-year treatment and UK ties.
5. Rent a home. Register the tenancy on Ejari.
6. Sponsor your spouse and children. Visas, medicals and Emirates IDs.
7. Arrange health insurance and the practical side. Banking, driving, shipping.

The steps overlap. Most families run steps 1 to 4 at the same time, three to six months before the move.

Step 1: the main applicant’s visa

One adult needs a UAE residence visa that allows them to sponsor dependants. The usual routes for UK families are:

• A job in Dubai. Your employer sponsors you.
• Your own company. A free zone or mainland company sponsors your visa as owner. This suits consultants, contractors and business owners. Our free zone comparison helps you choose a zone.
• A Golden Visa. A long-term visa through property, investment or talent. See how to qualify for the Golden Visa.

If you have no job lined up, moving to Dubai without a job sets out the routes. Whichever you choose, check it lets you sponsor your family on your income: the authority sets conditions on salary or income and housing.

Step 2: schools

Most UK families use private schools, which charge fees and are inspected and rated by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) (KHDA). Popular schools can have waiting lists for some year groups, so apply as early as you can, ideally the autumn or winter before a late-summer move.

Decide on the curriculum first. Most UK families choose a British curriculum school so children can move back into the UK system, but the IB and American options are strong too. Read:

• Schools in Dubai: a guide for UK families
• British curriculum, IB or American
• Getting your child into a Dubai school: admissions and timing

Choose the school before the home. Dubai traffic at school times is heavy, and most families pick an area within a short drive of school.

Step 3: attested documents

To sponsor your spouse you need your marriage certificate; for your children, their birth certificates. UK documents need to be legalised by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Legalisation Office, attested by the UAE Embassy in London, and then attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE (MOFA). Dubai’s GDRFA asks for a marriage contract certified by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and attested birth certificates when you register as a sponsor (GDRFA). Do the UK steps before you leave. Sending originals back from Dubai adds weeks to your family’s visas.

Gather school reports, vaccination records and any medical records at the same time. Schools ask for reports, and your doctor’s surgery is easier to deal with while you still live nearby.

Step 4: the UK side

The UK tax side of a family move is about timing and ties. Under the Statutory Residence Test, a spouse, civil partner or minor child who is UK resident counts as a family tie. If one parent moves ahead and the rest of the family stays to finish a school year, the parent in Dubai has that tie for the year, which makes UK residence easier to trigger.

That does not stop you moving in stages, but it means you plan the day count. The UK tax residency checker and split-year calculator test your dates, and what to sort in the UK before you leave covers the rest: telling HMRC, your UK home, pensions and bank accounts.

Step 5: a home

Most families rent for the first year. Rents are usually paid in a small number of cheques, with a deposit and an agency fee on top. Once you sign, the tenancy is registered on Ejari, Dubai’s tenancy registration system. You need Ejari for utilities and for visa-related processes: GDRFA asks for an Ejari-attested lease (or a Dubai Land Department title deed) when you register to sponsor your family. See renting in Dubai: how Ejari works.

For areas, read best areas in Dubai for UK families and Dubai Hills vs Arabian Ranches vs JBR.

Step 6: your family’s visas

Once your own visa is issued and you have your tenancy, you sponsor your spouse and children. Each person needs an entry permit or status change, a medical fitness test for anyone aged 18 or over (u.ae), Emirates ID biometrics and the residence visa itself. Sponsoring your spouse and children for UAE visas goes through the conditions and documents, and the Emirates ID explained covers the ID card.

Plan for your family to arrive on a visit entry and change status in the UAE, or to wait in the UK for entry permits. Either works; the choice depends on school start dates and your tenancy.

Step 7: health insurance and the practical side

Health insurance is mandatory for Dubai residents under Dubai Health Insurance Law No. 11 of 2013, and if your employer does not cover your dependants, you as sponsor must arrange it (Dubai Health Insurance Corporation). Employer policies often cover family members, but check the level. See healthcare in Dubai: insurance explained.

Then the rest: a UAE bank account (most banks ask for your residence visa first; see opening a Dubai bank account as a Brit), driving on a UK licence, and shipping your belongings.

What a family move costs

The two largest costs are school fees and rent, and both vary widely with the school and the area. On top come visas and Emirates IDs for each family member, health insurance, the rental deposit and agency fee, shipping, furniture and a car. Our cost of living for a UK family and cost to move to Dubai from the UK guides break it down.

Moving to Dubai with a family: pros and cons

On the plus side, UK families weigh safety, sunshine, time outdoors and a tax position that leaves more of what they earn. Against that sit school fees, summer heat, distance from grandparents, and a first few months that ask a lot of whoever is not working. Our pros and cons of moving from the UK to Dubai covers both sides.

How we help

Our family relocation service runs the whole sequence with you: the main visa route, school shortlists and admissions timing, document attestation, the home search, your family’s visas and the UK exit. One plan, in the right order, so nobody waits in the UK longer than they need to.