Moving to Dubai from the UK: the complete relocation guide

Relocating to Dubai from the UK is five pieces of work that overlap. Do them in the right order and each one unlocks the next; do them out of order and you wait weeks on something you could have started earlier. This guide covers each piece, then gives you the month-by-month checklist.

The five parts of a UK to Dubai move

1. Get your UAE residence visa

Everything hinges on this. To live in the UAE you need a residence visa, which is a different thing from the visit stamp a Brit gets on arrival. For UK movers it comes from one of three routes:

• A job. Your employer sponsors the visa and usually pays for it.
• Your own company. You set up a Dubai company from the UK, and the company sponsors your visa. This is self-sponsorship, the usual route for consultants, contractors and business owners.
• The Golden Visa. For investors, property owners and some professionals who qualify for the Golden Visa.

You can move without a job: the company and Golden routes are what make that possible. You don’t have to land in Dubai itself either. We settle clients across the UAE, Abu Dhabi, RAK and Sharjah included, so this is also where you decide which emirate fits your work, budget and family. The visa leads to your Emirates ID, the card that unlocks banking, a tenancy and much else.

2. Plan your UK tax exit before you leave

Moving does not switch off UK tax. Your status is decided by the Statutory Residence Test, usually with split-year treatment in the year you leave, and the timing of that year is the single most valuable thing to plan before you go. Read whether you still pay UK tax in Dubai, whether the UK has an exit tax (it doesn’t, but three rules act like one) and whether the move is worth it on tax alone. The non-dom changes closed the option of sheltering income while staying UK resident, and a UK pension needs its own check: what happens to your UK pension.

Once settled, a UAE Tax Residency Certificate proves where your tax home is. Our UK tax residency checker gives you an indicative read on any tax year, and if you want the departure year planned with a UK-registered tax adviser, that is our UK and UAE tax service.

3. Banking

With your visa and Emirates ID you can open a Dubai bank account. Trying to bank before you are resident is one of the most common sources of delay, so bridge the first weeks with a multi-currency card. You can usually keep your UK bank account too, as long as you tell the bank you’ve moved.

4. Housing and schools

Start with short-term accommodation, then sign a longer lease once you know the area. Long-term rentals run on the Ejari tenancy system, and rent is often paid in one to four cheques a year rather than monthly. Choose the area around the school: the good British-curriculum schools fill up and cluster in certain family areas. Families should run school admissions as a parallel track from day one. Budget with our cost of living guide for UK families and the salary guide.

5. Shipping and the admin tail

Then the practical tail: shipping your belongings, health insurance, driving on your UK licence and converting it, and pets. None of it is hard once residency is in place. For the money and the timeline, see what it costs to move and how long relocating takes.

Moving to Dubai from the UK: the checklist

Three to six months before

• Decide your visa route: job, company or Golden Visa, and which emirate.
• Map your departure tax year against the Statutory Residence Test. Count your planned UK days.
• Shortlist schools and register interest; ask about term dates and waiting lists.
• Start document attestation: UK marriage and birth certificates usually need attesting before the UAE accepts them.
• If you are bringing a pet, start the paperwork now. It has the longest lead time.
• Decide what happens to your UK home: sell, let or keep. An available UK home counts against you in the ties test.

One to two months before

• If you are self-sponsoring, form the company and apply for the licence.
• Get quotes for shipping, and decide what goes by sea and what goes in a suitcase.
• Line up short-term accommodation for the first four to eight weeks.
• Arrange health insurance that meets the visa requirement.
• Tell your UK bank, pension providers and ISA provider about the move.

The month you leave

• Send the P85 to HMRC, or plan to report the move on your Self Assessment return. Our P85 guide walks through it.
• Cancel or transfer council tax, utilities, TV licence and subscriptions.
• Keep records of every UK day from now on.

Your first month in the UAE

• Entry permit or status change, medical test, biometrics, Emirates ID.
• Open your personal UAE bank account; open the business account next if you have a company.
• Sign the long-term tenancy and get it Ejari-registered.
• Sponsor your family’s visas once yours is issued.
• Register with a GP clinic and confirm the school start date.

Your first year

• Keep your UK day count under your limit; check it with the day allowance calculator.
• File your final UK Self Assessment return for the departure year, claiming split-year treatment if it applies.
• Apply for a UAE Tax Residency Certificate once you meet the day test.

If you’d rather have this as one document, the free move planner puts the whole move on one page, and the printable move checklist is the short version.

What people forget

• Attestation. UK certificates need attesting before UAE use, and it takes weeks.
• Pets. Microchip, vaccinations, blood test and import permit, each with its own wait.
• The departure-year tax plan. The most valuable thing to get right and the easiest to leave too late.
• The bank gap. Several weeks between landing and a working local account.

Doing it yourself, or having it handled

You can do all of this yourself. Plenty of people would rather have it handled so nothing falls through while they are also holding down a job and a family. Dubai Transition Consultants is UK-run and based in Dubai: we set up the company and visas, open the banking, line up the UK tax exit with a UK-registered tax adviser, and help the family land. Our family relocation service covers schools, housing and the move itself, and if you’re weighing Dubai against the capital, Abu Dhabi is worth a look when your work or budget points that way.