For families
Emigrating with children to Dubai
For expat children there is no public education in Dubai: everything runs through private schools supervised by the KHDA, with seventeen curricula side by side. That makes the school choice the first decision of your move — and the neighbourhood the second, not the other way round.
School fees are regulated and for 2026-27 even frozen, and the 'registration fee' is legally a deductible deposit. Choose the school first and then the neighbourhood, because otherwise the neighbourhood chooses the school. You rent in advance: the legal standard is a year's rent in at most four instalments, in practice cheques — with the Ejari registration that activates your tenant rights and the RERA index that limits increases.
The UAE is not an apostille country. Birth certificates, your marriage certificate and diplomas go through a chain — pre-legalisation, the Consular Service Centre in The Hague, the UAE embassy — and you do that before you leave, because from Dubai it cannot be arranged. Your right of residence hangs on what you bring: an employer, property or your own income; permanent residence does not exist.
And then what stops in the Netherlands, and with a family hits harder than people think: the allowances, your health insurance, and your AOW accrual — two per cent a year, and single people see their AOW in the UAE fall back to half. There is no pension system for expats; the zero-tax trade only works for those who put the difference aside themselves.
School, neighbourhood and house — in that order
Schools in Dubai: everything is private, and this is how you choose
For expat children there is no public education in Dubai: everything runs through private schools under the supervision of the KHDA, with seventeen curricula side by side. The good news: the fees are regulated, for 2026-27 even frozen, and the "registration fee" is legally an advance that is offset against the fees. This is how you choose a school — and how you prevent your neighbourhood from choosing the school instead of the other way round.
Updated 7 September 2026
Renting in Dubai: cheques, Ejari and the RERA index
Dubai rents in advance: the legal standard is a year's rent in at most four instalments up front, in practice cheques. Against that stand two protections newcomers rarely know: the compulsory Ejari registration that activates your tenancy rights, and the RERA index that reins in rent increases. Plus the items that come on top of the rent — from housing fee to DEWA deposit.
Updated 21 August 2026
The visa routes to Dubai: employer, gold, green or income
No points and no lottery: the UAE right of residence hangs on what you bring. The employer route is the standard, the Golden Visa (10 years) asks for AED 2 million in property or a salary from 30,000 a month, the Green Visa runs on your own income, and there's a route for remote workers and the over-55s. Plus what does not exist: permanent residence.
Updated 21 August 2026
Documents for Dubai: the legalisation chain explained
The UAE is not an apostille country, so the single stamp that suffices within Europe doesn't exist here. Every certificate goes through a chain: any pre-legalisation, the Consulair Dienstencentrum in The Hague (€ 10 per document), and the UAE embassy. Which documents you need, in which order the stamps go, and why you do this before departure.
Updated 21 August 2026
Closing the Netherlands, with children
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 September 2026
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 11 September 2026
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 September 2026
The longer term
No pension in Dubai: the gratuity, the AOW trap and what you have to do yourself
The state portal says it literally: there is no pension scheme for expats. The end-of-service gratuity is capped at two years' salary, your AOW (the Dutch state pension) accrual stops, and single people see their AOW in the UAE fall back to half — irreparably, because it hangs on the country of residence. The zero-tax trade only works for whoever puts the difference aside themselves.
Updated 29 August 2026
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 19 September 2026
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 September 2026
Buying a house in Dubai: freehold in the designated zones, 4% at the DLD — and after that no tax, but a fee
In Dubai you buy full ownership as a foreigner, but only in the designated freehold areas. The transfer runs through a Registration Trustee office of the Dubai Land Department, with a 4% registration fee on the sale price and a digital title deed as proof. There's no annual property tax — there is the housing fee of 5% of the rental value that runs monthly through your DEWA account, and for apartments the service charges.
Updated 28 August 2026
In the step-by-step plan for Dubai the family travels along: the legalisation chain per certificate, the school before the neighbourhood, and the Dutch affairs that stop on the right day.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and we'll send you the departure guide: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that at most one mail a month: first the question where your plans stand, then now and then one thing that fits the time of year or your country. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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