Look inside
The plan for Dubai, from the inside
These are all 33 steps of the Dubai journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 33
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 60
- Only for your situation
- 9
Phase 1
5 steps
Orientation
Dubai is the most honest trade-off of all destinations, provided you see it whole: zero income tax and the highest net on the site, against zero accrual — no pension, no safety net, and a right of residence that hangs on your job or your money. Whoever works out the trade-off before signing becomes happy here; whoever only sees the salary doesn't.
- 1.1
Understand the system: everything hangs on a sponsor
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.2
Choose your route: employer, gold, green or income
- Lead time
- an evening of comparing
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 1.3
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.4
Take the decision together
- Lead time
- no fixed one; take your time
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- five minutes, below
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
5 steps
Your visa
The application itself is the shortest of all visa routes here — Dubai decides in days, not months. The time is in what has to happen around it: documents that have to go through the full legalisation chain, and schools you want to arrange before departure.
- 2.1
The job and the contract: read before you sign
- Lead time
- as long as applying for jobs takes
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.2
Legalise your documents: the chain of three stamps
- Lead time
- count on 3-6 weeks for the whole chain
- Costs
- € 10 per document at the CDC, plus embassy fees
2 official sources
- 2.3
The health insurance: the family is your duty
- Lead time
- quotes 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- from AED 550-750 per person per year (basic plan)
2 official sources
- 2.4
With children: arrange the school before the moving date
- Lead time
- orienting and enrolling, weeks to months ahead
- Costs
- registration deposit up to 10% of the annual fee (deductible)
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.5
The application itself: days, not months
- Lead time
- entry permit within 48 hours of complete papers
- Costs
- AED 200 entry permit; residence permit about AED 740
2 official sources
Phase 3
11 steps
Closing the Netherlands
This is the reverse world compared to every EU route, and the phase in which Dubai shows its price: the AOW drops to half for single people, there's no CAK route, the protective assessment has no automatic deferral, and all allowances stop. None of this is a surprise — if you read it now.
- 3.1
Healthcare: there's no treaty route — insure privately
- Lead time
- arrange the cover before departure day
- Costs
- see step 2.3
2 official sources
- 3.2
AOW and pension: the drop nobody tells you about
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research; decide on voluntary insurance
- Costs
- voluntary AOW insurance: 17.9% of income (min about € 569/year)
3 official sources
- 3.3
The tax office: providing security, and deductions that lapse
- Lead time
- with pension or substantial-interest assets: arrange this with an adviser
- Costs
- possibly advice and a bank guarantee
2 official sources
- 3.4
Allowances and child benefit: everything stops
- Lead time
- an hour, online
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 3.5
Deregister with the municipality
- Lead time
- possible from 5 days before departure, up to and including departure day
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 3.6
DigiD, bank and your vote: keep the lines to the Netherlands
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 3.7
Build your own safety net: the pension plan
- Lead time
- a decision, not an afternoon — start before departure
- Costs
- what you set aside monthly
1 official source
- 3.8
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few actions to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.9
Partly staying in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.10
The house in the Netherlands: sell, let or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when letting possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.11
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one notification a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 4
5 steps
The move
The UAE border is strict on different things from what you're used to: your household goods pass tax-free on first settlement, but medicines, alcohol and "offensive material" each have their own regime — and the dog has two surprises. Travel day itself starts the clock of sixty days.
- 4.1
The household goods: exempt, with a strict list
- Lead time
- quotes 3-4 weeks ahead; sea freight 4-6 weeks
- Costs
- see the cost indication
2 official sources
- 4.2
Medicines: arrange the permission before you fly
- Lead time
- prescription and application 2-3 weeks before departure
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 4.3
Travel day: your landing starts the sixty days
- Lead time
- the clock runs from entry on your entry permit
- Costs
- the flights
1 official source
- 4.4
The pet: permit, titre test and the cargo route
- Lead time
- titre test and permit, start 6-8 weeks ahead
- Costs
- AED 200 permit plus AED 250-500 release, plus the flight
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 4.5
The car: sell it — here buying there wins
- Lead time
- selling and deregistering, 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- none — this brings money in
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
Phase 5
7 steps
Arrival in Dubai
Sixty days, one order: medical, Emirates ID, visa — and then everything opens at once. After that the real work begins: a house that wants to be paid a year in advance, a school that's already been chosen, and the discipline to be your own pension every month.
- 5.1
Complete the residency: medical, Emirates ID, visa
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks with brisk planning
- Costs
- medical and Emirates ID, see the cost indication
2 official sources
- 5.2
Bring the family in: you are now the sponsor
- Lead time
- 2-4 weeks once your residency is complete
- Costs
- about AED 740 per family member, plus medicals 18+
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.3
Bank, salary and the first cheques
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks with Emirates ID
- Costs
- none; mind minimum-balance requirements
2 official sources
- 5.4
Housing: Ejari, cheques and the index
- Lead time
- searching and signing, 2-6 weeks
- Costs
- annual rent in advance + deposit + agency fee + DEWA deposit
2 official sources
- 5.5
Exchange your driving licence, and buy the car
- Lead time
- the exchange is a day; the car a weekend
- Costs
- about AED 1,050 for the driving licence
1 official source
- 5.6
School and childcare: guiding the start
- Lead time
- the first weeks after arrival
- Costs
- school fees per term, see the article
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
- 5.7
Live the trade-off: discipline, rules and the gratuity
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
9 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Dubai journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 1.2 of your plan
Choose your route: employer, gold, green or income
- Lead time
- an evening of comparing
- Costs
- none
Five routes, no points and no lottery. The employer route is the standard: sponsor found, visa arranged — two years, renewable. The Golden Visa (10 years) you buy with AED 2 million in property, or earn with a specialist salary from AED 30,000 a month. The Green Visa (5 years, without a sponsor) asks as a freelancer AED 360,000 annual income over the last two years, or as a skilled worker AED 15,000 a month. The remote-work visa (1 year) is possible from USD 3,500 a month for whoever brings their Dutch job along. And the retirement visa (55+, 5 years) asks in Dubai AED 240,000 annual income, or AED 1 million in savings plus AED 1 million in property. Choose on the basis of what you have, not what you hope — the thresholds are hard.
What this step rests on
This is step 1.2 of 33. The other 32 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on Dubai?
All 33 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 399 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Dubai: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Dubai really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.