Moving to the United Arab Emirates from the UK: the practical guide

The UAE at a glance

Start with the visa

UAE residence is always sponsored: by an employer, by yourself through a business, investment or a long-term visa, or by a family member. Your residence visa comes with an Emirates ID card, which you will need for almost everything, so it is the first thing to sort out.

Sources: Hudson McKenzie, February 2026 and the UAE government’s residence visa pages. Thresholds change and differ between emirates, so check current figures with ICP (or GDRFA in Dubai) before you commit.

Rules to know once you live there

• UK citizens can visit without a visa to look at areas and schools, but you cannot work on a visit.
• Your visa depends on your sponsor. If you lose your job, your employer cancels your visa and you have a grace period to find a new sponsor or leave. Keep enough savings to cover that time.
• Attest your documents in the UK. Degree certificates, marriage certificates and children’s birth certificates usually need legalising by the FCDO and the UAE Embassy in London before you go. It takes weeks, so start early.
• Respect local law. Public behaviour, alcohol and social media are governed more strictly than in the UK. Read the FCDO’s UAE travel advice before you move.

Cost of living

Housing is the biggest cost, and rents are quoted per year. Across Dubai, the median rent on registered contracts is AED 68,000 a year for a one-bedroom flat (about £1,160 a month) and AED 103,000 for a two-bedroom (about £1,760). Villas cost far more.

Medians of registered rental contracts over the year to mid-2026, from Dubai Land Department data analysed by dataHabibi, July 2026. Sterling figures use AED 4.88 to the pound, the rate in early October 2026; the dirham is pegged to the US dollar. Abu Dhabi rents are broadly similar, and Sharjah’s are noticeably lower, which is why many people who work in Dubai live there.

What works differently from the UK

• Rent is paid up front. Landlords usually want the year’s rent in one to four post-dated cheques. Add a deposit of around 5% of the annual rent, an agency fee of around 5%, and the cost of registering the lease (Ejari in Dubai, Tawtheeq in Abu Dhabi).
• Bills include a housing fee. In Dubai, a municipality housing fee of 5% of your annual rent is added to your water and electricity bill. Air conditioning makes summer bills high.
• VAT is 5% and is included in most shop prices.
• Alcohol is legal but controlled. Residents in Dubai can buy it from licensed shops with a free personal licence; rules differ in other emirates, and Sharjah is dry.
• Bouncing a cheque is serious. Rent and loans are often paid by cheque, so never write one you cannot cover.
• Your UK credit history does not transfer. UAE banks look at your salary and employer, so a letter from your employer helps you open accounts and get credit.

Buying a home

Foreigners can buy freehold property in designated areas, which in Dubai include most of the popular expat districts. Dubai charges a transfer fee of 4% of the price, and banks usually lend expats a smaller share of the value than they would in the UK. A property worth AED 2 million or more can qualify you for a Golden Visa. Rents and prices have risen fast in recent years and a large amount of new housing is due by 2027, so many people rent first.

Tax

The UAE has no personal income tax, no tax on dividends or capital gains, and no inheritance tax. The tax questions that matter for most UK movers are on the UK side: making sure you really stop being UK resident, and what happens to UK income and assets you keep.

Becoming non-resident in the UK

• UK residence is decided each tax year under the Statutory Residence Test. If you work full-time abroad, you can usually be non-resident if you spend fewer than 91 days in the UK in the tax year and work no more than 30 days there.
• Ties back home count. If you do not meet a clear-cut test, family, a home available to you, work and time spent in the UK decide whether you are still resident.
• Tell HMRC you are going. Use form P85 if you do not normally file a tax return, or form SA109 with your return if you do. Split-year treatment can make you non-resident from the date you leave rather than the whole tax year.
• Returning within five years can bring old gains back into UK tax. Some gains and income received while abroad can be taxed if you come back to live in the UK within five full years.

What the UK still taxes

• UK rental income stays taxable in the UK, and so do gains on UK property.
• UK pensions are paid with UK tax deducted unless you claim relief under the UK–UAE double taxation agreement.
• UK inheritance tax can still apply to your worldwide estate for several years after you leave, under rules based on how long you have lived in the UK. Take advice if your estate is large.

UAE taxes you will meet

• VAT at 5% on most goods and services.
• Corporate tax at 9% on business profits above AED 375,000. It applies to companies, not salaries, but matters if you set up a business.
• A UAE Tax Residency Certificate (AED 3,300, through the EmaraTax portal) is needed to claim treaty relief. You generally qualify by spending 183 days in the UAE in 12 months, or 90 days with a residence permit and a home or job there.

Source: Titan Wealth International, April 2026. The UK rules are detailed, and day counts matter. Take advice from an accountant who handles both countries before you move, not after.

Healthcare

Healthcare in the UAE is high quality and largely private, and health insurance is compulsory. Employers must insure their staff in every emirate, but who pays for your family depends on where you live, so check the job offer carefully.

Source: Kayrouz & Associates, March 2026.

How cover works

• Basic plans are basic. Dubai’s minimum plan costs AED 500 to 700 a year and covers up to AED 150,000 a year per person, with limited choice of hospitals. Most professionals get, or should negotiate, an enhanced plan.
• Read the limits. Plans differ on which hospitals you can use, co-payments, maternity cover, dental care and pre-existing conditions. Maternity cover often has a waiting period.
• Cover is tied to your visa. You cannot get or renew a residence visa without health insurance, so there should be no gap once you are resident. Arrange travel cover for any time before your visa is issued.
• Retirees pay their own way. If you move on a retirement or Golden Visa without an employer, you buy your own cover, and premiums rise steeply with age.

There is no reciprocal health agreement with the UK. Many common UK medicines, including some painkillers, sleeping tablets and ADHD and anxiety medicines, are controlled in the UAE. Check the rules and carry prescriptions before you travel.

Schools and the school year

Expat children go to private schools, and British-curriculum schools are the largest group, teaching the English National Curriculum through to GCSEs and A-levels. Their year runs from late August to early July, with three terms and half-term breaks, so moving between UK and UAE schools is straightforward.

Source: Khaleej Times, July 2026. Fees rise with your child’s year group. Dubai’s regulator has frozen tuition fees for 2026–27. Schools rated Good or Acceptable can cost much less.

What else to know

• Check the inspection rating. Each emirate inspects its private schools and publishes ratings from Outstanding to Weak: the KHDA in Dubai, ADEK in Abu Dhabi and SPEA in Sharjah.
• Apply early. The most popular schools have waiting lists, especially for Year 7 and the sixth form. Most will assess your child, and many interview online before you move.
• Budget for the extras. Registration fees, re-enrolment deposits, uniforms, buses and trips are charged on top. Fees are usually paid termly.
• Arabic is part of the timetable. All pupils study Arabic, and Muslim pupils also study Islamic education.
• Attest your documents. Schools ask for attested birth certificates and transfer letters from your child’s UK school, so arrange these before you leave.
• Think ahead to university. Children who have lived abroad may be charged international rather than home fees at UK universities, depending on how long they have been away. Check the rules before choosing when to move a teenager.

Driving

The UAE drives on the right, roads are excellent and petrol is cheap, but driving is fast and traffic laws are enforced with heavy fines and cameras. The good news for Britons is that a full UK licence can be exchanged for a UAE one without a test.

Your licence

• Before your residence visa: as a visitor you can drive a hire car on your UK licence. Once you become resident, you must switch to a UAE licence.
• Exchanging your UK licence. In Dubai, you apply to the RTA online or at a service centre; in Abu Dhabi, to the licensing department. You need your Emirates ID, passport and residence visa, your UK licence, photos and an eye test from an approved optician.
• What it costs. In Dubai, about AED 870 in fees plus around AED 140 for the eye test. Online applications are processed within a few working days; in person, often the same day.

Source: dubizzle, updated September 2026. Fees differ between emirates.

Road rules worth knowing before your first drive

• Zero tolerance on drink-driving. Any alcohol in your blood can mean a large fine, jail and deportation.
• Fines are high and cameras are everywhere. Speeding, using a phone, tailgating and lane-jumping are all heavily fined, and points can lead to your car being impounded.
• Speed limits have no margin. Respect the posted limit; cameras on some roads allow little or no tolerance above it.
• Road tolls are automatic. Dubai’s Salik and Abu Dhabi’s Darb systems charge you through a tag on your car.
• Rude gestures are a crime. Swearing or gesturing at another driver can lead to arrest, so keep calm in traffic.
• Insurance is compulsory. A letter from your UK insurer confirming your no-claims history may lower your premium.

Should you ship your car?

Usually not. UK cars are right-hand drive and generally cannot be registered in the UAE. Left-hand-drive classics and some specialist cars are assessed case by case, so ask us before you budget for it. Cars are reasonably priced locally, and many people lease. Our vehicle shipping guide sets out what is involved.

Pensions

The UAE has no state pension for foreign workers and no social security agreement with the UK. Instead, most employers pay a lump sum when you leave. Saving for retirement is largely up to you, so use the tax-free salary to do it.

Your UK State Pension

• It is paid in the UAE, but frozen. You cannot get annual increases there; the rate you first receive is the rate you keep. See State Pension if you retire abroad.
• You need 35 qualifying years for the full amount and at least 10 to get anything. Check your forecast before you leave.
• Topping up from abroad became harder and dearer on 6 April 2026. Cheap Class 2 voluntary contributions are no longer available for time abroad. You can pay Class 3 only if you lived in the UK for 10 years in a row or paid 10 years of contributions. See voluntary National Insurance if you live abroad.

What you earn in the UAE

• End-of-service gratuity. Private-sector employees with at least a year’s service get a lump sum when they leave: 21 days’ basic salary for each of the first five years, then 30 days’ for each year after, capped at two years’ pay. It is based on basic salary only, so check how your package is split between basic pay and allowances.
• Workplace savings schemes. Staff in Dubai’s financial centre (DIFC) and Dubai government are in a funded savings plan instead of the gratuity, and some private employers offer a voluntary scheme. Ask what yours provides.

Source: PwC Middle East.

Your UK workplace and private pensions

These can stay in the UK and be paid to you in the UAE; claim relief under the UK–UAE tax treaty so UK tax is not deducted unnecessarily. Moving a UK pension abroad usually triggers a 25% overseas transfer charge unless you live in the same country as the scheme, and the UAE is a common target for unregulated advisers selling unsuitable offshore products. Use a regulated adviser, and read GOV.UK on transferring to an overseas pension scheme first.

Shipping your home

Used household goods for your own use generally enter the UAE free of duty, but only once your residence visa is issued. UAE Customs also screens shipments closely, so what you pack matters as much as when you ship.

Customs

• Your residence visa comes first. Goods cannot be released as personal effects until your visa is issued and your Emirates ID application is under way. A shipment that arrives early waits in bond at your cost, so we time the sailing around your visa.
• Every shipment is scanned or opened. Customs expects a numbered, itemised and valued inventory, which we prepare with you.
• Used goods only. New items still in their packaging can be taxed as commercial goods, so unbox them before packing.
• Rules differ by emirate and can change without notice. We confirm the current position in writing at survey.

What not to pack

• Alcohol cannot go in household shipments.
• Prescription medicines. Many common UK medicines are controlled. Carry them with you, with prescriptions, rather than packing them.
• Books, films and artwork are screened. Material considered offensive to Islam or public morals is refused. Declare religious texts of other faiths for personal use.
• Pork products and gambling items, including novelty games sets.
• Drones, radios and anything with a transmitter, including baby monitors and long-range routers, need approval and are often held.

Sea freight and the summer heat

Sea freight takes 4 to 8 weeks door to door, via Suez to Jebel Ali for Dubai, Khalifa Port for Abu Dhabi or Sharjah. Air freight takes 3 to 6 days. From May to September, containers on Gulf quays can reach 50°C, which can damage candles, vinyl records, cosmetics, oil paintings, chocolate and lithium-battery electronics. Our UAE shipping guide has transit times by emirate.

Pets

Cats and dogs from the UK can enter without quarantine if their papers are in order, and the UK’s low rabies risk means no blood test is needed.

• Microchip, then vaccinate. Pets need an ISO-standard microchip and a rabies vaccination at least 21 days before travel, given when they were at least 12 weeks old.
• Get an import permit from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) once your flight is booked. It costs AED 200 and is valid for 30 days.
• Pets travel as cargo, with an official health certificate endorsed in the UK. There is an inspection fee on arrival, and a limit of two pets per person a year.
• Some breeds are banned, including pit bulls, several mastiff breeds, the Japanese Tosa and their crosses. Dogs that look like a banned breed can be refused.
• Airlines restrict pet travel in summer because of the heat, so plan the move for cooler months if you can.

Source: Zoovet Travel, 2026. Confirm the current rules with MOCCAE before you book, and register your pet with your local municipality once you arrive.

Useful links

These are the official sources we point clients to. Rules change, so check them close to your move date.

This guide is general information for people planning a move, correct to the best of our knowledge in October 2026. It is not tax, pension, legal or immigration advice. Rules and figures change, so check the official sources linked above and take professional advice on your own circumstances.