I am Indian and have been staying in Dubai for over 2 years now. I moved here after I got married. I find that life is very fast here as compared to India but overall it has been a great experience. When I first moved here, I was amazed to see so many Indians here. The place is mostly dominated by Malayalis. I will try to explain few points for Indians here:
- Salaries- There is no standard salary as such. It depends on your skills, experience and the number of years you have worked here. It also depends on the organization you are working for.
- Expenses- The biggest expense here is rent followed by travel. You need to either spend money on rent and take a place near metro so that you don’t have to buy a car or you can save money on rent by taking a house in outskirts but then you will have to buy a car. Getting a driving license here is expensive and takes time. Initially, you might multiply all the prices with 18 but you will get used to it soon. Flight tickets to India are quite reasonable except during holidays, but you can always afford to go in case of emergencies.
- Savings - Here comes the most important part. I get this question a lot. As cliche it may sound, the answer is - It depends. The salaries we get here are tax free. We don’t pay taxes on that- neither in UAE nor in India. We do pay 5% VAT though. I have seen lot of people earning a very decent salary but they still live pay check to paycheck or they live on loan/ credit cards owing to their extravagant life style. I also know people who save 75–80 % of their salaries and have got decent investments back in India.
- Social Life - As I mentioned before, there are a lot of Malayalis here so your will have atleast one in your friend circle. I have a mixed group of friends here and we celebrate all the Indian Festivals together. My friend circle also comprises people from Pakistan and Philippines.
- Law and Order - There is not much scope of Jugaad ( hack) here when it comes to getting your work done in government offices, banks, etc. People respect law and there is very less crime rate. You need to be a bit cautious when you rent/ buy properties, but all in all Dubai is a safe place to live.
- Food- There are plenty of Indian restaurants. You get authentic Veg/ Non Veg Indian food. You have so many Indian supermarkets - Lulu, Al Adil, etc - to name a few. You can easily get Indian cooks as well.
- Jet Hose - Last but I think the most important one for any Indian. Yes!!! we do get jet hose in all the washrooms.
Image Source : Google