When an expat first arrives in Dubai, there are three main concerns going through their minds: residency visa, Emirates ID, and drivers license. Here is everything you need to know about obtaining them:
Residency Visa
If you wish to live in Dubai, you will require a residency visa. The residency visa allows you to:
- Find accommodation
- Open a bank account
- Set up a phone, internet & TV account
- Obtain a labor card
- Obtain a driving license
Important documents needed upon your arrival:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Education documents
- Degree certificates
- A bank statement of the last 6 months
Make sure all your documents and certificates are attested in your home country or country of issuing. Make plenty of copies (black and white should be sufficient) and always carry your original documents with you.
Medical test:
You will be tested for communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV in order to get your residency visa.
To take your test, you will need:
- Test form filled out in Arabic (by the typing offices near the hospitals)
- Two passport photos
- Receipt for the 310AED fee you should have previously paid for your health card
- Fee of 210AED
You will have to go through a blood test, as well as an X-ray to be tested for TB. After you’re done with the tests, collect your receipt, which will tell you when your results will be ready for you to collect (usually that takes around three days).
Emirates ID
The UAE requires all residents to be in possession of an Emirates ID card. Application forms can be printed from the EIDA website and brought along to an EIDA registration office. Alternatively, you could visit any Emirates Post Office, purchase a pre-printed envelope, fill in the form and submit it to the post office. Then await an appointment at the nearest EIDA service center in which biometric and fingerprinting will be done.
Your ID should be ready in 7-10 working days. You could either collect it from the service center or Empost would deliver it to your home.
Fees:
- 100AED for UAE Nationals
- 100AED per year of visa validity
- 40AED purchasing of Emirates Post envelope
- 20AED Empost delivery
Driving license
Only citizens of Automatic License Transfer countries can hire a car while visiting Dubai, and only if they present a valid international license.
Expats going through the process of obtaining their residency visa may drive a private vehicle only if they have obtained a temporary driving license, and as soon as the residency visa is ready they will have to switch to a Dubai driving license.
If you are in possession of a valid international license then you simply go along to the RTA License section of an RTA Office and there are several located across the city.
You will need:
- Passport with residency visa
- A valid international license
- 8 passport-sized photos
- Eyesight test result (which can be obtained from the RTA Office or in any reputable opticians).
If you have not driven before or your license is issued from a country not recognized by the RTA, then you will have to undergo training in one of the many motoring schools in operation across Dubai.
Citizens of the following countries are eligible for Automatic License Transfer:
Australia, Netherlands, Austria, New Zealand, Bahrain, Norway, Belgium, Oman, Canada, Poland, Cyprus, Portugal, Czech Republic, Qatar, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Singapore, France, Slovakia, Germany, South Africa, Greece, South Korea, Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Turkey, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Luxembourg and United States.
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