# Canadian Interior Design Expat Moving to Dubai?



## edm17el (Jan 19, 2006)

Hello,

I am a Canadian Citizen who is about to begin negotiations with an American firm to practice Interior Design in Dubai.

I was hoping there might be some Expats on here or some other people that could provide me with their experiences, pros & cons to living in Dubai.

In addition does anyone have recommendations of certain things I should ask for moving to Dubai from Canada? Extra costs of travel, moving costs, living costs, etc?

Also, the firm wants me to pay for my own costs to travel to Atlanta for a first interview. They say they do not "traditionally" pay for the travel expenses for someone who wants to work with them. Oh, they do not do conference call either. I responded in a well written email trying to come to some sort of compromise between us since the means to get to Atlanta do not seem resonable to me (I didn't word the email like that).

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.


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## kjames (Jan 18, 2006)

i'm in a similar boat trying to find architectural work in dubai.. I've seen some older job adds on the internet that offer accomodation allowances, travel, car etc. most of the current ones are just saying the salary is negotiable.

just out of curiosity, who is the company you've applied to. I'm having real trouble finding contact details for design architectural firms in dubai.

good luck.

karl


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## edm17el (Jan 19, 2006)

kjames said:


> i'm in a similar boat trying to find architectural work in dubai.. I've seen some older job adds on the internet that offer accomodation allowances, travel, car etc. most of the current ones are just saying the salary is negotiable.
> 
> just out of curiosity, who is the company you've applied to. I'm having real trouble finding contact details for design architectural firms in dubai.
> 
> ...



The firm is Interior Design only, they have no architects. They do Hospitality. At this point I'd rather not say. But have you tried NBBJ, Carlos Ott, TVSA? All three of those have offices in Dubai and are North American Firms. Personally I'd love to work with NBBJ or TVSA if I were to do mixed interior design, but I want a firm taht does strictly multi-family & hospitality.


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

I feel sorry for those guys

hey Dubaians, answer them


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## Towers (Jan 3, 2006)

i am Canadian living in abu dhabi, not to sure about what are you asking????????????????????????


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

Well your biggest expense will easily be rent, rents have risen on average 40% over the last year. If you can get the company to give you a rental allowance it will save you a lot of headache.
2bed apartment at the Greens from around 80k (a year) or so, 2 bed at the marina from 100k, and in Bur Dubai theres a wider range of prices.


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

its not hat bad.

3br+dining room in bur dubai behind spinnies 65k. [inc utilities]


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## edm17el (Jan 19, 2006)

juiced said:


> Well your biggest expense will easily be rent, rents have risen on average 40% over the last year. If you can get the company to give you a rental allowance it will save you a lot of headache.
> 2bed apartment at the Greens from around 80k (a year) or so, 2 bed at the marina from 100k, and in Bur Dubai theres a wider range of prices.


When you say a 2 bed goes for 100K a year, is that 100,000 UAE Dirhams per year? So about $31,000 Canadian/year (or $2583CDN/month)? What does a 1 bedroom go for? 

What about travel costs in and around the city? Is there good public transportation? What about the costs of utilities such as water, air conditioning, etc? What about food costs? Is $70,000US/year (257,000 Dirhmas) hi or low for salary in Dubai?


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## DarkBlueBoss (Mar 3, 2005)

well, i am a canadian living in Dubai too, 
well compared to canada is pretty expensive, but then again, u dont have taxes. 
so it kinda even outs, 
public transport - expensive if ur using taxis, there are buses, don't know how those are, never used them, and i honestly dont know anyone who has...
rent - we are talkig 100,000 K UAE dirhams, with is around 31,000 K canadian, a one bedroom would range 40,000 (if ur lucky) to around 100,000 depending on location really. 
Utilities - water is average i guess, however electricity is pretty expensive, but u can control that by usage, i think (i am not sure, dubai people correct me if ia m wrong) for a 2 bedroom, u are talking about 300 dirhams a month maybe to 400 , (AC is electrical , so its included)

try this site, its the canadian business council in dubai ( i am memeber) u can contact them for any more questions, they are very helpfull 
http://www.cbc-dubai.com/


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

edm17el said:


> When you say a 2 bed goes for 100K a year, is that 100,000 UAE Dirhams per year? So about $31,000 Canadian/year (or $2583CDN/month)? What does a 1 bedroom go for?
> 
> What about travel costs in and around the city? Is there good public transportation? What about the costs of utilities such as water, air conditioning, etc? What about food costs? Is $70,000US/year (257,000 Dirhmas) hi or low for salary in Dubai?


yep 100k uae dirhams a year, and rents have been increasing the past few years and are likely to over the next few years. the metered rate for taxis are cheap compared to other parts of the world so its great for the weekend, but using them to get around all the time to work etc might be too expensive. *cars are much cheaper than the uk, not sure about canada, same for petrol.
I think you should get the co. to provide a housing allowance if possible.

* Second hand Jeep Cherokee 4x4 car, around 10000km for Dhs70,000


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

come to doha.. we have wilder night life.. hehe


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