Living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Dubai and the rest of the UAE may be sun-filled with modern housing, outstanding shopping facilities and no income tax, but there are some significant cultural differences that you must be aware of before you leave. To ignore the cultural differences and laws in the UAE could result in fines, time in jail or deported - even for what seem to be minor transgressions.
Get support for your move to the UAE
Expats in the UAE generally tend to live in communities of others from their home countries. Why not look to sign up for expat and social groups in addition playgroups for your children to help you get adjusted?
In business and your personal life, networking and connections are key to settling in and enjoying your new life in the UAE. Always make the most of networking opportunities, particularly for business, as this plays a key role for business and employment.
The workweek generally runs from Sunday to Thursday; Friday and Saturday are the designated days of rest. Offices generally open somewhere between 7.30am and 9am and close at 5pm, with working hours during the month of Ramadan generally shortened by two or three hours.
What to expect when you arrive in the UAE
The language of the UAE is Arabic, which uses the Arabic alphabet - a script that is read from right to left, will be quite different to English. The UAE has a much more relaxed approach to Western cultures than many other Arab or Islamic nations. For instance although drinking in public is forbidden, in bars and hotels it's allowed.
While, overall, the cities of the UAE are relatively tolerant, you do need to remember that the UAE is an Islamic State. Certain things which you'd take for granted as normal or acceptable are prohibited such as: public drunkenness, use or possession of drugs (including some medicines prescribed by your doctor or purchased over the counter in the UK), noise disruptions, bad language, making obscene gestures, showing any kind of disrespect of Islam or the leaders of the UAE, cohabitation, sex outside of marriage, having a baby out of wedlock, adultery, and homosexuality.
UAE Culture
For women, it is a must to be dressed modestly. Generally, you should cover your shoulders, cleavage and your legs above the knees as well as avoiding tight or sheer clothing. When meeting an Arab or Emirati man, do not offer to shake his hand unless he extends his hand towards you first. Local women will wear an abaya, which is a traditional black ankle length garment with long sleeves and a high neckline; the hair is also covered.
Men have far fewer restrictions on clothing. They should avoid wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts outside of the home. Due to the hot weather, suits are rarely worn except for important business meetings and related social events. Standard wear in the office is a long sleeved shirt, tie and lightweight trousers.
Always use your right hand for drinking and eating, as the left hand is regarded as unclean (as it’s used for ‘toilet purposes’). You should also avoid showing the soles of your feet or bottoms of your shoes. This gives the implication that you think the other person is "dirt", which is obviously highly offensive. Keep your feet flat on the ground and don't cross your legs.
Removal quote appointment booking service
Britannia Bradshaw can help your move go smoothly. Contact us for a free, no obligation quote, or by calling 0161 877 5555 (Manchester) or 0121 504 0966 (Birmingham & Coventry) and speak with one of our removals specialists.
How are our appointments carried out
In the current times you might prefer that we don't visit your house in person to carry out a survey. This is fully understandable and we can just as easily undertake the survey by video call, using whatever method you're comfortable with, usually FaceTime or WhatsApp.
See what our customers think of us...
Professional and fast
Why did you choose to get a quote from us and where did you get our contact details?
I’ve used your service before
How would you rate the way we dealt with your initial enquiry?
10/10
How would you rate the survey that we carried out?
10/10
Why did you choose to move/store with us?
The work done before was great.
How would you rate your move team?
10/10
Would you like to tell us anything about your move team?
They were great people. Professional and fast to act. They looked after my belonging properly. Highly recommended.
How would you rate our communication?
10/10
How can we improve our service?
Nothing to improve.
How likely are you to recommend us to your friends / family?
10/10
They worked so hard they never stopped
Why did you choose to get a quote from us and where did you get our contact details?
I got a few quotes from several move companies
How would you rate the way we dealt with your initial enquiry?
10/10
How would you rate the survey that we carried out?
10/10
Why did you choose to move/store with us?
Best price and reviews. Pickfords were nearly double.
How would you rate your move team?
10/10
Would you like to tell us anything about your move team?
Very helpful. They worked so hard they never stopped.
How would you rate our communication?
10/10
How can we improve our service?
They were brilliant. Paul, Ellis and Alistair were professional, efficient and friendly.
How likely are you to recommend us to your friends / family?
10/10
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your move?
Worked great for me so I can’t think of anything to improve
Excellent at all stages
Why did you choose to get a quote from us and where did you get our contact details?
Google
How would you rate the way we dealt with your initial enquiry?
10/10
How would you rate the survey that we carried out?
10/10
Why did you choose to move/store with us?
Everything from my flat needed moving
How would you rate your move team?
10/10
Would you like to tell us anything about your move team?
Excellent at all stages
How would you rate our communication?
10/10
How can we improve our service?
N.a – all good
How likely are you to recommend us to your friends / family?
10/10
Professionalism and competitive prices
Why did you choose to get a quote from us and where did you get our contact details?
We were shopping around for quotes on Google. Your local rep visited and we took it from there. All the other companies tried to do this via video call
How would you rate the way we dealt with your initial enquiry?
9/10
How would you rate the survey that we carried out?
9/10
Why did you choose to move/store with us?
Professionalism and competitive prices won although some competitors were cheaper when considering monthly storage
How would you rate your move team?
10/10
Would you like to tell us anything about your move team?
We moved twice 16/09/2024 from Culcheth to storage - great team, non stop and very very good and polite. 07/04/2025 storage to Bridlington - some of the 4 man team are local to our new address and all 4 were a cheery, friendly lot who again worked tirelessly and efficiently. Would highly recommend even though there was some slight damage incurred on a kitchen unit door
How would you rate our communication?
9/10
How can we improve our service?
I can’t help you there as we were very pleased
How likely are you to recommend us to your friends / family?
10/10
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your move?
We had two exceptionally sunny days for moving so that made everyone happy and relaxed and they were all a pleasure to work with
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