One of the attractions of Dubai for most (the rest follows) is the tax free salary. It beats going back home and donating 30% of your salary to the exchequer. Though an expat acquaintance of mine, the other night, was quite clear that while she did not pay any "direct taxes", they paid in a million other ways be it registration of cars that needs to be renewed every year, classes for licence, sallik, visa, maid visa, inexplicable surcharges on the DEWA bills etc.. while she may have a valid point, I would think that these charges would still amount to less than the tax one would pay on income if it was taxable - which is what makes this such an attractive place to stay not to mention luxeries like a house maid, a gardener and a driver!
Which brings me to my biggest frustration! Finding a house maid! Having grown up in India, you kind of take having a house maid, a driver and sundry other people assisting you in the house, for granted. It renders you completely ill-equipped to wash, clean and to cook when you suddenly find yourself an expat in a country where 24 hour live-in help is not available or you have to fork out your month's salary towards the decadence of a live in help!
Mercifully Dubai is somewhere in between. House help is available, is quite reasonable by Western standards (in some cases, maybe a tad expensive by Eastern standards) but is a bit like playing a very expensive Russian roulette!
In my limited experience, local Emiratis do not work as house help, drivers etc, that's is totally the preserve of expats, albeit of a different kind! So if you want the decadence of a house help, you've got to import one - either actually or figuratively! And as I have discovered, that world is also riddled by hierarchy!
The top pf the heap are Filipinos, followed by Sri Lankans, then the Indians and finally the Nepalis and Bangladeshis, with each rung acutely conscious of their status vis-a-vis the others! Salaries as well are determined by this hierarchy with a Filipina charging the most and the rest following...
But I am digressing! A house maid is an easily available and integral USP of Dubai. In recognition of this USP, even the newspapers don't charge you for domestic help classifieds! I placed an ad in Gulf News and was flooded with calls. The problem is figuring out what will work for you.
A maid interview and trial period is much like the dating routine - you are both on your best behaviour! She wants a visa and you want a maid, so you are both the picture of equanimity and willingness. The issue is that unlike many other countries you are not hiring locals who have a right to live here, so if after a couple of months you figure that's this is not working for you, its fine, you look for someone else. Here one needs to sponsor a maid, and, pay for her visa which would cost you around AED 10,000 inclusive of the health card, air tickets etc. That's one expensive regret :-)
But there is a breed, esp Sri Lankans, who have their own visas. I am not sure how this works, but I got tons of calls from mainly Sri Lankans who had their own visas. Now I have been told that the maid can only work with the family sponsoring the visa, so how does this work?
Which brings me to my biggest frustration! Finding a house maid! Having grown up in India, you kind of take having a house maid, a driver and sundry other people assisting you in the house, for granted. It renders you completely ill-equipped to wash, clean and to cook when you suddenly find yourself an expat in a country where 24 hour live-in help is not available or you have to fork out your month's salary towards the decadence of a live in help!
Mercifully Dubai is somewhere in between. House help is available, is quite reasonable by Western standards (in some cases, maybe a tad expensive by Eastern standards) but is a bit like playing a very expensive Russian roulette!
In my limited experience, local Emiratis do not work as house help, drivers etc, that's is totally the preserve of expats, albeit of a different kind! So if you want the decadence of a house help, you've got to import one - either actually or figuratively! And as I have discovered, that world is also riddled by hierarchy!
The top pf the heap are Filipinos, followed by Sri Lankans, then the Indians and finally the Nepalis and Bangladeshis, with each rung acutely conscious of their status vis-a-vis the others! Salaries as well are determined by this hierarchy with a Filipina charging the most and the rest following...
But I am digressing! A house maid is an easily available and integral USP of Dubai. In recognition of this USP, even the newspapers don't charge you for domestic help classifieds! I placed an ad in Gulf News and was flooded with calls. The problem is figuring out what will work for you.
A maid interview and trial period is much like the dating routine - you are both on your best behaviour! She wants a visa and you want a maid, so you are both the picture of equanimity and willingness. The issue is that unlike many other countries you are not hiring locals who have a right to live here, so if after a couple of months you figure that's this is not working for you, its fine, you look for someone else. Here one needs to sponsor a maid, and, pay for her visa which would cost you around AED 10,000 inclusive of the health card, air tickets etc. That's one expensive regret :-)
But there is a breed, esp Sri Lankans, who have their own visas. I am not sure how this works, but I got tons of calls from mainly Sri Lankans who had their own visas. Now I have been told that the maid can only work with the family sponsoring the visa, so how does this work?
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