My move to Dubai. In one list.

For those of you, like me who have scoured the web only to find guides that relate to the classic 2.4 children situation I thought I would give my slant on things. Firstly though, to understand I am a 23 (just) year old guy with no kids, I rent a house with a mate off another friend and have a garage at Mother's to be able to store stuff, but not too much or I get an earful. I've taken the tact of selling most things, taking only what I need.

Firstly, Sell;

• Car - Autotrader, Gumtree, Advert in car window, Facebook/Twitter link the adverts too
• TV's - I raised best part of £400 by selling my two flatscreens; one on eBay, one to Granny
• Surfboard - Alright, most people won't have one to sell but got me some more cash, sold on eBay
• Bed - Through a friend on Facebook
• Sofa - Yet to sell, will stick on eBay
• Sell anything big, you can always buy it again unless you are planning on coming back to it in 6 months.

Addresses;

• Bank
• Credit Card
• Mobile
• Any others that need to know.

Utilities / Stuff;

• Notify Gas - Easy.
• Electric - Easy.
• Mobile provider - iPhone tariff can only be dropped one level and that's it. Just keep a diary of when you need to cancel it permanently, or pay it off...
• Council Tax - Easy peasy.
• TV License - You initially sign up for a year but with proof you can reclaim / cancel it.
• Car Insurance - Easy to call and say you are leaving if paying monthly like me, but they charge for cancelling and charge to end the DD instruction. Fascists.
• LoveFILM or anything like that, don't forget to cancel them.

Things to set up;

• Offshore bank account - I've gone with my UK bank supplier but there are plenty, just be wary of charges that are linked if you don't have £25,000+ to put in it. 
• Make sure you let HMRC know, you want the P85, can print it online and get a guide to take you through it. Really easy, just fill out and send off. 
• Join Airmiles clubs, Emirates Skywards and Virgin are two I've signed up for, worth doing to collect the prizes like upgrades.
• Get an International Driving Permit (IDP), Post Office do these for £5.50 and takes 5 minutes, on their website they tell you what you need.

Packing;

• I'm only taking clothes that I need.
• DVD's in a wallet thing (save space)
• Golf Clubs - Virgin and Emirates let you take a set for free, so take full advantage.

To be honest, all of the above is what I've done, the bits I'm planning to sort as soon as I can when I am in Dubai are as follows;

• I've been told to just tell immigration that you are there for a holiday visiting friends, if you say you are moving...they will search everything you have brought. A family friend had her copy of Mamma Mia taken off her because it "wasn't suitable". Just say 'holiday' and smile.
• Alcohol License - Believe you can pick up from a couple of supermarkets, will update when i've done it.
• Buy a Sim Card at the airport if you aren't being given a mobile very quickly. I spent £600 on my phone in a 4 day trip last year.
• Visa, your company will help with this but you just need a medical and then to get it processed I believe.
• Set up a bank account
• Rent a car? Use your IDP if needs be, some say you need it some say you don't.
• Have a beer and chill the fudge out.

I hope this provides some use to people looking to move to Dubai who are in a similar position to me. It is quite daunting but this list is not that long. It's simple really; Sell the big stuff, move the rest to Mum's, Pack the clothes, DVD's and golf clubs that you'll need, Let a few people know and get on the plane...easy.

Fingers crossed anyway.