The United Arab Emirate is actually one of the world’s
exotic nations! Before the crash of oil price, UAE used her oil revenue to turn
a desert into a heaven on earth with scotching sun.
You will agree with me that from the origin of mankind, humans
have constantly migrated to nations with great economic potentials. Naturally,
a country like UAE will attract the best of humanity either as Tourists or
Workers.
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the seven emirate nation and
Dubai, one of the world’s major tourist destinations are both cities that can offer
you anything you will get from London or New York besides good minimum wage
law.
Below are four more reasons millions are migrating to UAE to
live.
EASY
VISA:
To get yourself into UAE, it must be either for tourism,
work or education, the easiest Visa to get is the Tourist Visa which has the
shortest period to expire. This will elaborated on below.
CHEAP
VISA:
When you
compare the cost of acquiring a UAE Visa to those of European and American
countries, you will understand why millions of people from third world
countries are rushing to UAE like bees to beehive.
CHEAP FLIGHT TICKETS:
If you know
what you are doing or know who does, you will know that there are periods of
getting in and out of UAE at ridiculous prices. The popular airlines that fly
from UAE to Africa are Emirate, Etihad, Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airline, Rwandan
Airline (this is the cheapest and mostly used airline for the Africans in UAE).
These airlines regulate their flight tickets prices according to the festival seasons
in the country. More on this below.
JOBS:
If your
reason for traveling to UAE is not for leisure then you must get a job to have
the legal papers and income that will allow you stay in the Gulf nation for at
least two years. You realize that it is the same with other countries but there
are differences that make it easier to go to UAE. In UAE , the 3 months Tourist
Visa is the most favorite for job seekers because it gives them enough time to
secure a job that will give them two years UAE Visa . In some countries you
can’t get a job with Tourist Visa.
These above mentioned
factors contribute largely on why millions are finding it easy to move to UAE
at the moment.
ACCOMMODATION IN UAE:
Please before you depart from your country,
it is advisable that you settle your accommodation in UAE to avoid being
stranded in a country you are a stranger in. When I arrived at the Abu Dhabi
Bus Station, opposite Al Whada Mall, I had only a phone number to call, nobody
was waiting for me in Abu Dhabi to help me find my way around.
The guy who
handled my Visa and accommodation was in Nigeria at that moment, he told me to
load my MTN number with at least N2000 worth of credit which I did at the
Airport in Nigeria. That number never worked! I had to board a cab for 12 Drh
to the address he gave me, getting down from the ash colored 2012 Toyota Camry,
my eyes beheld an awesome street with both high rise buildings and duplexes
majestically standing side by side quiet and beautifully tarred roads and streets.
If not the wicked sun that reminds one of hell, it would have been heaven on earth!
Now faced with the challenge of finding where to lay my head, I started asking
for help from mostly short men and women who I found out later were Filipinos
and don’t like blacks. The other set of people who passed me where Arabs who
rarely understood my English. You don’t want to be in this situation.
An Arab
boy around 17 years of age came to a shop near where I was standing hoping for
a miracle, seeing that I was new in town and needed help, he tried to help but
chickened out. He later suggested I go meet the Arubabs {rich men} who were passing to ask them to lend me their
phones.
The problem I had was, getting a phone to call the number I was given.
I told him through both sign language and English. I promised I will buy him credit but he found
ways to refuse but stayed around encouraging me to meet rich Arabs.
What made my situation worse was when I
entered the super market near where I was standing to buy a SIM card, I was
told I couldn’t buy a SIM with my Tourist Visa. I was devastated but help came
when an Indian dispatch rider came to drop something in the build I was
standing near, something in me led me to ask him for his phone, miraculously he
happily gave me.
I called the number and to my shock, a dark 5.5 inches, thick
Ugandan lady came out from a duplex near me to pick me up. Now relieved, I
followed her to the apartment as she asked how my trip was, she spoke with an
ascent. The building was a story building, from it looks I expected to get into
a great apartment but getting in, I was shocked to see a hostel arrangement!
There were like four bunks in the room I was taken to, each with up and down
beds. To create privacy, they covered each bed with cotton. I almost cried! I couldn’t
believe I paid so much for this. I paid N50, 000 for the up bed for a month.
As you can
see, accommodation in UAE is very expensive, the down bed goes for N60, 000
(600 Drh) and down bed goes for N50, 000 (500 Drh) for just a month that’s the
amount you pay for a room apartment in Ejigbo in Lagos.
If you do the math, you
will pay N720, 000 annually for down bed and N600, 000 for up bed. These prices
are slightly higher in Dubai. If you don’t have a job that pays at least 2500
Drh monthly, it may be difficult for you to be able to meet up with other
responsibilities and still save something tangible.
Accommodation business is
another source of income in UAE. You can walk up to a Landlord and rent a room
for 3000 Drh or more depending on the area then become assistant Landlord by subletting
bed spaces out. What usually happens is Blacks live together, Filipinos live
together, and Indians live together in one apartment.
The majority of blacks in
UAE are from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, Cameroon etc. You hardly see
Ghanaians in UEA, how could they suffer in a country that has almost same
currency value with theirs? I guess they all left when their currency value
rose.
A standard
accommodation should have a kitchen, a toilet and bathroom, washing machine and
Wi Fi connection accessible to everybody in the flat. Most times, internet
connection attracts more charges. While I was in Abu Dhabi, I was paying 20 Drh
(N2000, the amount you use to buy 3 Gigs in Nigeria) monthly for unlimited Wi
Fi connection.
