Survey shows expats in UAE want to stay permanently

The UAE attracts a huge number of relocating expats eager to boost their salaries as well as their careers, but how many call the desert emirates their home?

The emirates’ luxury lifestyle, international expat community and tax-free economy must seem like heaven on earth for expat professionals from the West’s crumbling societies, but staying permanently may be another matter entirely. The results of a recent survey may seem surprising to many as it reveals three-quarters of respondents would love to make the region their permanent home. Whilst earnings potential was the main reason for international relocation, followed by work opportunities, it seems the UAE has an almost unbreakable hold on its expat professionals.

Admittedly, almost half of those surveyed were here for the money, but 20 per cent said they wanted to buy a home and 58 per cent expressed a wish for their children to graduate from a UAE university. The results are a testimony to the UAE’s hospitality as well as its lifestyle, although keeping up with the trends of a hedonistic way of life are causing financial concerns, even for those on top salaries. As a result, many aren’t saving enough to ensure they’re able to retire in the emirates should it be possible. As with every expat destination, arrivals need to calculate their financial requirements far ahead in order to stay comfortably in the long term.

Given the results of the survey, there’s good news for at least some expats living and working in Qatar, as a new draft law is expected to allow permanent residency for a proportion of the expatriate community. Children of Qatari women with foreign husbands as well as a certain number of expats who’ve given outstanding service to the emirate can be granted a permanent stay, with the move the first of its kind in the Gulf States. The draft law represents a small but important departure from the Arab norm, and may open the door to allow those wishing to stay permanently to realise their dreams.