Arrival in the UAE

At The Airport

Once you disembark from the aircraft, you will be met by a greeting service: "Marhaba Service" in Dubai, and "Golden Class" in Abu Dhabi. They will be holding up a sign with your name on it or your name will appear on an electronic board. Please identify yourself to these representatives. The greeting service representatives will escort you through Immigration, Baggage Reclaim, Customs and to the Arrivals Hall. Do not hesitate to ask the greeting service representatives any questions if you are not sure what is happening or if you seem to be waiting.

Arriving to Dubai Airport:

The greeting service representatives will collect your passport and the visa copy (that was sent to you by HR) from you and from your family members. You might be asked to go through the eye scan procedure, if so, the greeting service representative will walk you through the eye scan procedure and complete the immigration procedures on your behalf. The officer doing the eye scan will stamp the back side of the visa copy. Delays are expected at this step as the eye scan procedures may take time if the airport is crowded.  Ensure that the copy of the  visa/visas are returned to you after the immigration procedures are completed. The HR Department will need these original visa documents to process the residence visas.

Arriving to Abu Dhabi Airport:

The greeting service representatives will collect your passport from you and from your family members. You might be asked to go through the eye scan procedure, if so the greeting service representative will walk you through the eye scan procedure and complete the immigration procedures on your behalf. The officer doing the eye scan will stamp the back side of the original visa and hand it over to the greeting service representative. Delays are expected at this step as the eye scan procedures may take time if the airport is crowded. Ensure that the original visas are returned to you after the immigration procedures are completed. The HR Department will need these original visa documents to process the residence visas.

If you wish to stop at the Duty-Free shop, please inform the greeting service representative who will direct you. In Dubai, the Duty-Free shop is right after Immigration and before the Baggage Reclaim. In Abu Dhabi there is a small Duty-Free shop before Immigration.

Once all procedures are completed, the greeting service representatives will direct you to the Arrivals Hall where either a Zayed University representative or a hotel representative will be waiting for you. Either your name or "Zayed University" will be printed on a sign. You will then be taken to the hotel. Please note that Zayed University does not pay for airport porters.

The date of the UAE Immigration entry stamp in your passport will be considered as your first day of employment. Your salary will be paid from that date.

Hotel

Employees on four year contracts and their families will usually be housed in an hotel for the first ten nights in the UAE Zayed University will incur the expense for you and your family (spouse and up to three dependent children who will be residing with you in the UAE). If you bring dependents with you who will not be taking up residence in the U.A.E., you may be responsible for their hotel accommodation. After the tenth night, you will move into your new accommodation.

Allowances

During your hotel stay, you will receive a meal allowance for yourself, your spouse, and up to three dependent children if they are taking up residence in the U.A.E.

If you qualify for a furniture allowance, it will be provided in the form of a cheque soon after your arrival in the UAE. You will be taken to the bank within the first few days to cash your furniture allowance cheque. You are not required to open a bank account to cash this check.