Settling in the UAE: what relocation services include

What do relocation services in Dubai include?

Settling-in services are the admin of your first weeks in a new country: the visa and Emirates ID, a registered lease, utilities, a bank account, a driving licence and school applications. They are different from moving your belongings, which is a mover’s job, and from the flat search, which is covered in how to find an apartment in Dubai.

What a package contains depends on the company. One broker’s blog describes settling-in support as covering the DEWA utility connection, bank account opening, vehicle registration or purchase support, healthcare provider registration and local orientation (Gaia Realty). That is a seller’s description, not a standard. Ask for the list in writing.

Which steps can someone do for you, and which need you?

• Residence visa. The sponsor, usually your employer, files it. Applicants aged 18 and over take a medical test and pass a security check (u.ae). Needs you: The medical test is yours; the filing is the sponsor’s.
• Emirates ID. Apply through the ICP website or an accredited typing centre; you might need to visit an ICP service centre for biometrics (u.ae). Needs you: Possibly, for biometrics.
• Lease and registration. The tenant provides passport copy, visa, Emirates ID and post-dated cheques; registration is compulsory to connect utilities (u.ae). Needs you: Your documents and your cheques.
• Utilities. Dubai: DEWA contacts you after Ejari. Abu Dhabi: after Tawtheeq, with passport, Emirates ID, contract and a closing letter from the previous tenant (u.ae). Needs you: Your documents.
• Bank account. Emirates ID, residence visa, passport, salary certificate or employment letter; some banks verify identity in their app (u.ae). Needs you: Your identity check.
• Driving licence. Some expatriates can exchange a valid home licence; others take classes and tests; to learn, you open a traffic file with passport, Emirates ID, photographs, an eye test report and, if required, a no-objection letter (u.ae). Needs you: Eye test, tests, application.
• Schools. Dubai’s private schools are licensed by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Abu Dhabi’s by the Department of Education and Knowledge; fees cannot rise without approval (u.ae). Needs you: The application is yours.

The government portal describes a typing centre registered with the federal authority as an office that fills in forms and processes them online for the sponsor, and lists accredited typing centres as a route for the Emirates ID. The identity checks and the biometrics are about you, so plan to attend.

How long does each step take?

• Ejari: at a trustee centre, 25 minutes excluding waiting time (Land Department). Online, the certificate comes by email after approval.
• Bank account: usually a few hours to a few days.
• Emirates ID: the 24-hour urgent service is for UAE and GCC nationals. Other expatriates are entitled to it only to replace a card. We found no time for a first card.
• Visa: no official processing time found.
• Driving licence: a new licence is valid 1 year under 21 and 2 years from 21; renewal is 5 years for expatriate residents above 21.
• Time abroad: more than 180 days in a row nullifies a residence visa, with listed exceptions. The government also describes grace periods of up to 6 months after a permit is cancelled or expired.

In what order do the documents allow you to do it?

The order below is our reading of the documents each official page asks for, not an official timetable:

1. Before you land. Your sponsor files the entry and residence paperwork. Ask who files what and by which date, in writing.
2. First days. The medical test and the Emirates ID application. A family is different: when a sponsor brings dependants, the government’s list for their residence visas includes the sponsor’s certified lease or proof of owning a home, the Emirates ID application receipt, a medical fitness certificate for dependants above 18 and medical insurance or a health card (u.ae). So the sponsor’s home comes before the family’s visas. A temporary stay covers you until the lease.
3. Once the visa and the ID are in hand. The bank account, which asks for both, then the lease with its post-dated cheques.
4. After the lease is registered. Utilities, which the government ties to registration, then the driving licence and school applications.

What happens when you leave?

The same sponsor logic runs in reverse. If your visa is sponsored by an employer or a family member and you leave for good, the sponsor must cancel it officially, and a person sponsoring dependants cancels theirs before their own. Cancelling the visa cancels the Emirates ID automatically (u.ae). A consultant’s departure service, which some packages list, is mostly this paperwork plus the lease end and utility closing. For Abu Dhabi, the utility application asks for an account-closing letter from the previous tenant, so ask the landlord for yours when you leave.

What does a settling-in service cost?

We found no price list from a UAE consultant. A broker’s blog gives an example split of AED 8,000 for a property search and AED 5,000 for settling-in support, marketing figures dated 5 April 2026 in our research. Our guide on what a relocation company costs in Dubai and the UAE lays out the estimates and the official fees around them, and labels each.

What differs between Dubai and Abu Dhabi?

Almost every step above runs through an emirate’s own authority: Ejari and DEWA in Dubai, Tawtheeq and the Abu Dhabi distribution company in Abu Dhabi, KHDA or ADEK for schools, and different health insurance laws. Our guide to moving to Dubai sets the two side by side. The visa and Emirates ID rules are federal and apply in both.

What can a consultant not do?

The biometrics and identity checks are about you, so a consultant cannot take your place, and the lease and bank forms are yours to sign. For the visa, the sponsor files. Our research found no UAE licence for visa advice comparable to the UK’s, which a lawyer should confirm, so ask who is qualified for what. For the visa and the Emirates ID in detail, read the residence visa and Emirates ID in the UAE, and for insurance read health insurance in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

What should you ask before you buy a package?

1. Which steps from the list above are included, in writing?
2. How many hours or days does the price cover?
3. Does the consultant come to appointments with you, or only prepare the paperwork?
4. Which items cost extra, and which fees are government fees?
5. Which emirate do you cover, and who does the work in Abu Dhabi?
6. What do you do if a step stalls?

To pick a company, read how to choose a relocation company in Dubai. To see agencies that offer settling-in help, get matched or open the United Arab Emirates directory. How we rank explains the order.

What we could not source

We did not find official processing times for the visa and a first Emirates ID, the DEWA deposit, or a consultant’s price list. The only description of a settling-in package we cite is a broker’s marketing. We did not research Sharjah, the other northern emirates, free zones or the golden visa. This guide is general information, not legal advice.