Job Discussion Forums

lynnknows · Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 8:24 pm Post subject: Bureimi vs uae

I will be going to UAE next week. I read in an email on this group that a person can rent an apartment cheaper in Bureimi than in its neighbor UAE. My question is if you live there but work in UAE is going over the border easy or will it be a problem. Also, do you have to pay rent for a year in advance like in UAE and can you get your utilities turned on leagally in Bureimi. Oh, is it easy to find apartments in the area.

Thanks in advance

younggeorge · Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 350 Location: UAE

I don't somehow think you'll get a residence visa for Oman if you're employed in the UAE.

Sheikh Inal Ovar · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 1208 Location: Melo Drama School

From what I understand, Al Ain is the UAE part and Buraimi the Omani part of the community that straddles the border ... many high school teachers who work in Al Ain live in Buraimi as rents are cheaper ... not sure if they or their schools organise this ... at the moment, I'm assured, the 'real' border is still set back 20km into Oman so people can cross between Al Ain & Buraimi with no fuss whatsoever ...

Rumour has it though that this practice of living in one and commuting to the other will be stopped in the not too distant future ... (?) but you should understand that the rumour mill is a popular source of entertainment over here ...

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Considering the geography of the place, I'm not sure how they could make a border there.

I wonder who is pushing the rumor... the Omani side or the Emirati side? Who would benefit?

VS

Tuttifruitti · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 75

A few years ago a friend of mine lived in Buraimi and worked in Al Ain. The only problem she had was that she couldn't get a land line or internet connection. She had a pre paid card from the UAE and used that, but if a house phone and internet are an issue for you, you could check that out to see if things have changed.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

At one time the military tried to crack down on all its teachers getting paid in the Emirates but paying rent in Oman, and they announced that all teachers had to live in Al-Ain, not Bureimi.

Twenty-seven teachers then proceeded to rent one flat between them and gave that as their official address. The 'rule' was abandoned soon after.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Gulf teachers can be very creative when they have to. Cool

VS

Iamherebecause · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 8:15 am Post subject:

There are still a few people who choose to live in Bureimi and work in Al Ain. These days you can sort out land-lines (and calls between Al Ain and Bureimi are charged as local calls not international calls) and internet. One of the problems of living in Bureimi seems to be crime - both petty crime and more serious burglaries. Some people move back to Al Ain for that reason. As for the border crossing - the fence has got a lot stronger and there's just the one route into Bureimi now. I'd be surprised if the Omani border controls got yet closer to Al Ain in the next few years, but it wouldn't surprise me if the UAE controlled the entry/exit to Bureimi more. It would stop people nipping over to Oman to get cheap petrol if nothing else!

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Considering that the UAE is absolutely drowning in petrodollars with the current price of oil, whyever would they want to gouge a few people in Al Ain for petrol prices?? Rolling Eyes

It also makes little sense to me that Omani petrol is cheaper than Emirati. Oman has little oil while this Emirate is a major world supplier. Apparently the Sultan is subsidizing the price of petrol then...

Poor Buraimi has always been the poor 'suburb' of the village of Al Ain. (or perhaps since the advent of the oil economy and the split of the oasis between the two countries...)

VS

abufletcher · Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 9:59 am Post subject:

I don't know anything about house tricks but the deal, as I understand it, about the border is that there IS NO formally recognized, i.e. agreed upon, border between Oman and the UAE. It's a dotted line on maps. And since they can't agree the Omani politely deal with the issue by placing a check-point well inside the border and then requiring a "road permit" to go to Bureimi. This road permit isn't a visa and this isn't a border crossing. They just let you into Bureimi and where you go after that is your own business.

There is however a fairly rigourous (or occasionally fairly rigourous?) customs checkpoint for people coming back into Oman from the UAE. When I went through, they were being meticulous about taking away all toy guns.

BTW, I would consider the main appeal of Al-Ain being that much closer to the fascinating places in Oman.

Mashreki · Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Posts: 6 Location: UAE

There is a very serious border fence between Al Ain & Buraimi now. The UAE govt is building checkpoint buildings too. There are occasional checks at the road where it passes through the fence. I noticed the fence also surrounds parts of the Oman enclave that intrudes into the UAE between Al Madam & Hatta.

Eactly what the status of this 'new' border will be is hard to gauge, but it looks ominous for those hoping to live in Buraimi and work in the UAE.

suzannesmith009 · Joined: 12 Mar 2005 Posts: 9

I am living in Al Ain but travel to Buraimi on a moderately regular basis. My car gets serviced there and so far, nothing has prevented me from "crossing borders". A few influential businessmen (who have great wasta) have told me, when I expressed concerns of crossing the border, that there will be no closing of the border nor the issuing of "road passes". There is "tightened" security however in the form of the Police Officers sleeping in their cars at the "checkpoint" but as of yet, no problems.

andylaw · Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Oman

The 'border' between Al Ain and Buraimi is no longer an open one. Sad

The old border near the city is reserved for GCC nationals and a large 'aparheid era' sign blazenly displays this fact. Nationals are virtually identified by racial profiling, so if you look like an Arab you may get away with driving through, so do check out your skin colour! The Hilli border is open to certain categories of UAE visa holders but is some 8 kilometers away on the Dubai side of Al Ain. Delays at this border post can vary unpredictably from minutes to more than an hour. Oman expats can only obtain entry to the UAE with an additional UAE visa. Depending upon the flexibility of your working hours it is still just possible to live in Buraimi and save money but the isolation, inconvenience and affront to your human dignity may be a cost you are not prepared to pay! Interestingly this is only in Abu Dhabi emirate, other emirates like Dubai and Shajah are not persuing the same approach.