Job Discussion Forums

[orangepeel1]

My high school diploma is in my mother's house back home (USA) and she refuses to send it to me. I'm a fairly new teacher and the HR people at my new school requested it...It's not like a piece of paper diploma, its in a keepsake leather folder that I really don't want to give away to be stamped on! I tried to explain that I would have a nice copy made for them but they wouldn't hear it. Same thing for my college diploma... Is this really necessary?

On another note, a pickpocket made off with my state ID and US driver's license a while back! Grrr!#)*(&#@_! And the state I'm from does not permit online renewals or replacements unless you return to your state in person within 90 days <not gonna happen...However, I do happen to have a xerox machine copy of them both... I know Americans get a break when it comes to getting a driver's license in Dubai... that's what I've heard anyways... Do you think my copies will suffice? They are clear....?

orangepeel1

[mishmumkin]

You'll need official copies of everything i.e. copies issued by the body that provided the originals. As for your license, you must have the current one in hand in order to get a UAE license. The alternative? Take the test like everyone else.

[Anna Dubaya]

Your college/graduate school can send transcripts to your employer, if you make the request. You do not need to show your originals but make sure you arrange to have your degrees "verified" because it is necessary for your residency visa.
Driver's license: very expensive to take lessons and the test, very long waiting list (I heard). A copy won't do.

[mishmumkin]

[veiledsentiments]

Orangepeel,

High School Diploma??? I have never heard of providing anything other than university certificates.

For your university degree, write to your university and get a new graduation certificate. I had to do it because my original was painted on glass not something I wanted to carry around from country to country. You might as well do it now and get it over with since you will need it for every Gulf job. Yes... it is required. You never actually give it to them and no one stamps it or anything. You give them a certified stamped copy and they 'look' at the original to be sure that they are the same document.

You are surely out of luck for the driver's license. I'd go and make a try and see if they will accept it, and you might luck out and be able to charm them into allowing the copy. I found that if I could go up the line to an 'officer' who could speak some English, I might be able to sweet talk him into breaking a rule. BUT... don't take your husband with you. Westerners can get away with things that other Arabs can't sometimes. But... be ready to not succeed and have a long wait and take the lessons and the test. That is the most likely scenario.

VS

[orangepeel1]

VS- We are thinking along the same lines. I understand that I will probably have to take the test... But can trying to slip through the red tape hurt any? I don't think so and I'm going to attempt it regardless of my chances, call me hard-headed.... time is money and every penny counts! There is one other option. Depending on how much these classes/ the ID cost and how long the waiting list is, it might be a better idea. I can request an ID from my state that is a non photo ID. They do this for people of certain religions who do not agree to having their pic taken. They also do it for students who lost their ID out of state. They are supposed to return after 90 days to renew it. If I don't return after 90 days, I wonder what would happen.... it doesn't say but Im willing to bet when I go home for the summer I could just get another ID....

You know there are few teachers at this school that are Lebanese, as well as some management. I think they request a HSdip because they ask those teachers to bring their BT certificates and they want to keep it uniform. So anyways, I have requested a certified copy from my HS, and will do the same from my Uni...thanks for the advice.

[Sunburnt Individual]

I was in the EXACT same position regarding my driver's license last year. The licensing process is long and slow and not really based on your ability to drive, so really, don't bother at all unless you get your US driver's license sent here. They just increased the fees last year too. It's really not worth the hassle if you can avoid it.

Also, what my employer forgot to tell me last year when I was doing all my paperwork was that your home state has to authenticate your degree/diploma before the federal state department will touch it. Make sure you get your state (the state in which you got the degree, if you went to school in a different state from your home address) to authenticate it before you send it to the feds to sign off on. Mine ended up getting sent back and it just made the process a whole lot longer.

[orangepeel1]

Thanks for your input!

I have two questions. How did you avoid the driving issue? Did you just take taxis all the time? I may be living in the International City so driving is kind of a necessity for me! Do you remember how much the process costs? I'm thinking of staying in UAE for quite some time so I will need a car. My state back in the US will not renew or replace licenses online/by mail....What does the licensing process entail in Dubai?

About the degrees. The school I will be working for has a company and HR people to handle all degree authentications and visa processing. Its actually written into the contract that they will take care of everything for me. Do you think this still means, even with the original degree, that something needs to be done in the US? You see, I am currently working in Lebanon... It would make it impossible for me to do anything from here. Isn't it the case that the American Embassy can do these sort of verifications????

orangepeel1

[mishmumkin]

The process of getting documents authenticated from the UAE is about $350 USD per doc. You can pay a company to do this for you (but it's still up to you to obtain the official copies). I can't imagine you're employer is going to pay the authentication fees when they wanted you to pay the visa fees (they did-didn't they?).

[orangepeel1]

Am I missing something here? How can getting a document authenticated cost 350 dollars?!? When I applied for a Civil Marriage I had to get my birth certificate, and religious marriage license authenticated. I did that all at the American Embassy for 30 dollars a document... it cost me 60 buck total... What do they mean by authenticated? I need to contact the HR department about this... Where does the authentication take place? If its at the Embassy I can do it myself...I hate freakin' red tape stuff...

[orangepeel1]

Mish

Yeah its on the contract that I need to pay visa and I believe it also says authentication fees... they are supposed to be deducted from my pay. I think I'm gonna starve my first two months in Dubai... good thing Ramadan is coming up...one meal a day....As my move is getting closer, I'm becoming increasingly stressed out! I think my apartment is gonna suck, hubby still hasn't got a decent job offer, my license got stolen so I don't know how I'm gonna get a car or pay for this driving school business, now I find out I'm gonna have to pay an arm and a leg for my papers...

Excuse me for ranting guys...There was a time when I thought I could escape "the man" by getting out of America. Naivety, he's eeeevery where you go! Anyways, its better that I am prepared! Thanks for that!

op

[mishmumkin]

If you pay a company to do this for you from the UAE it will cost about $350 USD. If you do it on your own: you obtain the originals and the fee for doing so, you'll pay the sec of state in the state in which they were issued (could be between $5-15), you'll then pay the state dept ($14, I think, per doc), and finally you'll pay the UAE embassy anout $30 per doc. I was instructed to do this for my birth and marriage cert (and for spouse's birth cert, too).

The American embassy in the UAE, to the best of my knowledge, will not be involved in this process if you wait until you get there. You said your school would take care of the authentication, but I find that rather unusual. Even my employer has told me that I will bear that expense should I choose to pay the $350 to a UAE company to get my lasest degree authenticated.

[helenl]

So far as I know, it's illegal (even if it is in your contract) to make the employee pay the work visa and labour card fees. However, if you push this point with your employer, you may find yourself without a job. Getting your own quals authenticated has always been the employee's expense. They are two separate expenses.

[orangepeel1]

Well the thing is, all my papers are in the States, and I am in Lebanon. I was having my mother and my universities send them directly to the UAE school. The mail delivery system, or customs, Im still not sure who... is not reliable here in Lebanon. I have ordered text books and had packages sent here that were lost without a trace... I don't feel comfortable at all, having important original personal documents sent to this country. For these reasons, I was having it all sent to the HR office. Now Im seriously considering authenticating everything myself. But whaddo I do? Send them to her and ask her not to touch them? I think I am going to email her closer to the time I am supposed to travel, and before I have them sent, and ask her how much it will all cost. I will tell her its too expensive and ask her to hold my things till I arrive and can do things myself...

Yes and I think you are right about not pushing too much... I have already made a minor stink about my housing and may have irritated my boss sufficiently enough for the time being! I would like to speak with the HR people since its their deal anyways, and see what I can do to make this affordable.... all these fees are one time right?

[mishmumkin]

Orangepeel: Adorabilly gave this advice to me on another thread. I think that if you or your mother have to do this, it's the easiest way.

Quote:

Hey Mish. There are companies here in the UAE which will do this, but it is MUCH more expensive and actually will slow down your visa's and other required paperwork... so do it in the states, it is cheaper and faster in the long run. 1st you need to have an offical copy of birth certificates (yours and your kids) and marriage lisences. You can do them all at the same time. Just make sure you include a check that includes the cost for EACH item you need authenitcated... so each kids birth certificate, and the marriage license. 2. they need to be notarized by a local official (which is a pain in the rear and most notaries in the US don't seem to understand what you want. Our secretary of state said skip this, but some places may require it.) 3rd you need to send it to the secretary of state in the state it was issued in to get it authenticated 4th you need to send it to the US department of state for authentication 5. It needs to be sent to the UAE embassy in washington dc and they need to recognize the authentication 6. it needs to be shipped back to you and you need to hand carry it with you to the UAE. the same goes for school transcripts The easiest way to do this is contact the people in advance, find out the charges and mailing addresses for each. Then go into Fed EX and tell manager that you want them to go to each place in turn so it is addressed to the secretary of state in your state, then it needs to go from the sec of state, to the US dept of state, then from there to the UAE embassy in DC, and then from there back toyou. set each check in a seperate envelope nested inside each other. We were in Tokyo, and you can't do what I just described internationally (well not from the fed ex offices in tokyo), so I shipped it to a friend who went into the local fed ex office (I called them in advance and told them exactly what I wanted) we did that, and it worked out very well

I set up a UPS account online. When I went into the store about pre-printed labels the manager told me that the online option was the only way I could do it. So, about $25 in shipping fees from me to the the sec of state, another $25 to send it from the sec of state to the to state dept, $25 from state dept to UAE embassy, and then a lot from UAE embassy to you in the UAE. To save some $$$, you could use self addressed stamped envelopes between the sec. of state and the state dept AND the state dept and the UAE embassy, but the UAE embassy wants a pre-paid courier label (not a SASE) in their with you documents per their website.