₦airaland Forum

Akiliogidi:
That was the red flag I saw & I decided against going to Dubai when I had the opportunity to work there back in Sept..
When the offer came, I went online to make my research & I found out about the withholding of passport, I confronted the agent & he confirmed it, i told him "even though, I desperately want to leave Nigeria, I cannot trade my freedom.. Seize my passport for 2 yrs? God forbid"
He just said you never ready to travel..

Your employer takes your passport to prepare your visa. When he's done, he holds on to it cos he has spent money securing your stay, money you have not worked for. To secure his investment, he holds on to your passport so that you wont run after one month. The day you tire, you walk up to him and tell him you no do again, this is usually after a year. He then returns your passport, cancels your visa, and the system gives you 28 days to either renew or leave the country

Twizzy30:
With what I've seen so far on nairaland, this country is not good place for blue collar jobs worker. And to think my bro is adamant on going to this place.
Dubai is a place for fkexing.

Dubai can be where your brother blows.
Its important he knows what hes coming here to do first tho.

This place is not like Europe/America where you can do 3 odd jobs and get paid hourly.

You can only do one job here at a time, and sometimes it can last for 12hrs

soleexx:
Nice right up..

. My question if I hav someone that can help legitimately with 2years work permit. With accomdation and transport all free...

Will the company working for seize the passport while you are working...

Since you are in Dubai legally

Sorry dont get your question.
Can you rephrase?

I graduated some 7 years ago. I studied English education. Got done with the clarion call, and with as much fierceness and vigor I could muster, faced the labor market.

I started with Abuja. People had told me knocking on company gates could be more favorable than submitting applications on line. The rational was that sometimes there was just a single opening and the company would not bother to announce online. And so with my credentials and CV, I began my door to door job search.

It was that time of the year when the sun in Abuja was as extreme as the ice in Alaska, but I didn't relent When I remember those times, I keep asking myself if some few nuts were unscrewed in my head. I was living with my sis and her family at the time. She kept asking me to slow down but I no gree o . Maybe i thought if I suffered more, the blessing would come faster. And just like that it continued for the next 3 years - every year I would relocate to a different city in search of greener pastures. None of such moves yielded any tangible result. at some point of course I stopped the door to door.

My family could see the misery I was in and reached out. There were two options- go to the UK for a masters, or train to become a nurse. Care job is my 'hatest' job. So deep down I knew it was going to be a masters degree but after the degree then what? Return to Nigeria to face the same labor market?? Though this prospect seemed like a step up, it still wasn't a solution.

The powers that be, the ones footing the bills insisted I went for a nursing course since it was more lucrative. At a point i wanted to say I no do again but my Sis in d UK suggested I come see first and then I'll understand why nursing was it. And so I packed my kaya, headed for the UK.

One day, I had just finished from a campus tour at middle sex university and was just chilling in a cafe. I overhead some people talking about working in the middle east. There was this agency who was locally interviewing for the position of teachers in Dubai and how a CACHE certificate provided an edge. I was able to grab the name of the agency and looked them up online. By the next day, I had registered for a cache course

trueking:
@ the bolded, he also said it's the normal thing, there, why I am concerned is because he's one who is usually on social media, both Facebook and Instagram, but since October 29th there's been no update whatsoever from him, the last time we spoke, he said he got another job and needed his passport from his current employer. He has overstayed his visa for like a year.

Was he working with an overstayed visa??

budaatum:
How true is it?

I couldn't really give a definite response cos even tho I've never seen such, how many places have I really been to?

True, accommodation is expensive but the least type is a bedspace which is equivalent to the hostel up and down bunks in Nigeria uni hostels.

Residences are monitored by the UAE civil defense, and where decency and decorum are not maintained, occupants/landlords are fined. I doubt anyone would wanna expose themselves to such, packing up people like sardines in such small space

Besides more often than not, employers of cheap labor make provision for accommodation minimum if which is a bedspace so y would anyone wanna sleep like that??

budaatum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMh-vlQwrmU

Hmmmm
sorry Can't bring myself to watch that video

What's your point/question?

The working days in the UAE are Sunday to Thursday. I'm sure this makes sense to y'all. This is a strict Muslim state where the government is influenced by religion. Friday and Saturday are weekends and church is Friday.

The UAE recognises just about two Christian groups: catholic and orthodox. They have assigned particular areas to churches. I have a feeling the government even built the cathedrals but I'm not sure. Of course you get other Nigerian churches like Christ embassy and winners but these ones dont have their own buildings but meet in rented halls and quietly/codedly so- no banners, no posters, no jingles, all quiet.
So on this day, sometime last year, I'd gone for service like every other Friday, and outside my own hall, I met this Nigerian guy who'd come to worship in the nearby catholic church and we got talking.

Well long story short, dude was working in a carwash and earning 2k dirhams, approximately 200k Naira. When his contract ended, his company refused to renew contract/visa. Since then he's not been able to land another job and has been on a 5months overstay. To get by, he cleans rented apartments for peanuts, for people who do not remember to ask for emirates ID. His biggest regret was not saving enough while working and wished he sent less money home. Dude wasn't looking good at all, he looked all parched and thirsty like someone who was in a desert other the 'sesky' Dubai. Right there, i thanked God for helping me find stability in this place and wished him well.

Fast forward to sometime ds year, i ran into same nigga again. This time levels don change o. Dude was looking all fresh and sleek as he alighted from a ford explorer. The passenger beside him was a white lady. I must have stared at him with mouth agape cos he just smiled, signalled that i give him a minute and then went with the lady into the church. He came out a couple of minutes later and gave me gist.

He and white lady were now living together, he's now on a resident visa, he's been trying to take her to naija to meet his family but he no no se naija visa no be beans, they've decided to get married here and meet his family later. He now knows he's serving a living God. American visa toh sure . Lol I later learnt from someone that that day he spoke to me was the first time he was leaving the lady's side since they met. All the while he's been her bodyguard- taking great care to protect his interest b4 all these gold digging naija brethrens would snatch his God-given treasure. Where were they when he was all broke, jobless and homeless??

Lol...I'm sure by now d nigga is married and on a journey to claiming the blue passport.

trueking:
A friend of mine is in Dubai, I know he has overstayed his visa, he was working and he told me his employer has his passport, we used to chat on WhatsApp, all of a sudden nothing from the guy again, even the line sef s not going through anymore, I hope all is well with him. I know he was staying with some Ibo guys like that.

I hope all is well with him too.
Withholding an employee's passport is kinda a norm here. It's used to check excesses such as an employee absconding.
The cost of a work visa is borne by the employer, sometimes people become homesick/dissatisfied and wanna leave, this becomes a loss to the company.

Activist001:
Please support your posts with pictures. Thank you

Will do.
Later things

Alexandre7:
Are you sure?

Asking for yourself OR Asking for a friend?

Which one?

More often than not, when people say the latter, its usually d former

The Dubai visa is one of the easiest to get.
You may have plans to come work in the UAE, that plan comes to fruition, but not once would you find yourself attending any embassy for some interview.
**you gonna find that i keep using Dubai and UAE interchangeably. Its just a force of habit, so kindly overlook. Dubai visa is UAE visa**

There are different types of visa for accessing the UAE. The stay period varies, ranging from 96 hours transit, to 30days, to 2years. For a prospective working expatriate, the most common visa options are the 90 days visit visa, and the 2years resident. Yeah you read right. In Dubai, if you're not a local i.e, a UAE national, and you 'legitly' live and work here, you're referred to as an expatriate, unlike in other European countries where most africans are called migrant workers.

You might wonder how its possible to live in Dubai illegally considering how strict and expensive the system can be but I tell you there are many persons here especially my African brothers who are here illegally. Such ones are in for some possible jail time, immigration ban, and definitely (more likely than not) monetary fines which is no small amount as its charged per overstay on a daily, once the system is able to flush you out.

These ones on extensive overstay who cant afford the penalties hardly ever see the beauty of Dubai cos you're just there - you can't be employed, you fret at the sight of the police, you cant ask to be deported cos they'll rather throw you in jail, even the commonest of jobs is not available- all you do is spend, no income and even your paddies go dey dodge you, cos over here, its every man for himself

So I've been in the UAE for all of two years and boy has it been venturesome and hygge?

I've always wanted to write about my struggles in this seducing desert city but just never found the time.

'UAE' is a proper noun but I can't help myself, its always 'the UAE' to me.

I'll be taking y'all through steps on how i got here, how I got a means of livelihood, the stress and joy that comes with the job and all that.

Stay tuned.

Alexandre7:
Lol...

Not really,

I’m probably not ready to settle down right now,

But if I eventually meet someone while vacationing in Lagos, Nigeria then we’ll see what happens.

How abt meeting someone in Abu Dhabi?
Lemme join poco in line.
Or should i add, asking for a friend