Hi, Sunil here to Dubai Red Tape (A guide to Dubai) and The Dubai Explorer.

What does the name suggest? Anytime you see “red tape” you know it’s about corporate culture or some sort of a hierarchy or bureaucracy whatever you want to call it.

This book is meant for expats living and working in Dubai. As someone who has been considering a career move to Dubai, I found this guide very detailed and informative.

It’s a great tutorial guide that presents information in instructional manner and can help you even if you just moved to Dubai.

The guide explains how to rent or purchase Dubai properties, nuances involved in getting to Dubai, setting up your own business in Dubai, driving in Dubai, banks in Dubai, schools in Dubai for your kids and lots of other things involved in day-to-day life in Dubai.

The information is arranged in a 100 step procedure that you can follow. The book provides you with what you need to have in your possession to complete each procedure and provides all the contact numbers and addresses of parties involved.

A map of Dubai is also provided so you don’t get lost. A complete directory is also provided that lists the important government facilities, embassies, hotels and other services with their phone numbers.

Some other topics covered are as follows:

• Dubai Laws
• Dubai Visas
• Getting married in Dubai
• Licenses and permits
• Getting a mobile phone
• Utilities
• Housing – buy or rent
• Transportation in Dubai
• Insurance
• Banking
• Schools in Dubai
• Medical facilities in Dubai
• Government departments, location and phone numbers
• Areas of dubai

Overall, this book is a great beginner’s guide to Dubai. You will find all kinds of tips and great advice packed along with the detailed information on pretty much everything you need to go about your day-to-day life in Dubai. This one definitely gets my 3 stars and I would strongly recommend it to you.

Dubai Red Tape

The Dubai Explorer is a similar guide to Dubai for residents much like Dubai Red Tape. It is 696 pages of comprehensive information on Dubai ideal for a resident.

This book was a joint effort compiled by authors who have followed Dubai for a very long time.

I personally prefer Dubai Red Tape to this one because I find it more concise.

It’s pretty much half the length and more “portable”.

However, that said, Dubai Explorer is also a very good comprehensive guide to Dubai. It’s certainly cheaper.

Read more about it here: Dubai Explorer - Complete Resident's Guide