UAE Drivers License

This post is mainly for ADEC Hopefuls.

Before we got here we talked about getting a car and even though we were able to get a car without a UAE drivers license we were told I had to get one since I now had a Residency Visa and Emirates ID.

So here goes...

Per usual, I always research all of the processes before I undertake them. All the research I did said I needed the following:

• No Objection Letter from your Employe
• Eye Test
• Emirates ID
• VISA
• Passport
• Translation of your license

I began this journey early in the morning trying to avoid any lines that may come my way. My first stop was ADEC to get a no objection letter. The previous day I emailed EMT Support asking about a no objection letter but did not receive a response so I decided to just go and ask face to face. I get to ADEC, go to the 2nd floor where EMT Support is and the office is empty. There is one woman there and I let her know what I'm looking for and she says everyone is out of the office at the Orientation for the teachers that just arrived. I was slightly let down but said thanks and went to the car. As I walked back to the car I had a mental discussion with myself. Do I just abort today's mission or try to get the license without the letter. I listed out all of the pros and cons and decided to go on to the Drivers License Department. If I wasn't able to get the license then at least I knew where I needed to go.



This Drivers License Department is right by Mushrif Mall and it's huge! I walk up the steps with all of my documents hand and hope for the best. I follow the road on the floor and go to the Customer Service Desk. I let her know I'm trying to get my license transferred and she asks for my Emirates ID and Passport. I give her both, she looks at them, and gives me a ticket to go to the Eye Test Line. I was not looking forward to this part because I'm prescribed glasses, however, my right eye is too far gone. I can barely see anything out of it with or without glasses. My number flashed on the screen and I sat in the chair. He told me to cover my right eye and I did so with pleasure. He scrolled through some letters and I said them all. He then told me to cover my left eye. Oh boy! I covered it and I struggled I couldn't see anything. I told him I had glasses and he told me to put them on. I put them on but that wasn't any better. I tried to make some letters out. He then said cover the other one and again I did so happily and I called out all of the letters. He told me I was finished, wrote my score on a triplicate form, asked me for 30 dirhams and I was on my way back to the customer service desk.

I got back to the desk and her response was done already. She then gave me another ticket and I sat in the Ladies Only section to wait for my number to flash on the screen. I waited for about 5 minutes and then my number was on the screen. I went to the appropriate desk. She asked for my translated license, US Drivers License, Passport with VISA, Emirates ID, and the papers from the Eye Test I had just completed. She typed some things in the computer and right after she told me to sit back and take a picture for my license. Once the picture was taken she said I could then apply for my license on the iPads. I was clueless. I thought she was helping me apply. Nevertheless...

I walked over to the iPads and started clicking to figure out what to do. I had to put in where I lived and ultimately pay 213 dirhams which included a delivery fee. They did not accept cash at the iPads so I used my card. After I received my receipt I looked at what my Drivers License would look like and I was done. That was it. I now had a UAE Drivers License on the way.

I didn't even need the No Objection Letter! 😀👏

My license was delivered to our front door 2 days later.

Emirates ID

This post is for people considering joining ADEC.

As you are reading please be mindful that things change ALL THE TIME. You must do what works for your situation.

ADEC took us to get our Emirates ID application started. I talked about that process in a previous blog. What I didn't mention was the process to checking on your Emirates ID. The application they give you after you finish your Emirates ID is what you'll need to safeguard! You will need that application number to check your status. Your Emirates ID is linked to everything. Everywhere you go, you'll be asked for your Emirates ID. What they don't tell you is that it is up to you to check on the process. Here are the easy steps I used to check on the process and get my Emirates ID. Again things change all the time so do what is best for you.

I started checking my status on the Emirates ID website. Click here to be taken to the website. Once there you put your application number under: Search for application by.

Once you do this you'll see the updates of your Emirates ID. Once your status changes to EID has been printed you can then track it via the Emirates Post Office and you can click here for that site. The box that says please input mail id is where you'll put that application number. See I told you that you'd need it!

After you put that in you'll be able to see exactly where your Emirates ID is. As soon as you see that it is in Abu Dhabi you should call 600599999 and they will tell you if it's ready to be picked up. I picked mine up from the Central Post Office in Abu Dhabi. A friend of mine went to the wrong location so verify where it is before you go. Abu Dhabi does not use exact addresses so the Empost I went to was beside the Madinet Zayad Shopping Center. I went before 2:00pm and I was told it would be ready after 2:00pm and it actually was.

Once I received my Emirates ID, I updated my Mobile Account so the SIM could be changed to resident rather than tourist, Car Rental Agreement, Bank Account info, and uploaded it to the ADEC ERP website which I will not even speak about because I heard the process I had to go through to upload it has changed and I do not want to give out false information!

There you have it. All the steps to track and trace your Emirates ID.

Dubai

We wanted to go to Dubai for our Anniversary but the sleep monster took over us that day so we postponed our trip. A couple friend of ours invited us to Dubai and we were very excited for the trip.
Dubai is about 2 hours away and it is really a straight shot.

We decided to go the The Dubai Mall and walk around and see what was there. This mall is said to be the largest mall in the world. It houses an ice skating rink, movie theater, 2 food courts, Aquarium Zoo, too many stores to count and it is connected to the Burj Khalifa which is the tallest building in the world. We went to the Aquarium first and it was awesome!

 

 

 

After the Aquarium we went to The Souk. The Souk is part of the mall where you can negotiate for what you want. We decided to go in and see what we could find. We stopped at Arabian Oud. If you're a dedicated reader of my blog you know I saw this place in Times Square and said I wanted to go once we got to the UAE. They had a special buy one get one free so we decided to each get one. There were so many options but I chose one that was a sweet mango smell. Mike chose one that was manly and very popular.

After The Souk we headed to the waterfall. The waterfall is so pretty and amazing to look at. We took several pictures. On our way to the waterfall though we passed a Lamborghini Store, the indoor ice skating rink, Nickolodeon store (that I did not go in even though I really wanted to), IHop, and Krispy Kreme! I definitely want to go back, to the Skating Rink that is! 😉😊😋

 

 

 

 

Mike has been wanting new sunglasses since we arrived in the UAE. As we were walking to Fashion Ave we saw a Sunglasses stand right before Mahnolo Blahnik. Mike found him some glasses and since they were having a Buy One Get One Free Special I found some Versace shades. We do not buy named brand things unless they are techy toys so I was shocked when Mike handed the sales people his card for our purchases!

 

 


We continued walking and sightseeing and we came to the Burj Khalifa entrance. We did not want to pay too much to go on the 148th floor for 30 minutes. We got to the counter and were told it's 500AED before 6:30 and 350AED after. We agreed that was too much and we decided to walk outside and see it from the bottom. What a sight! It was spectacular. The sun was right behind it so the view was kind of blinding but it was all well worth it.

 

 

We went back inside the mall and decided we were ready to go so we had to find our way back to the car but not before we enjoyed the view of all the hanging butterflies.











We found the car and headed back to Abu Dhabi. We all decided to eat at YAS Mall since we were going to pass it on the way back. We ate at P.F. Chang's and the service was excellent. The food came out so fast! After we ate we were on our back to our flat.

What a day we had! Fun times with friends and a full day of being out and about in our new country.


The next day we decided to drive to my school to see what it looks like.

Be Kind to One Another and Be Uniquely You!

Wheels

Before we left the US we researched getting a car. We were told to rent. We were told to lease. We were told if you plan on staying for more than 1 year you should buy. We did not know what direction to go in. After being here for about 3.5 weeks we started thinking about how much money we had spent in taxi fare. The places that we needed to go to while in the hotel were too far to walk and once we got to our flat the places we could walk to did not have what we needed. So we decided to get a car. I had been reading in all of the FB groups and looking at the cars people were getting. One day while waiting in the leasing office I ran into a girl who had a car and she told me that she had a Ford Eco Sport, unlimited miles, full insurance, covered maintenance and she was paying 1500 AED, that's about 408 US Dollars. Not bad in my mind. So, we called around to see what other places were offering. Nothing was as good as what National was offering. I called National and said I'm ready to rent a Ford Eco Sport. She told me that they only had the newer Titanium Model available and it could be ready in 2 hours. This model had bluetooth, cruise control, and some other "techy" options. If you know Mike you know that this was right up his alley. I told her we'd go with this option and she told me she'd call me when it was ready. 30 minutes had past and the lady from National called me back and said your car is ready.

*****ADEC Hopefuls***** You do not have to wait to get a car. We had no idea we could get a car before all of our paperwork was processed. We thought we had to wait. I was able to rent a car with a copy of my passport, Stamped Entry VISA, and US Drivers License. She told me once I got my Emirates ID (which is still being processed), my UAE License, and my Residency VISA to email her copies. She had to hold 1000AED on a credit card for a deposit which is like 272 US Dollars and I had to pay the first month's rental fee. If we did not have a credit card we could've paid 2000AED cash for the deposit and the first month's rental. No matter which way we decided to pay the deposit it would be returned in 14 working days.

We went to pick up the car. We looked at it and had them notate any scratches. We signed the rental agreement and we were off to hit the mean streets of Abu Dhabi.

Easy as Pie!

Be Kind to one Another and Be Uniquely You!

 

Thankful

We've been in the UAE a little less than a month. We are extremely grateful for every experience we've encountered thus far. When we are riding back to our tower we see the tower from the street and we are immediately humbled.

We knew God would provide but we are honestly living a resort style life! This post is about some of the experiences we've had the pleasure to enjoy.


Customer Service - One thing that is big here is customer service. On our last night in our hotel, after we had been out running errands, here is what we came back to the room to see.

Note from our housekeeper - wishing us well and inviting us back

The hotel where we stayed had a Seafood Buffet on Thursday and Mike is a lover of good seafood so he made sure we visited once. Our waiter was so great! He explained everything to us. Once we sat down he said he would get our lobster prepared for us right away. I was a little bit clueless because we didn't ask about lobster but I went along with it. Here's what he was talking about. The lobster is prepared by the chef on the spot right outside. Mike was ecstatic about this.

I didn't get a picture of me being able to choose my own piece of fresh fish and have the chef prepare it how I like. I chose a piece and got it fried and it was so delicious. I love fried fish! Below is the before and after.

Before

After

Friends - When we left the Queen City we had several friends we hung out with. Some couples, some singles, line brothers, frat brothers, masonic brothers, dance sisters, you name it. We knew we'd make friends in the UAE but we had no idea how quick it would be. We were invited to go out to dinner and bowling with 3 other couples.

We all met at Marina Mall. As we pulled up to Marina Mall we were amazed by what we saw. There was a ferris wheel right in front of this mall!

Once we were inside, this mall did not disappoint. There was a bounce space very similar to Defy Gravity INSIDE THE MALL. I was looking to see if any adults were jumping but Mike told me he'd bring me back so I could jump. When my friends come I know one thing that's going to be on our itinerary.


Once we were all present and accounted for we walked around to try and find dinner. There were soooo many places to eat ranging from fast food to sit down restaurants. As we walked we decided on Joe's Crab Shack. If we were back home a party of 8 would have to wait at least 2 hours. We got to the podium and as we walked in they put enough tables together and we were seated! We talked and laughed. 2 of the couples had only been married a matter of months. The other couple had been married 3 years and then there was us, married for 6 years. It is very rare that when we're out with friends we have the longest marriage. We also found out that I had been in education the longest and that Mike was the oldest. Nevertheless we all bonded and all of those details did not matter because it felt like we had been hanging for years! One thing people told us before we came was to make sure we befriended people who are in the same boat as us and now we can check that off of our to-do list.

After eating we went down 2 floors to the Bowling Alley but it was more than a bowling alley. There was an area for soccer, ping pong, archery, basketball and probably more that we didn't see. When my nieces and nephew come I'll definitely bring them here. I requested the bumpers be put up but everyone laughed at me but I was very serious. When I go bowling I use the bumpers but I decided to compromise. LOL! 😝😆 We bowled one game and even though I didn't break 100 (no bumpers) I didn't do too bad.

Our Amenities - As I've said in previous posts, our tower has 2 pools. I am not much of a swimmer actually I don't swim at all but I do like the water. Mike is a swimmer and he loves the water. We decided to spend part of an afternoon lounging by the pool and scoping out the fitness center. I had planned to start back working out at the beginning of the week. I need to make it part of my routine now so that when school starts, working out will be second nature. Everything fitness is on floor 5 and this includes the pools.

Our bedroom has a view of the pool so I see some very interesting things on a regular. Yep, your eyes are not deceiving you. That little boy is IN A BOAT IN THE POOL!

Once I saw that I went to Souq which is like Amazon and I added this to my cart!

Proximity - We can walk to a grocery store, food court, local bank branch, nail shop, starbucks and so much more.  Click here to see the view.

Click here to join us on the walk from the Boutik back to our flat. When the camera is on the floor we are passing people. People cannot be recorded or photographed without their consent.

We are thankful for the life we are living. We are looking forward to all that is come to us. Be Kind to one Another and Be Uniquely You!