Relocating from London with my wife and two children (ages 9 and 12) in September. Target landing date is the last week of August because the kids' school term starts the first week of September and any slip risks them missing the first two weeks, which the school has said they cannot accommodate.
Full scope of what I need handled, sequenced properly so nothing blocks the next step:
Setup side: UAE entity for me to be sponsored from (leaning mainland Dubai because most of my consulting clients are UAE corporates but open to free zone if banking and speed arguments favour it), trade license, establishment card, MOHRE enrolment, first visa quota sized for me plus an initial small team hire in year one. The entity needs to be operational before my residency file can meaningfully start.
Residency side: my entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and residency stamping. Then immediately dependent applications for my wife and both kids in parallel, timed to complete before the school term starts. Sequencing matters because the kids' dependent visas cannot be applied for until my residency is stamped.
Banking side: corporate account for the entity (we have funds to transfer as initial capital, happy to share source-of-funds documentation in advance), personal account for me, personal account for my wife once her residency is through, provisional card on my account for day-to-day so we are not frozen in September while the corporate account catches up.
School side: places already confirmed at a KHDA school for both kids, contingent on dependent residency being in hand by the first week of September. If there is any risk of slipping, I need to know by mid-August so I can have the school-side conversation proactively.
Housing side: tenancy contract in Dubai pre-agreed, but Ejari needs my Emirates ID before it can be registered, which is its own mini-dependency chain feeding into school enrolment, bank account and utilities.
What I am looking for is a consultant who treats this as one engagement, not five. Specifically, someone who will own the sequence end-to-end, coordinate directly with specialist firms (formation agent if they do not do formation themselves, PRO firm if they do not do PRO, bank relationship manager for the corporate account, school admissions coordinator on my behalf), and give me a single weekly status report so I am not managing six WhatsApp threads on my own while still running my business in London.
Honesty on timeline is the most important thing. If my end-August target is not realistic for the full scope, I want to hear that in the first call with enough lead time to adjust the school-side expectations. I would much rather delay the family move by two weeks on clear information than have us land in UAE on the 28th and discover the dependent visas are a week away, the school starts without my kids, and my wife cannot open her bank account.
After the setup is through, I want the same firm on retainer for the ongoing PRO, visa renewals, dependent changes, and first-hire support when I bring on the team hire in the spring. Not looking for cheapest, looking for the firm that does family relocations as a category.
