The Complete Dubai Moving Checklist

The furniture is the part that gets all the attention and the part that goes wrong least often. What actually derails a Dubai move is administrative: a DEWA account not closed, an internet transfer that takes three weeks, a landlord inspection nobody prepared for.

Here is the whole thing in the order it needs doing.

Four to six weeks before

• Give notice to your landlord. Most Dubai tenancy contracts require 90 days’ notice to vacate. Check yours — this is the single most expensive thing to get wrong.
• Confirm your new tenancy and get a copy of the contract. You will need it for permits, DEWA and Ejari.
• Order internet at the new address. Do this first, not last. Activation can take weeks, and it is the thing most likely to still be unresolved on your first evening.
• Start getting quotes. Three, all given the same brief. See how to choose movers in dubai.

Three weeks before

• Book the mover and confirm the date in writing.
• Start the building permits at both addresses. See move permits and lift bookings in dubai: how they work.
• Book the service lift at both ends if either is a tower. In Dubai Marina at month end, do this before you fix anything else.
• Register Ejari for the new tenancy.
• Start decluttering. Every item you dispose of now is one you are not paying to move.

Two weeks before

• Arrange the DEWA transfer — closing at the old address, opening at the new one. You need the Ejari and a security deposit.
• Book move-out cleaning for after the property is empty. See move in & out cleaning.
• Update your address with your bank, insurer, employer and RTA.
• Arrange gas cylinder transfer if your kitchen uses one — the supplier handles this, not the movers.
• Photograph the property as it is now, for your deposit conversation later.

One week before

• Confirm everything in writing — mover, date, arrival time, permit, lift slot.
• Start running down the fridge and freezer. Nothing perishable travels.
• Pack what you will not need — books, out-of-season clothes, decorative items.
• Separate what travels with you: passports, Emirates ID, tenancy documents, jewellery, medication, chargers, and a change of clothes.
• Arrange care for pets and children on the day. Moving day is not a day to supervise either.

The day before

• Packing day, if the movers are packing for you.
• Charge everything — phone, power bank, laptop.
• Withdraw some cash for the deposit, tips and the inevitable small things.
• Defrost the fridge and leave the door open overnight.
• Pack a first-night box: bedding, towels, toiletries, phone chargers, a kettle, mugs, and enough for breakfast. Label it and keep it with you.
• Confirm the crew’s arrival time.

Moving day

• Be there at the start. Walk the crew through, room by room, and say what is going where.
• Point out the fragile items and anything with sentimental value, explicitly.
• Keep your documents and valuables with you, not in a carton.
• Check every room before the truck leaves — including the balcony, the store, the maid’s room and the top of every wardrobe.
• Take final meter readings and photograph them.
• At the new place, direct the unloading. Furniture placed where you want it now is furniture you are not moving again yourself on Saturday.
• Check the reassembly before the crew stands down. Beds especially.

The first week after

• Confirm DEWA is active at the new address and closed at the old one.
• Chase the internet if it is not live.
• Get the move-out clean done and photograph the empty property.
• Hand over the keys and complete the inspection.
• Follow up your security deposit in writing, with your photographs attached.
• Ask for the cartons to be collected once you have unpacked.

The three most common expensive mistakes

Missing the notice period. Ninety days is standard and enforced. Check your contract today rather than next week.

Leaving the internet until last. Order it the moment you sign, not the week you move.

Cleaning before the move instead of after. An empty property cleans properly; a furnished one does not, and the inspection looks at exactly the parts the furniture was covering.