BigginHill wrote: ↑Tue, 07 Apr 2020 1:26 am
Article link in original article is now gone - what did it say?
('+10 years' in the Gulf countries?)
I've been here since 2005 - westerner, own company, 15 years on EP. (& 3 rejections for PR, so far...I should have applied in 2006-09)
I used to think 15 years was a long time on EP. However, I've met quite a few who's been here for +20 years.
Living on EP is fine. Worst part is the penalty for buying real estate - basically you'll be paying a 24% "fine", which feels a somewhat incongruent expense when officialdom basically sees you as a sponsored, disposable transient.
More to the point, most overseas EP holders wouldn't even be let back into the country due to current COVID-19 restrictions.
This is a thread I started more than 2yrs ago and I dont even remember now starting it. Just saw it because you bumped it up.
I have now completed close to 11 years on EP. Now I have kind of become very numb, being here for so long, now I am pretty neutral whatever happens. I have made enough money, feel like any more time spent here, will be like kind of not experiencing anything new or adventurous, but playing the samething in a loop again and again and again. While the momentum of continuing here, will mean easy money adding to my retirement kitty and thats awesome. But, having to leave this place will mean something new to explore.