ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the informants and contextualises their migration in the earlier phase of urbanisation and development of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It argues that due to their migrant status and residence in the UAE without citizenship, as they approach retirement age their right to continued settlement is called into question, irrespective of their length of stay. In British migrant communities, return is a topic of frequent discussion and sometimes uncertainty, with the option of mobility being a significant resource in ongoing lifestyle, family and career projects. Professional migrants might be understood as highly skilled migrants, since they are either university graduates or with equivalent experience, skills, and status in their chosen sector. Following independence in 1971, the urban expansion of Dubai, and the resulting need for skilled migrants, continued steadily through the 1970s and 1980s. The legislative environment of the UAE is dynamic as they adjust to the increase in their population, largely from labour migrants.
