Expat Guide to Electrical Power Points and Outlets in the UAE (and Qatar)

Why this post? Because of someone’s keywords and I remember how difficult it was to get the “correct” information before we headed over to the Gulf. So this information is correct for both the UAE and Qatar.

For those that get confused, Dubai is not a country, but merely one of seven Emirates within the United Arab Emirates (and the capital is Abu Dhabi and not Dubai). Qatar is not part of the UAE at all, and is officially known as the State of Qatar and is ruled by an Emir (therefore is more or less an Emirate as well). But to confuse things further the leaders of each of the seven Emirates within the UAE are Sheiks and not Emirs.

My first piece of advice is do not buy travel adapters before you arrive as there is little point. They are easy to find here and cheap.

Second piece of advice is feel free to ship over any electrical goods you really want to keep (although most are relatively inexpensive here) that run between 220-250 volts, as we have not had any problems with anything we brought over with us at all. You also don’t need to change the plugs as most power boards here are also adapter boards with between 4 and 8 sockets and will accept most plugs.

Third piece of advice is don’t worry about it, which relates directly to my last point about adapter boards. Electrical goods here will come with one type of plug, possibly two, and there is a good chance you wont have an outlet that matches that plug in your home. This link has three of the plug configurations you may find at the end of cords or in the walls. There is another little two-pin plug you may get which more or less falls out of the walls and some adapters. Plug it into a power board and you will be ok.

As a side note I have an irrational fear of electricity and being electrocuted. So although the plugs might not seem very safe, we have not had any problems with power boards or plugs exploding yet regardless of whether they seem to be earthed or plugged in the right way!