Jamie,
In the U.A.E there are several flight schools, most have a waiting list of at least a year. Customer service is not necessarily a top priority, try giving them a call instead of emailing them.
In the U.A.E you will need to apply for security clearance at the airport you are flying from.This normally takes about 2 weeks, requirements vary from school to school, not having a u.a.e residence visa might make it a little more difficult.
You will need to convert your license to a gcc, this requires you to write the airlaw test(There are no study books, only pdfs of the regs), 10 hours instruction and a flight test. You have to do this on your ppl as com license can only be converted with a letter from a sponsor. All this has to be done through a flight school.
Then prepare to drop $$$, $250/hour this is for a c172S.
In summer its hot, you climb out of the plane and you are soaked from sweat. The viz is crap from the haze and dust. Airports dont have parallel taxiways, so expect to orbit or go-around due to back tracking traffic.
1500 ft below is uncontrolled but apparently you are in contact with dxb dep, and are always given a transponder sqwauk code.
There might also be a restriction to what time of day you can fly, due to heavy traffic into dxb.
Try and contact Fujairah Aviation Academy,
You need lots of luck, patience.
Good Luck and welcome to the Middle East