Arriving from London at the beginning of April

Arriving from London at the beginning of April Mar 3, 2014 13:33:11 GMT

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Post by awonderland on Mar 3, 2014 13:33:11 GMT

o, again

I firstly just want to thank all those who have contributed to this forum and answered all the many questions. Such information has been invaluable and made our decision process more comfortable.

I just have a few questions to ask before we arrive.

1.We have four daughters and the youngest is 18months old and is very much into everything including stairs! Keen to safe proof our new home will I be able to get items such as stair gates/cots/highchairs quite soon after arriving or should we come prepared for a few days/nights of improvisation?

2.I have also been advised to bring along her car seat, have others done this or brought them when they arrived? The same is true for booster seats for the other 3?

3.Our twins will hopefully be joining the pre-school on Al Rakkah. Do people know if there are spaces? We were advised to wait until we arrived but if anyone could give me the heads up that would be great.

4.Our eldest daughter is hopefully due to start at the British Grammar School. Does anyone have any experience of how this is going?

5.With regards to the residency visas, which I believe I will need before I can leave the country, how long has this been taking for the wives and the children? I want to try to manage the expectations of family we leave behind about when we will be back to see them! Equally how long would it be before family can visit us e.g. the girls grandfather?

6.Finally with 4 children of various ages and needs I am keen to seek the help of a nanny - live in or out. I understand from threads this is all word of mouth and best done when we arrive however if anyone has an interest in nanny sharing or can recommend anyone then that would be fab.

We as a family are looking forward to our new adventure and look forward to meeting those already living in Al Rakkah when we arrive.

Many thanks
awonderland

Arriving from London at the beginning of April Mar 9, 2014 18:55:31 GMT

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Post by Maursh on Mar 9, 2014 18:55:31 GMT

1.We have four daughters and the youngest is 18months old and is very much into everything including stairs! Keen to safe proof our new home will I be able to get items such as stair gates/cots/highchairs quite soon after arriving or should we come prepared for a few days/nights of improvisation?

There is Ikea and Toys R Us where you can buy all the things which you list. However, you will most likely arrive in the wee hours of the morning so you might need to improvise for one night at least.

2.I have also been advised to bring along her car seat, have others done this or brought them when they arrived? The same is true for booster seats for the other 3?

You can buy car seats here (Babies R Us and Mothercare) but there is not the range that you will find in the UK. I don't know about booster seats, since I haven't looked. We bought a boxed new one with us from the UK. Airline will check it as extra for free (part of the aviation code)

3.Our twins will hopefully be joining the pre-school on Al Rakkah. Do people know if there are spaces? We were advised to wait until we arrived but if anyone could give me the heads up that would be great.

I don't know what space is available: I have not heard of anyone being turned away, but they have been recruiting more staff. You don't advise on their age - they need to be 3 by September 2013 in order to be eligible for the pre-school. You could also apply to either of the nurseries at the British Schools.

4.Our eldest daughter is hopefully due to start at the British Grammar School. Does anyone have any experience of how this is going?

I am not sure what you mean by how this is going. DBGS and BISAK are both very full - you will need to be in contact with the school before you arrive in Kingdom to acquire a place. Some parents I know pestered for months before arriving in Kingdom to secure a place. There is a bus service to DBGS but not to BISAK and parents cannot ride the bus to school like the Aramco School buses.

5.With regards to the residency visas, which I believe I will need before I can leave the country, how long has this been taking for the wives and the children? I want to try to manage the expectations of family we leave behind about when we will be back to see them! Equally how long would it be before family can visit us e.g. the girls grandfather?

There are two distinct steps - first you acquire a residency permit (Iqama) then you can apply for multi-entry visa. It took us about five to six weeks to obtain both Iqama and multi-entry visas. We haven't applied for family to visit yet, so I cannot advise on the timeline. The recommendation is six months lead time.