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Post by misterno on Jun 19, 2014 2:55:39 GMT
1) If I am muslim and if I declare my religion during entry, would I be forced to practice religious activities? or they don't care?
2) If me and my wife are both us citizens, what happens to our newborn's status?
3) Do we have to drive to Riyadh everytime we want to fly a country other than USA?
4) Is Dhahran compound housing only available to US citizens?
5) Are families with one kids required to have 1 or 2 bedroom apartments, if so how much are they?
6) Is TV or internet have restriction in their content? Are some websites blocked?
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Post by vpainter on Jun 21, 2014 18:52:23 GMT
1) many expat Muslims here, they practice Islam however much or little as they want to.
Everyone must declare their religion when you arrive. Your iqama will have your religion on it. Muslims can go to Makkah and Medina, non-Muslims cannot.
2) your New born will be a U.S. citizen also. You will get their passport at the U.S. consulate in Dhahran if you deliver here.
3). No, you can fly out from Dammam or drive to Bahrain and fly out.
4). No, DHA compound has all nationalities. Just like all Aramco compounds and leased housing at this time. Housing is determined by GC and number of children and availability upon your arrival.
5). Housing rent depends on where you are living. If you live in DHA, ABQ, RT, or UDH or the Dhahran Tower you would receive a 2 bedroom townhouse with one child. If you are housed in Rakah you would have a 3 BR home, all the townhouses are identical in size. A 3 BR townhouse in DHA is about $495 USD/month to give you an idea.
6). TV service is only limited by the satellite service you subscribe to. From what I can tell there is no censorship on TV programs. Internet: some sites are blocked by KSA, some are blocked by Aramco if you are on their internet provider, some U.S. sites are blocked by the providers to those outside the U.S. Many people have VPN's. you can do a search for VPN on the forum to see what ones are being used.
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Post by UmmRiyam on Jun 22, 2014 7:18:15 GMT
Like vpainter said, no one is going to force you to practice any religion here. If you are Muslim, practicing or not, I would highly recommend you state that when getting your iqama. Otherwise, like vpainter said, you won't be allowed to go to Makkah or Madinah, and whether or not you desire to go there right now, you may change your mind in the future. It would be much easier to already have the Muslim ideny, rather than possibly needing to get a shahadah certificate or something like that.
If you have a baby in Saudi, you will apply for a US passport for your baby at the US consulate in Dhahran. It's pretty easy. All the requirements are on the website. And, they will also issue you a report of birth abroad, and you can request a social security number as well.
The 3 major airports in Saudi are in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam. Most Aramco employees use Dammam and Bahrain airports for traveling in and out of Saudi.
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Post by misterno on Jun 24, 2014 17:54:50 GMT
Thanks for all the replies
Your answers are contradicting what I heard but of course I will go with yours rather than some hearsay
basically what I heard is, if you declare muslim, then out of the compund, you are forced to pray 5 times a day and feast during Ramadan. I even heard stories about how some people are stopped on the streets and police checked their passports to see their religion and if they see you are muslim, they push you inside the mosque and pray like other muslims.
Anyhow, about the vacation time. I talked to someone about this and it seems pretty complicated. Can someone give me a link or explain it here? I am not hired yet so no documentation is given but I am really curious since I heard something like over 30 days of vacation. Is this calendar days or business days? Does it go up like in the US? What is the vacation time when you are new? And also people mentioned a system where you can extend this vacation time by working unordinary time or overtime. I probably misunderstood but please explain as much as you know.
Thanks
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Post by vpainter on Jun 25, 2014 10:32:46 GMT
Misterno, I do not know where that might be happening, but it is not happening in the Eastern Province in the Aramco areas and local communities surrounding them. No one is forced to pray here.
Vacation time is earned and you can take a paid repat vacation after 1 year of service. Prior to that you can take trips on the weekends, long weekends, holiday time, etc at your own expense.
Vacation time is 30+ calendar days and exactly how many will be stated in your offer. It can be added to holidays to get an extended time. I do not know anyone who can work overtime and receive more vacation days. Vacation days do not go up as in the U.S. The U.S. starts you with 1 - 3 weeks and works up to 4+ weeks over years of service. Here you get it all from the start.
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Post by GroveWanderer on Jun 25, 2014 11:41:33 GMT
As vpainter states, you cannot get extra vacation days ("L" time) by working extra hours. If you are placed on an overtime schedule (which is highly unusual for professional grades, i.e. 11+, and can only be done temporarily) you get paid for your overtime.
I believe it is theoretically possible to grant "X" time (unpaid leave) to people who are regularly requested to work outside normal working hours, but I have not heard of this happening anywhere that I have worked. Usually you are expected to work whatever hours are required to get the job done and if that means staying a little longer in the evening or coming in on a weekend, then so be it. Most people work extra hours from time to time when necessary but nobody (in my experience) gets any specific recompense for it.
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Post by UmmRiyam on Jun 25, 2014 16:01:31 GMT
I've never seen anyone forcing anyone to pray or go to the masjid. During the prayer time at the mall, you see lots of guys (some who are Muslim) outside smoking, and lots of people sitting around. No one is going to chase you to go to the masjid.
Regarding Ramadan, no one can force you to fast, but it is technically illegal for you to eat or drink in public during fasting hours in Ramadan. So, for that reason, outside the compound, the restaurants open right before maghrib time (sunset), but the grocery stores are open all day or most of the day like normal. Of course out of respect for those fasting, I'm sure you won't have any trouble.
I really don't think you should worry at all because there are plenty of Saudis who are not practicing Islam at all, so I don't think anyone will bother you. Anyways, I am a practicing Muslima, and I hope that you come to Saudi and get to travel to Makkah and Madinah, in sha' ( willing).
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