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Post by kalbigrill on Jul 30, 2022 19:32:54 GMT
I just got my offer letter and trying to decipher it is tough!
It'll be myself, wife, and 2 year old toddler.
Anyways, for housing in Dhahran, it states, "EMPLOYEE will be assigned COMPANY provided housing pursuant to applicable COMPANY housing policies and pay COMPANY the standard monthly rental charge as established by the COMPANY. If an EMPLOYEE is working in an area where no COMPANY housing, or other extended housing communities under COMPANY management exists, within commuting distance, then male employees may be eligible to live in off-camp housing and to receive an allowance based on COMPANY policy in effect at the time such circumstances may occur."
For the estimated costs, it says it's for a 2 bedroom unfurnished unit and monthly cost is $497.
Does this mean I am guaranteed a house for my family for $497? That's incredibly cheap if that's for a house.
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Post by scaustan on Jul 30, 2022 19:46:10 GMT
Its subsidized housing and rentals are in that range for 2 bedroom in Dhahran. I'll be paying similar rent for 2 bedroom house that I am assigned.
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Post by Dziadze on Jul 30, 2022 20:02:20 GMT
Hi,
Congratulations on the offer. If you are going through background checks etc still you probably wont find out about the accommodation until couple weeks-days before going there.
There are accommodation available so you are 99% will get it. We were assigne a 2bdr house for myself, husband and 2 year old. But there are good sized apartments available as well.
It also depends on your salary grade. As I think higher grades gets houses assigned quicker, but still only when have visa stampted. What grade are you?
Rent is cheap and all maintenance is included. You will get furniture for the first 4 months.
Do you know when you are going?
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Post by kalbigrill on Jul 31, 2022 2:27:12 GMT
Hi, Congratulations on the offer. If you are going through background checks etc still you probably wont find out about the accommodation until couple weeks-days before going there. There are accommodation available so you are 99% will get it. We were assigne a 2bdr house for myself, husband and 2 year old. But there are good sized apartments available as well. It also depends on your salary grade. As I think higher grades gets houses assigned quicker, but still only when have visa stampted. What grade are you? Rent is cheap and all maintenance is included. You will get furniture for the first 4 months. Do you know when you are going? I just got the offer this past week. They said upon accepting the offer, the expectation is to be in the Kingdom in 90 days. I was given a GC14 but thinking about trying to negotiate for a GC15 b/c I heard that's the place to be if possible. |
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Post by scaustan on Jul 31, 2022 5:01:23 GMT
How many years of experience do you have? And what department you are heading to?
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Post by Dziadze on Jul 31, 2022 7:44:05 GMT
Kalbigrill
I think 14 is a very good grade. Most expats get 11-14. If you can negotiate to 15 good luck.Grade 15 is management, senior role.
I read the offer so many times and ours only said 90 days after visa issued as visa only valid 90 days.
However our timeline was as follows, comparing to others everything moved very fast:
26.05.22 offer received
29.05.22 offer accepted and all forms submitted
27.06.22 medical after all forms and BI cleared
06.07.22 passport returned with visa stamp, advised to resign
07.07.22 handed the resignation, 1 month notice
22.08.22 flying to KSA ( we told the date as wanted 2 weeks off before flying)
Relocation advisor very optimistic that family ( myself and our 2 year old) will follow after 6 weeks.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2022 5:57:09 GMT
I just got my offer letter and trying to decipher it is tough! It'll be myself, wife, and 2 year old toddler. Anyways, for housing in Dhahran, it states, "EMPLOYEE will be assigned COMPANY provided housing pursuant to applicable COMPANY housing policies and pay COMPANY the standard monthly rental charge as established by the COMPANY. If an EMPLOYEE is working in an area where no COMPANY housing, or other extended housing communities under COMPANY management exists, within commuting distance, then male employees may be eligible to live in off-camp housing and to receive an allowance based on COMPANY policy in effect at the time such circumstances may occur." For the estimated costs, it says it's for a 2 bedroom unfurnished unit and monthly cost is $497. Does this mean I am guaranteed a house for my family for $497? That's incredibly cheap if that's for a house. It’s cheap by western standards, but on a par with the local market. The quality of housing varies greatly, you may end up with a nice place or a complete dive. Good luck! |
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Post by hankhill on Aug 15, 2022 13:10:04 GMT
I just got my offer letter and trying to decipher it is tough! It'll be myself, wife, and 2 year old toddler. Anyways, for housing in Dhahran, it states, "EMPLOYEE will be assigned COMPANY provided housing pursuant to applicable COMPANY housing policies and pay COMPANY the standard monthly rental charge as established by the COMPANY. If an EMPLOYEE is working in an area where no COMPANY housing, or other extended housing communities under COMPANY management exists, within commuting distance, then male employees may be eligible to live in off-camp housing and to receive an allowance based on COMPANY policy in effect at the time such circumstances may occur." For the estimated costs, it says it's for a 2 bedroom unfurnished unit and monthly cost is $497. Does this mean I am guaranteed a house for my family for $497? That's incredibly cheap if that's for a house. It’s cheap by western standards, but on a par with the local market. The quality of housing varies greatly, you may end up with a nice place or a complete dive. Good luck! Are you saying that the quality of housing on camp varies? Is that just based on location or the individual building. We're dealing with some significant home repairs right now and I'm not sure I have the stomach to deal with the idea of moving to Saudi only to have the same problems but less control over their resolution. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2022 5:35:33 GMT
To give you my account. The first place they put me in had plaster falling off the walls, broken door handles, rusty razor blades left on the patio (I kid you not), and carpet that constantly shed, plug sockets not working etc..The phone line connection didn’t work and had to be rewired, part of the facia on the back of the house fell off, had an ant infestation too. I could go on…
I complained for weeks, was fobbed off at every opportunity… eventually was put somewhere else that was marginally better. I’m now ok, but it was not a nice experience at first.
Appreciate I’m probably a bad case, but it’s just an example of what could happen!
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arcticengineer
Senior Member
Posts: 180
Job Status: Accepted Aramco Job
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Post by arcticengineer on Aug 17, 2022 3:37:57 GMT
It’s cheap by western standards, but on a par with the local market. The quality of housing varies greatly, you may end up with a nice place or a complete dive. Good luck! Are you saying that the quality of housing on camp varies? Is that just based on location or the individual building. We're dealing with some significant home repairs right now and I'm not sure I have the stomach to deal with the idea of moving to Saudi only to have the same problems but less control over their resolution. Expect a home that was built in the 80's and hasn't had any remodeling done. You don't have to worry about paying for repairs as there is a team of repairmen that will attend to leaks, broken fences, burned out lightbulbs, the A/C going out, etc., Just realize you can be a little bit picky and if when you arrive at your Aramco housing and there are significant problems with the house you can insist they provide you another house. May take a few weeks to sort it out, but it can be dealt with. I've only been in a few Dhahran houses and in general they are pretty good, then again those people had been with the company for a long time so they had upgraded their houses. The older houses in Udhailiyah are in serious need of updates. So temper your excitement over the cheap rent with what you'll end up in. |
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Post by BlueStaff on Aug 17, 2022 11:38:16 GMT
It is what it is. The decor will be dull, plain white over all walls with minimal decoration.
You can decorate as you wish, brighten the place up and provide your own furniture over time. You may need to return the walls to white when you eventually leave tho.
But at the end of the day you will be paying around $500 per calender month with no utilities bills other than Internet to worry about. I can't think of too many countries 8n the world where you will match that.
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Post by hankhill on Aug 17, 2022 23:32:30 GMT
Are you saying that the quality of housing on camp varies? Is that just based on location or the individual building. We're dealing with some significant home repairs right now and I'm not sure I have the stomach to deal with the idea of moving to Saudi only to have the same problems but less control over their resolution. Expect a home that was built in the 80's and hasn't had any remodeling done. You don't have to worry about paying for repairs as there is a team of repairmen that will attend to leaks, broken fences, burned out lightbulbs, the A/C going out, etc., Just realize you can be a little bit picky and if when you arrive at your Aramco housing and there are significant problems with the house you can insist they provide you another house. May take a few weeks to sort it out, but it can be dealt with. I've only been in a few Dhahran houses and in general they are pretty good, then again those people had been with the company for a long time so they had upgraded their houses. The older houses in Udhailiyah are in serious need of updates. So temper your excitement over the cheap rent with what you'll end up in. Good to know that you aren’t stuck with a dump if there are problems. I don’t mind things being a little older (although scouring YouTube suggests appliances that were probably new in the 90s), but I would rather not spend my days stressing about getting the repairman out to fix everything. |
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
Posts: 655
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Post by tamsin on Aug 18, 2022 7:31:01 GMT
Expect a home that was built in the 80's and hasn't had any remodeling done. You don't have to worry about paying for repairs as there is a team of repairmen that will attend to leaks, broken fences, burned out lightbulbs, the A/C going out, etc., Just realize you can be a little bit picky and if when you arrive at your Aramco housing and there are significant problems with the house you can insist they provide you another house. May take a few weeks to sort it out, but it can be dealt with. I've only been in a few Dhahran houses and in general they are pretty good, then again those people had been with the company for a long time so they had upgraded their houses. The older houses in Udhailiyah are in serious need of updates. So temper your excitement over the cheap rent with what you'll end up in. Good to know that you aren’t stuck with a dump if there are problems. I don’t mind things being a little older (although scouring YouTube suggests appliances that were probably new in the 90s), but I would rather not spend my days stressing about getting the repairman out to fix everything. Ours is very dated but the appliances are brand new, as are the carpets and toilets. There were a few snagging issues, sockets not working, windows not opening but all sorted out within 24 hours and the workmen all came at the same time. |
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