samlia
Advanced Member
Posts: 65
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Post by samlia on Aug 30, 2023 11:50:25 GMT
I have lived in Saudi for many years and Udhailiyah is far from the big cities. You will only see desert around you. Make sure you confirm your work location before making a final decision and don't sell your house, rather rent it through a good professional company (They are pretty good). Also If you have a city job and the money is close to what you are making, I WILL NOT RECOMMED making a move for a REMOTE SITE JOB, you will regret it. I have made this mistake. Wait for the right opportunities in City and you can apply anytime any year in Aramco. Good Luck
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orm
Member
Posts: 18
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Post by orm on Aug 30, 2023 14:33:36 GMT
Additionally, Udhailiyah is lot less populated and more remote from large city than Dhahran, which will make it tougher on you & prob more specially on family IMO. Aramco nor any other company expects or can force you to sell your house due to accepting a job. That’s a personal decision. Aramco use to reimburse for some of the home selling cost, at least for US passport holders, but that was done away with years ago. I did ask for Dhahran, saying my wife will not find job opportunities in Udhailiyah, the answer was in my department the only open positions are in Udhailiyah. |
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orm
Member
Posts: 18
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Post by orm on Aug 30, 2023 14:37:31 GMT
I have lived in Saudi for many years and Udhailiyah is far from the big cities. You will only see desert around you. Make sure you confirm your work location before making a final decision and don't sell your house, rather rent it through a good professional company (They are pretty good). Also If you have a city job and the money is close to what you are making, I WILL NOT RECOMMED making a move for a REMOTE SITE JOB, you will regret it. I have made this mistake. Wait for the right opportunities in City and you can apply anytime any year in Aramco. Good Luck Thank you we don't plan to sell our house. Our daughter was born here, we will come back to it for our yearly vacation. I was kind of surprised the recruiter was pitching tax-free savings as a benefit to ask me to accept an equivalent offer, when its well known in Canada that you pay taxes on foreign income for owning a home (and most people in mid careers own a home). We are exploring the family staying in Hofuf/Dhahran and me visiting them in the weekends. Has anyone ever tried that? For me their quality of life matters most, we come from Toronto, so yes, the remoteness will be a shock to them. |
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
Posts: 553
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Post by tamsin on Aug 30, 2023 16:45:13 GMT
Hofuf does not have, to my knowledge, international schools or much of an expat community. Dhahran/Al Khobar do, but the rents are expensive, you are looking at around $3k a month for a 3 bed in a compound. And they expect that in a 12 month or 6 month cheque, up front.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2023 19:25:37 GMT
Compared to Toronto it will be a large drop in living standards.Ensure you are mentally and emotionally prepared before coming here. Schooling is an issue if remote, you’ll be driving a lot. If the $$ are enough it might go some way to assuaging those kinds of concerns.
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samlia
Advanced Member
Posts: 65
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Post by samlia on Aug 31, 2023 12:31:27 GMT
I have lived in Saudi for many years and Udhailiyah is far from the big cities. You will only see desert around you. Make sure you confirm your work location before making a final decision and don't sell your house, rather rent it through a good professional company (They are pretty good). Also If you have a city job and the money is close to what you are making, I WILL NOT RECOMMED making a move for a REMOTE SITE JOB, you will regret it. I have made this mistake. Wait for the right opportunities in City and you can apply anytime any year in Aramco. Good Luck Thank you we don't plan to sell our house. Our daughter was born here, we will come back to it for our yearly vacation. I was kind of surprised the recruiter was pitching tax-free savings as a benefit to ask me to accept an equivalent offer, when its well known in Canada that you pay taxes on foreign income for owning a home (and most people in mid careers own a home). We are exploring the family staying in Hofuf/Dhahran and me visiting them in the weekends. Has anyone ever tried that? For me their quality of life matters most, we come from Toronto, so yes, the remoteness will be a shock to them. I think there is a way of saving taxes while you own a house in Canada. Check with a good Tax Consultant. I have lived in Huffof for 10 years before moving to Canada. Huffof is a small city and Dhahran is an area outside of Khobar and Dammam. You can keep your Family in Khobar and visit them on the weekend. Huffof is also an option as it is more closer to your site but you would have to compromise on the quality of life. If you live in Toronto and moving there for this job, it will be a great shock for you. If you have a good Job in Canada and it is stress free and you get to go home to your family every night, i won't recommend moving for this job. If there is an option of moving to Aramco HQ in Future, then take this job. |
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orm
Member
Posts: 18
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Post by orm on Sept 21, 2023 7:15:43 GMT
Hi all,
Some updates. I negotiated a 25 percent increase and asked them to follow up on my wife's application to the department in Dhahran. As such we have accepted the offer.
Three more questions if someone could be kind enough to answer
1. Do people working in Udhailiyah get remote allowance? The contract does not mention it. I was told by ex-colleagues Udhailiyah is counted as remote location.
2. Does Aramco still have the Ramadan bonus it used to give employees?
3. My wife has family in Qatar. If we wanted to use the out of kingdom EAP for schooling, does my wife have to stay in Saudi to maintain family status. I don't understand how that would be possible, if Aramco gives out of kingdom EAP and doesn't allow one parent to not live with the children. My children are very small and if they have to study outside the kingdom, they would have to be accompanied by my spouse.
Thank you for all the responses, this community is very kind. Look forward to meeting everyone in Udhailiyah.
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Post by kyle1639 on Sept 21, 2023 9:06:41 GMT
Hi all, Some updates. I negotiated a 25 percent increase and asked them to follow up on my wife's application to the department in Dhahran. As such we have accepted the offer. Three more questions if someone could be kind enough to answer 1. Do people working in Udhailiyah get remote allowance? The contract does not mention it. I was told by ex-colleagues Udhailiyah is counted as remote location. 2. Does Aramco still have the Ramadan bonus it used to give employees? 3. My wife has family in Qatar. If we wanted to use the out of kingdom EAP for schooling, does my wife have to stay in Saudi to maintain family status. I don't understand how that would be possible, if Aramco gives out of kingdom EAP and doesn't allow one parent to not live with the children. My children are very small and if they have to study outside the kingdom, they would have to be accompanied by my spouse. Thank you for all the responses, this community is very kind. Look forward to meeting everyone in Udhailiyah. Unless your contract states remote location allowance in the offer under the compensation section, you won't receive it. No Ramadan bonus for non-Muslim expat employees. Your wife needs to spend 183 days inside Saudi to maintain family status and for your children to remain eligible for EAP. |
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
Posts: 553
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Post by tamsin on Sept 21, 2023 11:35:58 GMT
Children tend not to go to boarding until 12 or later. EAP is paid for local private education too.
If your wife does get employment in Dhahran, there is a bus but it is quite a long commute every day.
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orm
Member
Posts: 18
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Post by orm on Oct 4, 2023 11:55:23 GMT
Hi all,
The Aramco team is expecting to submit my passport for stamping in November if everything is good with medical. I wanted to ask about the notice period. I gave a two month notice period, but the recruiter was a little cautious about that. She asked why it was so long and could it not be done earlier. Aramco took quite some time themselves to give offer, so I am wondering if there are any negative consequences if I stick to my current 2-month notice. I do a lot of travel projects for my current company, and I cannot be unprincipled and leave them in the lurch in just a few weeks. I cannot stop accepting projects until I have my visa in hand, so a 2-month timeline seemed appropriate.
Also, there is a push or issue by Aramco for people to join in the current year (2023), rather than the next year. I saw some comments where this might cause issues for hiring department if the person joins in the next year instead of the year of the interview process.
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
Posts: 553
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Post by tamsin on Oct 4, 2023 12:04:23 GMT
The Visa only lasts 30 days, so if you are planning on two months notice, you’d need to be giving notice before the stamp. I think a lot of people rely on garden leave or accrued holiday.
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Post by muhasoh on Oct 4, 2023 12:05:57 GMT
The Visa only lasts 30 days, so if you are planning on two months notice, you’d need to be giving notice before the stamp. I think a lot of people rely on garden leave or accrued holiday. Correction. Visa last 90 days |
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
Posts: 553
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Post by tamsin on Oct 4, 2023 12:58:49 GMT
The Visa only lasts 30 days, so if you are planning on two months notice, you’d need to be giving notice before the stamp. I think a lot of people rely on garden leave or accrued holiday. Correction. Visa last 90 days IMy husband got 30, as did a few others. |
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Post by darthmole on Oct 6, 2023 5:57:21 GMT
Hi all, Some updates. I negotiated a 25 percent increase and asked them to follow up on my wife's application to the department in Dhahran. As such we have accepted the offer. Three more questions if someone could be kind enough to answer 1. Do people working in Udhailiyah get remote allowance? The contract does not mention it. I was told by ex-colleagues Udhailiyah is counted as remote location. 2. Does Aramco still have the Ramadan bonus it used to give employees? 3. My wife has family in Qatar. If we wanted to use the out of kingdom EAP for schooling, does my wife have to stay in Saudi to maintain family status. I don't understand how that would be possible, if Aramco gives out of kingdom EAP and doesn't allow one parent to not live with the children. My children are very small and if they have to study outside the kingdom, they would have to be accompanied by my spouse. Thank you for all the responses, this community is very kind. Look forward to meeting everyone in Udhailiyah. Unless your contract states remote location allowance in the offer under the compensation section, you won't receive it. No Ramadan bonus for non-Muslim expat employees. Your wife needs to spend 183 days inside Saudi to maintain family status and for your children to remain eligible for EAP. Thank you, would you explain the Ramadan bonus? I am a muslim expat no on said that to me 😆 |
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Post by kyle1639 on Oct 6, 2023 13:21:12 GMT
Unless your contract states remote location allowance in the offer under the compensation section, you won't receive it. No Ramadan bonus for non-Muslim expat employees. Your wife needs to spend 183 days inside Saudi to maintain family status and for your children to remain eligible for EAP. Thank you, would you explain the Ramadan bonus? I am a muslim expat no on said that to me 😆 I'm not sure if Muslim expats are included in the Ramadan bonus, non-muslim expats aren't as I know personally. Someone else may be eligible to clarify |
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