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Post by yyc on Sept 5, 2023 4:03:22 GMT
o/ Salam all - I have a few questions about life at Aramco:
I’m looking at moving my family of 5 from Canada to HQ in KSA and have a few questions. We have three kids (12, 8, 6).
1. Housing: Will we be able to find a spot within camp? Our current place is 1500 sqft, should we expect similar size?
2. Schools: is there enough space for kids in local/ nearby schools or we need to fend for a spot via waitlist or go outside camp?
3. Budget: I understand health/ shelter/ education is covered so what are the basic expenses? I estimate roughly 6000 SAR per month of most basic expenses (2000 for food, 1000 for car insurance/ gas, 300 for internet/ phone, 2500 for all residency/ visa costs). Is this reasonable or I’m missing something?
4. There is a rumour that Aramco covers moving expenses or pays $1M upon completion of 10yrs of service but I don’t see that in offer so assume that’s a legacy benefit that’s no longer offered?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2023 6:27:44 GMT
1. yes. You will be allocated somewhere, you'll have no choice over this.
2. US schooling system in camp upto grade 9. above this its outside ksa or outside of camp locally.
3.6000SAR is doable, you may want to budget more for trips away and breaks in Bahrain. Kids activities all cost $$$ too.
4. moving expenses are a fixed fee dependant on number of people, somewhere around $20K for you. No $1M 10 year bonus, some on the older payrolls get something like this but that was removed post 2017. Your retention bonus is zero for first 2 years and will hit around $250-$300K after 10.
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tamsin
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Post by tamsin on Sept 5, 2023 7:06:58 GMT
2. Yes, it’ll be about that size, 3 bed plus a study. Housing is not free, you are looking at about $500, taken from payroll. Utilities are included.
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Post by energyguy on Sept 5, 2023 9:30:23 GMT
2. No, SAR 6,000 will not be enough for one month. Groceries will set you back 6,000 per month for a young family. If your kids are older/teens, you may push 7,000 - 8,000 per month. Unless you are willing to live like a hermit, you will want to eat out from time to time. This might set you back 1,000 per month. 1,000 will get you one dinner at a nice restaurant (~350 SAR) plus burgers/pizza type food about once per week.
Car insurance for a mid-size SUV is about SAR 3,000 per year, or 250 per month. Two tanks of gas, driving about 1,000 per month will cost about SAR 250. Once you have a vehicle, these costs are quite reasonable.
Clothing and shoes are more expensive than Canada - perhaps 30% more - though to be fair IMO you'll tend to buy fewer items. With no winter weather, you can more or less wear the same clothes all year round. Dry cleaning services in camp are inexpensive and of comparable quality to Canada.
Phone and internet. Mid-range fibre internet (200 Mbps) is about SAR 350. 2 mobile lines will cost you about 100 - 150 SAR. So total SAR 450 - 500 for communications.
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
Posts: 655
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Post by tamsin on Sept 5, 2023 9:44:45 GMT
2. No, SAR 6,000 will not be enough for one month. Groceries will set you back 6,000 per month for a young family. If your kids are older/teens, you may push 7,000 - 8,000 per month. Unless you are willing to live like a hermit, you will want to eat out from time to time. This might set you back 1,000 per month. 1,000 will get you one dinner at a nice restaurant (~350 SAR) plus burgers/pizza type food about once per week. Car insurance for a mid-size SUV is about SAR 3,000 per year, or 250 per month. Two tanks of gas, driving about 1,000 per month will cost about SAR 250. Once you have a vehicle, these costs are quite reasonable. Clothing and shoes are more expensive than Canada - perhaps 30% more - though to be fair IMO you'll tend to buy fewer items. With no winter weather, you can more or less wear the same clothes all year round. Dry cleaning services in camp are inexpensive and of comparable quality to Canada. Phone and internet. Mid-range fibre internet (200 Mbps) is about SAR 350. 2 mobile lines will cost you about 100 - 150 SAR. So total SAR 450 - 500 for communications. This. It is doable but it’d be very limiting. We are around $3k for 2 adults, 1 teen, 2 dogs and 2 cars. Not including vacations, visas, topping up the EAP. |
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Post by energyguy on Sept 5, 2023 10:15:07 GMT
Agree, this is minimal and best viewed as a floor.
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Post by yyc on Sept 5, 2023 13:06:58 GMT
Thanks everyone for quick responses. A deal breaker for us is to be placed outside of main camp but sounds like housing and schools are available within.
A follow up: do you get moved around from the initial place where you spend the first few nights or once you’re at that place you can make/ call it home for many years?
What are the most common schools that parents pick for their kids starting grade 9? Assume these are all boarding schools given the teen has to live away.
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Post by yyc on Sept 5, 2023 13:07:39 GMT
2. No, SAR 6,000 will not be enough for one month. Groceries will set you back 6,000 per month for a young family. If your kids are older/teens, you may push 7,000 - 8,000 per month. Unless you are willing to live like a hermit, you will want to eat out from time to time. This might set you back 1,000 per month. 1,000 will get you one dinner at a nice restaurant (~350 SAR) plus burgers/pizza type food about once per week. Car insurance for a mid-size SUV is about SAR 3,000 per year, or 250 per month. Two tanks of gas, driving about 1,000 per month will cost about SAR 250. Once you have a vehicle, these costs are quite reasonable. Clothing and shoes are more expensive than Canada - perhaps 30% more - though to be fair IMO you'll tend to buy fewer items. With no winter weather, you can more or less wear the same clothes all year round. Dry cleaning services in camp are inexpensive and of comparable quality to Canada. Phone and internet. Mid-range fibre internet (200 Mbps) is about SAR 350. 2 mobile lines will cost you about 100 - 150 SAR. So total SAR 450 - 500 for communications. Appreciate the number breakdown. |
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Post by yyc on Sept 5, 2023 13:10:31 GMT
This. It is doable but it’d be very limiting. We are around $3k for 2 adults, 1 teen, 2 dogs and 2 cars. Not including vacations, visas, topping up the EAP. I was in fact including visa/ residency cost for 5 of us at around 25000-30000 SAR per year. Is that too high/ low? How much do you end up topping up for EAP? I thought 2x salary will achieve the mark. Thanks again for all the help. |
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
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Post by tamsin on Sept 5, 2023 15:56:05 GMT
I was in fact including visa/ residency cost for 5 of us at around 25000-30000 SAR per year. Is that too high/ low? How much do you end up topping up for EAP? I thought 2x salary will achieve the mark. Thanks again for all the help. The visa is about right. School fees at ASD/BSD are, including VAT, are around 100k riyals a year for the exam years, 14 years plus. The EAP is 2 x basic salary or 64k, whichever is the lower. |
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tamsin
Senior VIP Expat
Posts: 655
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Post by tamsin on Sept 5, 2023 16:00:46 GMT
Thanks everyone for quick responses. A deal breaker for us is to be placed outside of main camp but sounds like housing and schools are available within. A follow up: do you get moved around from the initial place where you spend the first few nights or once you’re at that place you can make/ call it home for many years? What are the most common schools that parents pick for their kids starting grade 9? Assume these are all boarding schools given the teen has to live away. There has been a bit of temp housing in Ras Tanura due to voltage conversion but usually you are straight into your home and that’s it for 2 years or longer, up to you. Not everyone does boarding. The American school of Dhahran and British school of Dhahran are both ISG schools, free buses run there daily, they go up to 18. There is also Bisak, I don’t know much about them. Teens do not need to live away. But if you chose that then there are lots of options and frequent boarding school fairs and seminars. Boarding school fees are covered up to $45k plus extra flights. |
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