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Post by UpstreamCrude on Feb 28, 2012 20:09:13 GMT
In jobs past, I have had to endure a period of time (probationary period) whereby my family had to wait to join me - the avee waiting time being three months if my memory serves me correctly. Does anyone know if Aramco has this same policy? My hope is that my wife and child will be able to join me on the flight over.
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Post by vpainter on Feb 28, 2012 20:39:28 GMT
There are certain GC codes and jobs that have a probationary time prior to family joining them. You don't say where you're from, but I know if you're from the U.S. your family can travel with you when you first arrive in KSA.
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Post by Twofeets on Feb 29, 2012 14:41:58 GMT
As was stated, things change from department to department. For me, I had a 3 month probation period, but my family was with me the whole time. Also, by the time you've completed the background check, medical, moved to KSA, etc Aramco has already invested a huge sum of money into you. They wont just fire you on a whim, at the risk of being blunt you would have to do something really stupid lol. Dont let it stress you  |
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Post by GroveWanderer on Feb 29, 2012 19:08:41 GMT
In my experience, it depends on nationality as much as anything else. As vpainter said, almost any US employee (who is GC 11+ and assigned to family camp housing) is allowed to bring their family over with them immediately. For Brits certainly (and, I believe, for expats on the other non-US payrolls) you have to complete a 90-day probation before you are eligible to apply to bring your family over. Even then, unless you are GC 15+ you would have to get off-camp housing unless you are lucky enough to get an out-of-policy exception to live in Aramco family housing.
For instance, in my case, although I was already GC 11+ when I joined Aramco, it was not until I had been with the company for 8 years that I was able to get approval for my family to live in Dhahran family camp housing. I have known people (Brits) who have been with the company even longer and have still not been able to get an OOP approval for on-camp family housing.
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Post by doonhamer on Mar 4, 2012 7:11:37 GMT
It depends on nationality and Saudi Consulate in point of origin. US/C can bring family. Other nationalities - dependent on the Saudi consulate in your country. Some will issue family visas, others not. There is no probation period for this. The delay in bringing your family is strictly the time it takes to apply for family visa once you arrive and Iqama is issued. This is normally 2-3 months. As soon as you receive Iqama you can apply for family visa thru the Personnel Dept.
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Post by gareth0127 on Mar 4, 2012 8:52:16 GMT
Hi Grovewanderer,
British GC 11+ can definitely bring their family with them from day one, you do not have to wait until your probation is complete.
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Post by GroveWanderer on Mar 4, 2012 10:41:56 GMT
Not unless you are GC15+ or a Harbor Pilot, according to the IR Manual for Pound Sterling employees. It has a table in Chapter 12, Section IV, page 258 enled "Eligibility for Family Accompaniment" which states:
Now, it may have changed since I came here (which is possible, though I don't see anything in the IR Manual saying so) but in the past you had to complete your 90-day probationary period before applying for an NOC. Incidentally, and once more according to the written policy, granting of an NOC only allows you to bring your family to live in local housing and it still requires a further Out of Policy (OOP) exception to get company-provided family-camp housing.
Page 278 of the same manual states:
Further, according the manual, the only automatic exceptions to these policies is for employees assigned to Jeddah, Riyadh or Yanbu.
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Post by gareth0127 on Mar 4, 2012 14:49:29 GMT
Im GC 11 and we arrived in Aug 2010, the whole family. The same has happened for every other UK family I have met who arrived since then. Maybe they have not updated the manual as you said.
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Post by GroveWanderer on Mar 9, 2012 12:26:32 GMT
At the time of the Gulf War, there were a number of "automatic" Out-of-Policy exceptions that were brought in and some have been maintained. I believe this may be one of them. The thing is though, until or unless the manual is updated, they remain as exceptions to the written policy, with the possibility that the company can start re-applying the policy at any time they choose.
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Post by doonhamer on Mar 12, 2012 11:26:25 GMT
It has changed. Other nationalities can bring their families but if their work location is Dhahran they will have to reside in RT or Abqaiq
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