Moving to Saudi

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Al Habeshi said:
So your dad is sponsored by his friend on what basis? That his friend is his employer?

Also do you each have individual iqamas like id cards or what?
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Yeah, his friend is his employer, and they actually do have a separate business going as well.

No, the iqama is just one document. It's a residence and work permit, so the person working, ie. the father or husband, carries it.

Fishermans_eye- For that I'm not sure. I've heard that too, but we have our passports with us. Maybe it depends on each person and their sponsor, like it's agreed beforehand?
 
What are the houses like? And living costs? I mean can a man support his family ok or is it not posible?

What bout schooling for you and other children and doctors/hospitals?
 
Depends on what kind of house you live in. If it's a compound, then you will definitely need the company you're working for to pay, because they're expensive. If it's a villa or apartment, I'm not sure exactly how much, but this website looks pretty good.

"Monthly Rent ($)

1-bedroom apartment 750–1,000

2-bedroom apartment 1,000–1,500

3-bedroom apartment 1,500–1,800

2/3-bedroom villa 1,800–2,250

4+-bedroom villa 2,250+ "
source

Check this site out, it looks great. linkkk

As for living costs, it's getting more expensive. Inflation lately has been crazy. We used to fill up a shopping cart for the weeks groceries and have it be 200-250 riyals, now it's like 400. Everything is more expensive.

And it depends on how much money you make, really. We know several people that come here alone for the first year or two to get settled in, check the place out, make sure that it will work, then bring their family.

Again, it depends on the kind of school you're going to put the kids in. International schools (ones that teach in english), have an average price of about 15-20,000 riyals a year for a kid my age, 11th grade. Obviously the younger the child, the less you pay. I don't know about arabic schools, and non saudis aren't accepted into public schools.
I don't know much about healthcare, sorry.

The most important things are housing, schooling, and healthcare. If your company provides you with those, or even just a fraction of the cost, it would probably work inshallah. Because those are the things that drain your money, basically, the rest is just usual stuff.
 
crayon said:
As for living costs, it's getting more expensive. Inflation lately has been crazy. We used to fill up a shopping cart for the weeks groceries and have it be 200-250 riyals, now it's like 400. Everything is more expensive.
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Maybe cause your central bank is run by people from nice families/connection rather than the best economists?
 
It's pretty much the same for all gulf countries. If you can find a job that pays for housing, school, and health care, then it wouldn't be so hard, if not, it is quite difficult.
But inshallah if you want to come, Allah will make it easy for you. If you don't mind my asking, why do you want to come here? Any specific reason or are you just looking for a muslim country to move to?
 
The knowledge insha'Allah and also the lifestyle would make it easier to practice. Plus the Uk is going downhill in my area.
 
Two good reasons mashallah. Like I said, maybe you could get a umrah visa, they're really easy to get, and come and check it out here, ask around for jobs, housing, what it's like here, etc. Maybe try online job listings? And if you're really serious about it make istikharah and inshallah Allah will bring the best to you.
 
crayon said:
Two good reasons mashallah. Like I said, maybe you could get a umrah visa, they're really easy to get, and come and check it out here, ask around for jobs, housing, what it's like here, etc. Maybe try online job listings? And if you're really serious about it make istikharah and inshallah Allah will bring the best to you.
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Well my cousins soon to be wife and her sister and mother live in Jeddah and so does a very close family friend of ours, would that help do you think?
 
Fishman said:
:sl:
I heard its hard to get a visa, you need a job that is useful to them.

Not that I'm interested in going. I don't want to move to Saudi Arabia unless the House of Saud is somehow removed or overthrown (preferably peacefully). I don't like the country very much.
:w:
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:sl:

That sounds like a very uneducated statement of a person that does not live in KSA and is talking from Hear say .

The rulers in KSA Try their best to Give everything to its Citizens and Residents and to the rst of the Islamic world , no one is perfect .

Problem is that people only want to see the Negatives and ignore anything positive , Like who builds their Masjids in the west , supplies them with litretures , and Chrarity works .
 
crayon said:
First off, like I said, a lot of it is based on my personal experience, and a lot of it doesn't even have to do with the country itself.

I hate the "shariah" that is practiced here.
I hate that they ignore major issues while focusing on trivial, insignificant things. For example the red things on valentines day. I agree with what they did, but all there are so many more important things that they just willingly ignore.
I hate how crappy their traffic law enforcement is. My brother is 14, half the kids in his class drive and have cars. I know 3 people that have been killed in car accidents caused by underage drivers, and several people that were seriously injured. In all the cases, the driver was saudi, in all the cases, they were free to go.
I despise the racism in favor of saudis and against foreigners, especially those from india, pakistan, south east asia, etc.
There is nothing to do but go to malls. Absolutely no other form of entertainment, halal or otherwise.
Most "religious policemen" ie muttwia "advise" people in the exact opposite way as described by the prophet peace be upon him.
I can't think of any more at the moment, but if I do I'll come back and add them.

There are definitely some good things about living here, though, but most could be said for any muslim country, tbh. I like hearing the adhan, I like there being a mosque wherever you are. I like being able to visit the kaba more often than I would be if I didn't live here..

Hope that helps.. I apologize if I'm being to pessimistic, but this subject brings me downnnn. Got any questions I could answer?

edit- i hate how unsafe it is. Women do not walk in the streets for fear of being harassed/attacked. This is broad daylight btw, not at night. Stopping taxis in the street is rare, since those are also unsafe. Whenever my mom and I need to go somewhere and my dad can't take us (and since women can't drive we can't go alone), we call a taxi company. In syria I can walk home alone at midnight and be safe (bi'thni Allah, of course), and here I can't walk home in the middle of the day. There have been so many kidnappings of children, and even adults. My teachers son was kidnapped and almost raped when he was a teenager. He know some karate and attacked the guy, and escaped and ran till he found a police car. He told the police what happened, they asked if the kidnapper had a gun. He said no, the police said there was nothing they could do. They just left.
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:sl:

What do you mean , You hate the Shariah ? Isnt the Shariah of Islam 1 ?

If it is so bad why do you stay ?
 
pauper- A lot of what they practice here is what they want with the name shariah simply stamped onto it. And also, the west look to saudi arabia as an example of a perfect islamic state, the embodiment of islam and all its principles. It misrepresents islam. Yes, many other muslim countries do the same, but Saudi Arabia is the only one that claims to be an islamic state (other than iran maybe).
I stay because I'm 16 and can't exactly move somewhere by myself. My dad's job is here, so we are here, alhamdullilah. If it was up to me, I would not stay. And like I said, it's not that bad, this is just what I don't like about the country. Of course there are lots of good things about living here, but if it were up to me personally, I would not want to live here.

Al Habeshi- Unless they know someone who runs a business, or have lots of connections, then probably not. Although they could be useful in asking around for a job for you, asking people they know, etc. Since they're familiar with the place they could help you get acquainted, find a place to stay.

Another thing that is important is whether you have a family or not. For example it would be much cheaper for you to come alone, seeing as you could find a housemate and split the rent or something, but if you have a wife and kids, that's extra expenses.
 
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crayon said:
Al Habeshi- Unless they know someone who runs a business, or have lots of connections, then probably not. Although they could be useful in asking around for a job for you, asking people they know, etc. Since they're familiar with the place they could help you get acquainted, find a place to stay.
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Hmm but if they run a business themselves then thats dandy?
 
If you can get a job there, then yeah, that would be pretty good. But again, housing, schooling, and healthcare. Would a job they offered you supply those (or some of them)? If not, unless you have a ginormous (and by ginormous I mean HUGE) salary, it would still be tough.

Have you tried asking them about here? What did they tell you?
 
pauper said:
:sl:



Problem is that people only want to see the Negatives and ignore anything positive , Like who , , .
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:sl:
That sounds like a very uneducated statement of a person that does not live in KSA and is talking from Hear say .
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Yes, I am talking from what I have heard from others, rather than experience. But why have I never heard any pro-Saudi 'hear-say'? No smoke without fire...

And even though I speak from what I have learnt from others, people like Crayon don't.

The rulers in KSA Try their best to Give everything to its Citizens and Residents and to the rst of the Islamic world , no one is perfect .
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Don't be so naive.

builds their Masjids in the west
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Yes, they do do this, but see below comment...

supplies them with litretures
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Often misleading extremist 'litretures'.

and Chrarity works
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I agree that this is a good thing, but the bad outwieghs this in my opinion.


What is the bad, you say?
  • Racism against Asians
  • Enslaving little boys so they can be camel racing jockeys
  • Descerating or demolishing holy places. One of their kings even chipped the Prophet (peace be upon him)'s name from one of the sacred mosques and put his own name in its place!
  • Selling oil and helping global warming
  • Being dependent on oil rather than diversifying
  • Oppressing Christians and Jews
  • Censoring those who want to criticise the king, like other political parties
  • Oppressing the poor oil workers
:w:
 
i just went to Saudi for Umrah!
i enjoyed the umrah part and the mosques but

-the weather is tooo hot!
-the men stare at women too much even tho there's nothing to see
-the women are oppressed-we couldn't go to the 3rd floor of the haram and couldnt touch the kabah door (i did manage to push my way to the black stone)
-they are an "islamic country" but some of their rules have nothing to do with Shariah
-they treat the workers(asians)so low
-they are too lazy(i have neva seen 1 saudi doing work)
 

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