Anyone worked in The Middle East?

[TeeDee]

Very off topic I appreciate but I know we have a fairly eclectic mix of people and experiences.

So has anyone worked for any period of time in ME? Namely The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia??

There is a possibility ( although I think its quite a long shot ) to do some contract work out there for a while.

Just wanted to get peoples input and experience of everything they felt/encountered etc , TAX perks , living costs anything you can think of really.

The location would be near to Jeddah.

Cheers

 

[Ahjno]

One of the Mods: Graham, is currently based in Saudi. So I think he'll chip in. If not, drop him a line

 

[TeeDee]

One of the Mods: Graham, is currently based in Saudi. So I think he'll chip in. If not, drop him a line

Cheers!, Will do , I couldn't remember if he was in Saudi or Oman.

 

[Graham_S]

Salam Alaikum
I've been out here for 2 1/2 years now.
I'm based in the Dharahn area so I'm on the other side of the country from Jeddah.
Jeddah is a bit more conservative as it's closer to Mekkah, but it's up in the mountains so the weather is better.
You will get private medical (compulsory for your employer to provide it)
You should get accommodation as well. Probably on a compound.
Compound life is like a small village really, at least mine is.
It really depends on who you are working for.
Some companies have their own compounds, others just rent a few villas in one.
Tax is tricky, as you need to be out of the UK for 12 months or you can be liable for tax, I'm on NT (no tax status so I don't pay tax or NI any more) some companies will pay your tax for you.
You will need a Visa to get in and another to get out of the country, your employer will probably keep your passport while you're in kingdom. You will get an ID card called an Iqama, which you need to carry.
you can get a Multi entry/exit visa which is good for 6 months unlimited entry/exit (I get these as I live very close to Bahrain)

The cost of living can be quite low. Before Katy came out here I could feed myself well for £200 a month, including eating out at least once a week.
You can get 1/2 chicken and a bag of rice (which will probably do for a couple of meals) from a takeaway for £2, 2l of milk 50p, Petrol is 10p/l

The standard of driving out here is awful.
Every day it's like an episode of "Police, Camera, Action"
You get used to it though.

I enjoy it.

There are a few issues,
No pork products.
No cinemas
No Alcohol (barring homebrew which ranges from bad to really bad, most western compounds will have someone making it)

Working with the locals can be a challenge, they don't have a work ethic to speak of. you'll hear the phrase "Tomorrow Insh'allah" quite a lot.
If you can relax and just go with the flow things get a lot easier.

If you have anything else specific PM me and If I don't know, I'll ask about.

 

[Hammock_man]

I worked out in Saudi in the mid '80s also in the Dharahn area, on the Air Base. Seems things have not changed much.

On reflection when I got back the thing that struck me was the sameness of the days, so very easy to get into a routine.

Depending on your stay i.e. over one year then you need to watch the tax and returning to the uk for hols. They have a 2 ninths rules which in simple terms means if you are gone for 9 weeks you can pop home for two weeks. however if you are gone for 18 weeks and come back for a month , oh dear thats not quite 2/9 so its as if you never left and so must pay uk tax, and the counting starts again. Once you have done 366 days things are different and change again once you have done a full april to april the rules change. If your employer can not explain it totally before you go I would have a long think...... Having said that some companies send people out on a regular basis they have all the paperwork sorted as easy as if you where being lent to the other office/site 250 miles away. BUT with no tax and lower living costs its like a 50% pay rise.