Job Discussion Forums

dee123 · Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 25

I have been offered a job and am able to take my wife. My wife is Vietnamese and I was wondering if anyone had any experience in bringing a Vietnamese wife with them to Saudi in terms of things we will need to prepare for her.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

You just have to show to the Embassy issuing the visa that you are legally married. There are not many Vietnamese in Saudi but a large number of other nationalities from South East Asia.

Basil Brush · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:03 pm Post subject: Bringing your wife

Hi, you should check your contract to see if you are on married status or single status. My wife is Chinese and it was no problem to bring her. If you are coming with a reputable employer then you will probably have married status given you have a wife, but even if you don't, you can sponsor your wife on your own IQAMA. You are her sponsor - not your employer. As I recall, she needs to have same medical checks as you before entering KSA as it is required for the visa; also, she needs at least 6 months to run on her passport. Have you thought about what she is to do all day while you are working - she could do the house chores, but that isn't going to prevent her getting agitated. It takes a really strong woman to live the solitary homemaker in KSA with little social support. Will you live on a compound? That will help. Good luck. ps. who/where you working?

Basil Brush · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:25 pm Post subject: Bringing your wife

Oh, forgot to say; she'll probably be okay with the range of foods she can buy at supermarkets. If she enjoys cooking, that will be something she could get into more during the daytime. You will need a car to get about, especially with a wife, and this is absolute necessity with children. She'll need some kind of tv package (OSN here have a lot). Never let her go out alone (or your kids). It is not safe for women to go shopping unaccompanied. My wife was foolish enough to try this once while I was at work and perverts appeared from nowhere - she was harassed by supermarket staff and a creep who followed her and the kids in his pick-up for the 200 metres to our compound gates. Don't try it. If she had been raped, there would probably be little sympathy from the police. Asian women are considered domestic staff here as many are maids and fair game by many local males who get it anywhere else. You just have to be careful. I would really advise you to get her to wear a face cover - (burka). There's a very good reason why Saudi women wear this, and a Saudi friend of mine told me it is very advisable to wear it - to protect her from unwanted attention. This gets you more respect from locals; women who show their faces here are considered cheap. That's the culture. Membership of a top hotel sports facility would be a plus where she can dress less conservatively - often without an abaya - which is mandatory at all other times. This could be worth investing in for about 5000 SAR a year depending on the hotel. Best of luck.

intrepid traveler · Joined: 06 Feb 2013 Posts: 48

Bollucks to most of the above if you are going to be living in Riyadh, Jeddah or Khobar. While common sense should prevail in certain instances, and a woman needs to be extra cautious and avoid situations where she might be harassed or intimidated, shopping alone is not dangerous particularly in the malls and large supermarkets where many women, particularly foreign ones, wantonly flaunt their hair and faces.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:53 pm Post subject:

Would it be possible to know which posters are actually in Saudi with a Far Eastern wife. It would seem that Basil Brush is - and is speaking from personal experience.

You disagreed with Basil. intrepid traveler - is your wife Far Eastern?

I ask because although I didn't have a Far eastern wife there (in Riyadh), a colleague, one of my best friends, did - a Vietnamese lady. Her experiences in Riyadh were much more like those described by Basil.

Regards,
John

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

From compounds or university campus thee are usually shopping buses for families. safety in n umbers. No need to wear a veil but abaya and head scarf are recommended. Of course if you are in Buraidah or Qassim, the rules are less lax !

sicklyman · Joined: 02 Feb 2013 Posts: 930

2buckets · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 515 Location: Middle East

Agree 100% with Basil B. My wife is also Chinese, and his advice is spot on. We were in KSA and UAE.

You can't be too careful, the foreign woman is always at fault, especially non -western women whom the generally racist Arabs, (not all of course) consider inferior. And this attitude is reinforced by the fact that many local households have a bevy of housemaids etc. Who are treated like slaves, abused, beaten, not paid and a host of other reprehensible activities.

Better to err on the side of caution until you get feel for your own individual situation.

Beaker · Joined: 13 Jan 2013 Posts: 26

White women, in pairs, have apparently been surrounded and fondled by S.Asian men down Batha. What do you expect form a system that brings them in for years without allowing their wives in or giving them a 'safe' outlet for their frustrations? There are areas she'll be safe in, and areas not. The full head-to-tail-in-black option might be a sensible idea actually. Notwithstanding the tales of white men with S.E.Asian wives getting pulled up because their destractors first thought is she is either your maid, your prostitute, or both.

Still, it'll only drive in fully once you're been propositioned a few times yourself.

Basil Brush · Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:27 pm Post subject: Women alone in Saudi Arabia

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Malls are okay but don't try a Frank Gardner.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 6:15 pm Post subject:

Dear scot47,

And by malls, I assume you don't include Batha in Riyadh. Very Happy

Regards,
John

dee123 · Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 25

Dear All,

I greatly appreciate the feedback and it has certainly given me some things to think about.

Grendal · Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:39 am Post subject:

Driving home on the diary road from IKEA I was approached by a mutawa in a pickup truck flanking me in the passing lane. He was indicating that my wife had not put on her head scarf!!! I waited for him for a bit but he persisted, so I told my wife to put something over her head so we can get rid of this idiot. She complied, he sped on ahead into the horizon of taillights, and my wife took of the saudinews newspaper from her head. This is Riyadh! Imagine a more conservative area.

Grendal