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AmericanAmina
Joined: 15 Dec 2015
Posts: 104
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
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 Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:28 pm Post subject: 2 jobs, 2 cities, 2 housing allowances? |
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| I know that in general if a husband/wife team are both hired on in Saudi, only one of them can receive a housing allowance from their employer. BUT does anyone know what would happen if my husband and I decided to accept jobs in separate cities? For example, if he takes a job in Taif and I take a job in Jeddah, then we would have our main family home in one of these cities, but at least one of us needs a second apartment during the week. I wonder if we would be allowed to take both housing allowances in this case to defray the cost of that apartment? I'm not trying to pocket a second housing allowance. I'm just considering the options in case we both get good offers but at different schools. |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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See my comment on page 2 of your Umm al-Qura or Effat? post.
I think this plan - living in separate cities - is also unrealistic for the reasons I mentioned in the above posting. I'm not saying it's impossible.....I'm saying it sounds totally unrealistic to me.
This is particularly true, in my opinion, if there are children involved, which I believe is your case. |
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AmericanAmina
Joined: 15 Dec 2015
Posts: 104
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:06 am Post subject: |
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Yes, I just read your reply on the other thread. Thanks.
I think I might not be explaining myself well. I don't mean that we would be at opposite ends of the country. I was just considering the hypothetical situation of my husband and I getting jobs in cities that were an hour or two apart, like Taif and Jeddah, or Jeddah and Makkah. We would all spend the weekends together at our home. Sunday morning, whoever is working in the other city makes their commute over there and spends the working week in an apartment. Then Thursday evening he or I would commute back home for the weekend again. Sunday-Thursday everyone is at work or school anyway. We would still be close enough that if we needed to get together in the middle of the week for a big event at the kids' school or whatnot, it would be possible.
I'm not sure why the government would have an objection to this. I was just wondering if there's any chance we might get the housing allowance to offset the cost, or if the furnished accommodation that would be given to a single could be available to the traveling spouse during the week.
My husband still has good ties with his previous employer in Taif, but if I were to get a job in Jeddah then that would offer us more options for the kids' schooling. It could benefit us to live in two cities, as long as they aren't too far apart. |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:33 am Post subject: |
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| AmericanAmina wrote: |
| I think I might not be explaining myself well. |
Well, no....You actually did explain yourself quite well previously. The scenario you just portrayed was exactly what I imagined you were talking about.
It still hasn't changed my opinion about how pie-in-the-sky all this sounds to me.
1- Even under the best of circumstances, the type of arrangement you described just doesn't work out. Not for a protracted period of time. Oh, it'll work for 3, maybe 4 months...and then you'll both get totally tired of it. Weekend trips will turn from EVERY weekend to every OTHER weekend.....to one weekend a MONTH and so on. (Plus - are you going to have 2 cars for all this visiting back and forth ?? Whose going to drive you to "Taif" or wherever?? Women still can't drive in KSA, you know).
2. As far as the question you asked about employers giving you 2 housing allowances based on your circumstances - No one - not even me - can answer that. That's between you and your employer (or your husband's). I'm sure there's no "rule" they have to follow. But I doubt they'll allow it. To them, the arrangement will sound totally weird and they'll be afraid they're breaking some kind of "cultural" ban. They're not going to want to get involved with any of that.
3- You also said you can't see why the govt. would have an objection to this. True....there's no LOGICAL reason why they'd be against it......I just can practically assure you, they'll find all kinds of objections to it.
4- Go ahead and try it. You're determined to do it anyway. It could just happen. KSA, after all, is the Land of the Thousand and One Nights....AKA The Arabian Nights.
All kinds of Dreams come true here.
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AmericanAmina
Joined: 15 Dec 2015
Posts: 104
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:02 am Post subject: |
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I hear you. I'm not blowing off your advice. It's just that we've lived in Boston and Los Angeles and had long periods of time where either one or both of us had a one-hour and more commute daily. Well, twice daily... once in the morning, and then the return trip at night. A one-hour commute once or twice a week is a walk in the park for us.
Plus, I've been told that people in Makkah bus their kids back and forth to Jeddah daily for the schools. If we ended up there, I'd really rather not do that to my kids. It would be better for me or my husband to make the trip on the weekends.
When we lived in Saudi before we had a couple of trusted taxi drivers that we would always call for longer trips. I thought we could have a regular commute arranged with someone like that.
Maybe you're right, and I'm not being realistic. I'm trying to go through all of our possible options in my head, and I'm throwing this out there to get some feedback- like yours. I appreciate you giving it some thought for me. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:39 am Post subject: |
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| I'm with hash on this one. You're trying to contrive an unorthodox living arrangement in KSA that benefits your family's needs and not the employer's business/financial interests. In other words, it's costly for an employer to accommodate your situation when their aim is to tighten wasteful spending on employees. (There's a reason why many only offer bachelor or single status visas to their male and female teachers.) Employers will expect you to live with your family on your husband's housing stipend or in his employer-provided accommodations. Any other living arrangement is your choice and therefore, on your own dime/riyal. |
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Gulezar
Joined: 19 Jun 2007
Posts: 483
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 3:24 am Post subject: |
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Sigh ...
I've known many couples in the UAE with this exact some scenario. One has a job in Sharjah or Dubai. The other works in Abu Dhabi. Two housing allowances, two cars, both drive. Sometimes the weekend is in Dubai, sometimes in Abu Dhabi. Oh! I've known expats and Emiratis with this arrangement.
Eventually, Saudi will look across the border and get with the program, but then, sorry; this is the Saudi forum and not the UAE forum. |
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sicklyman
Joined: 02 Feb 2013
Posts: 930
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 9:06 am Post subject: |
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| hash wrote: |
| KSA, after all, is the Land of the Thousand and One Nights....AKA The Arabian Nights. |
er... no it's not.
or were you using that ref as euphemism? |
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AmericanAmina
Joined: 15 Dec 2015
Posts: 104
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Ok, I hear you folks. This idea is too weird for Saudi. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| AmericanAmina wrote: |
| If I were to get a job in Jeddah then that would offer us more options for the kids' schooling. |
Frankly, with six children, it's more cost effective for you to continue to homeschool them and be home to care for them when they're ill. Otherwise, every bit of your salary would go to their pricey school tuition as they all become school aged since your husband's benefits aren't likely to cover the entire cost of their education.
You might take a look at Good schools in Jeddah for 1st grade. |
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AmericanAmina
Joined: 15 Dec 2015
Posts: 104
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| nomad soul wrote: |
| AmericanAmina wrote: |
| If I were to get a job in Jeddah then that would offer us more options for the kids' schooling. |
Frankly, with six children, it's more cost effective for you to continue to homeschool them and be home to care for them when they're ill. Otherwise, every bit of your salary would go to their pricey school tuition as they all become school aged since your husband's benefits aren't likely to cover the entire cost of their education.
You might take a look at Good schools in Jeddah for 1st grade. |
Thanks for the link!
It really is more cost effective for me to stay home, but last time we lived in Saudi, I was going a little bonkers being stuck at home all day, and after 3 years of homeschooling here in the UAE my kids have gotten burned out on it. They miss the whole school experience. Even if most of my salary goes into school fees, I think we all need this. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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| AmericanAmina wrote: |
| It really is more cost effective for me to stay home, but last time we lived in Saudi, I was going a little bonkers being stuck at home all day, and after 3 years of homeschooling here in the UAE my kids have gotten burned out on it. They miss the whole school experience. Even if most of my salary goes into school fees, I think we all need this. |
You're not the only parent to home school. Do an Internet search on saudi arabia expat homeschool, and you'll see links to numerous sites with teaching/learning resources, extracurricular activities, and opportunities to network with other homeschooling parents in KSA. In fact, several friends of mine who homeschooled their children in Jeddah and Riyadh also hooked up with other expat families, which provided opportunities for the kids to play sports and socialize with other homeschoolers.
If you do decide to teach and send your children to private schools, then consider finding work in the same city as your husband in order to keep your family under one roof. That said, be mindful that employers (and your teaching colleagues) may not be forgiving whenever others have to cover your classes because you have to stay home to care for a sick child. (That's likely to happen with six children.) Employers, like the colleges of excellence and private contracting companies, will expect you to work a 35 to 40-hour week unless you target part-time teaching positions and are okay with earning a pittance.
Some food for thought. |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| AmericanAmina wrote: |
| Ok, I hear you folks. This idea is too weird for Saudi. |
Just a couple of more comments, if I may:
1- I wouldn't make any employment decisions based on information you get on the public internet. All you're getting is people's "opinions", nothing else.
Even when "facts" are given correctly, they may be applicable for a short time only.....situations change too often in this part of the world to take any "information" you get as "set in stone", and there are various degrees of "compliance" by employers to what seems to be hard and fast rules.
My point is, if you really want to find out if your ideas are workable, you should definitely "apply" to various employers and see what happens. Just be cautious enough not to make big decisions (sell a house, quit a job) until you definitely have that new job to go to. You've been in KSA before so nothing I'm saying here should be new to you. Good luck. |
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Dr X
Joined: 04 Jul 2016
Posts: 84
Location: Everywhere
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 9:49 pm Post subject: Re: 2 jobs, 2 cities, 2 housing allowances? |
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| AmericanAmina wrote: |
| I know that in general if a husband/wife team are both hired on in Saudi, only one of them can receive a housing allowance from their employer. BUT does anyone know what would happen if my husband and I decided to accept jobs in separate cities? For example, if he takes a job in Taif and I take a job in Jeddah, then we would have our main family home in one of these cities, but at least one of us needs a second apartment during the week. I wonder if we would be allowed to take both housing allowances in this case to defray the cost of that apartment? I'm not trying to pocket a second housing allowance. I'm just considering the options in case we both get good offers but at different schools. |
It will depend on your iqama status, are you going to be dependent on your husband's iqama, or each of you will get a job with a separate iqama?
With a separate iqamas, you will face another problem with regard to your children, ae they going to be dependent on you or your husband?
If they are dependent on you, then you cannot get a visa (iqama) without a marriage certificate where your husband has to be included as your dependent and vis versa? Even if you are dependent on your husbands' iqama, and want to transfer from his iqama to another employer then by Saudi labor law you are not entitled to a housing allowances. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2016 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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| The trick with two iqamas will not work. Reconcile yourself to the reality that you will have to go on your husband's iqama as a dependant. |
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