Job Discussion Forums

[haziran]

Hey all,

I'll be moving to Muscat for a teaching job in September, and will be required to pretty much pay for all my settling in myself -- find apartment, pay deposits/advance rent, furnish it, buy/lease car, etc. All the school is helping with is picking me up at the airport, paying for a week of hotel, and getting me in contact with current teachers there to help me. (They did say I could get an advance on my first month's salary, which I may take them up on.) At minimum, I anticipate I'm gonna need to bring 1,500 OMR (almost US $4,000), and possibly more, with me to pay for all this. I don't relish bringing all this in cash in my shorts, but the reality is, how else will I get quick access to the funds I need?

Anybody have any ideas? I talked with HSBC about opening an acct. in the U.S., so that I might have easy access to funds in Oman, but apparently each country's HSBC is completely independent, meaning there's no advantage to being with them in another country.

I'm trying to make this all as stress-free as I can. Thanks for any suggestions/ideas.

[veiledsentiments]

ATM card? That way you can leave most of the cash back home?

BTW... I suggest leasing the car for the first few months - through the probationary period... and until you know for sure that you will want to stay for more than a couple years.

VS

[haziran]

Right, but the problem with ATM cards is you can only take out your money in small amounts. As such, a $2,000 cash outlay to use for a deposit or advance rent (an amount that I'm hearing isn't unusual) would take 4 days to withdraw due to the $500 daily limit most American banks impose.

Really, this is a true financial onus that these schools place on us lowly teachers. I guess the days of being whisked from the airport to a university-provided apartment are over...

[veiledsentiments]

It all depends on the employers and all of those I worked for still use the previous system. Funding the car and some basics until my shipping arrived was all that I did. I presume that you have one of the recruiter based jobs? That seems to be what makes the difference... as soon as recruiters are added to the process, it is all downhill.

VS

[haziran]

No, it's with a small private college in the Muscat area. I originally sent a query to the recruiters, and they were very interested, but all their jobs were out in the hinterlands. I've always lived either in the capital or main city of any far-flung country I've worked in and wanted to keep it that way.

BTW the recruiters were offering slightly better money than what I ended up getting, so I don't think one can dismiss them altogether. But some things are more important than a few dollars. Personally, I just didn't know what I would do with myself living in a small town...

[haziran]

I may have found a solution to the cash issue in the form of a cash advance or 'disbursement' taken off my Visa debit card. My credit union (gotta love em) told me that all I have to do is walk into a foreign bank branch and ask them to swipe my card and tell them the amount to be advanced (up to US $3,000), and presto, they will hand me the money in the local currency. Back home, it's deducted from my checking account same as it would be for any other point-of-sale purchase, and for no charge on their end (did I say how much I love credit unions?). The only thing is now I'll need to find an Omani bank willing to do this, and not charge me an astronomical fee to do it...

[veiledsentiments]

Remember the days when "swipe" meant steal?

That sounds good, but not sure about the ease of finding a bank that will do it for you. Hopefully someone will pass through who has tried something like this, but this time of year, teachers are on the road for the summer.

VS

[Sleepwalker]

What about travellers' cheques? You can cash them at a bank.

[urbanversion]

pre paid loadable card from travelex, which lets you withdraw from an atm in local currency?