Hi my company offed me an overseas job/project in Bahrain and we are very excited. However must admit I have to digest a lot of information at once. They are offering me a local contract for 2400 bud a month, not an expatriate contract. I will of course pay for accommodation for me and my family plus school fees at the British school. Will have to lease a car as well. The company is not offering me any other benefits exept for 1 family trip a year plus some club membership incentive. The school will cost approx 600 a month for the 2 kids, plus rent accommodation of course. And the company is to offering any medical or life insurance benefits until next year. Is that a good deal? How much does it cost the general grocery shopping? Is it the norm that expatriates now are offered local contracts? And another thing, my girlfriend and I have been together for 10 years and we have 2 kids. Is that a problem to process sponsorship and all the necessary processes for us to stay there? Thanks a lot and sorry for the too many questions sibi
Will move to Bahrain
Hello everyone would appreciate some feedback. Sorry to be a pest. I have read many forum threads and all are by good and useful. I just wanted to be more specific. Local contract 2400 dinars no benefits and paying accom and school fees and a car lease, for a family of four, is it a good deal? Thanks guys and girls sibi
Hi Sibi and welcome to the forum !
A lot of questions here 
Many of them will find answers if you just take the time to read a few threads on the forum.
About your contract problem, it really depends on the country you come from. Local contract means the local law applies. Expat contract means your company in your country relocates you (usually on a temporary basis) to another country.
Of course a local employer can offer you a local contract but "matching the international standards". It is what happens in your case.
About the cost of living, you will find a lot of posts on the subject.
About the visa thing, you have to be married to get a family visa. Some people on this forum mentioned that it was possible for unmarried couples to get such a visa but I checked and it's not !
You have to provide a marriage certificate, to have it legalized by your embassy here, then confirmed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry for LMRA to process the visa.
Feel free if you don't find answers in the other threads...
Cheers
Olivier
Oliver thanks a lot. Yes I did find a lot of answer and quiet useful as well. I will continue to read through. Good day et bonsoiree.
Hello Sibi,
I could feel your distress about your decision, so I'll do my best to answer your questions from my perspective 
An average flat rental for a 2 bedroom will cost you about 450 BD , an average car rental will cost you about 150 BD a month. You mentioned school fees for your 2 kids to be 600BD a month, so overall, you will be left with 1200 BD a month. In my opinion, this is a below-average income for a family of four. Of course it all depends on the kind of life style you will have here. Some families could live on less than that, but then they probably have to skip on some luxuries such as kids ballet classes or spa treatments
I guess to sum it up, I would say that yes you will be able to make it with the offer given to you, but I doubt that you will be able to make any savings, if that is one of your goals. Of course, if your gf is able to work here too, things will become different. But I have absolutely no idea about you sponsoring your gf, perhaps try to contact the Spanish embassy in Bahrain about that.
Hope that helped and best of luck!
Thanks a lot much appreciated.
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