Considering Bahrain.

Hey Sap !
Welcome on the forum...
If I read you between the line, my feeling is your hasband has nothong against Bahrain. from where I stand, he seem to find it difficult to leave Doha... Which is different This is a family decision only you and him can make together.
I don't think that I need to emphasize the fact that Bahrain is a really nice place to live in. All the members of the forum are already saying it in all their messages !

When you say : "From what i've seen (thanx to all the expats lik u & other articles on the net) I like Bahrain. I feel its the best of both world - The freedom to live a good life ie not too many restrictions & not very expensive like Dubai. I hope i'm right. " You are totally right !

As far as the area is concerned, Mina salman is Bahrain Port. It's in the south East part of Manama and close to Juffair and Adliya where you can easily find an accomodation. If you're looking for a villa, Tubli might be the right place. Pay attention though in Tubli certain parts of the district are often surrounded by a bad sea smell coming from the slime.

Hope you will find a compromise to make all the family happy !!!

Cheers

Olivier

Hi Sap,
Could I just share with you that I was 'uprooted' by my parents my whole life, as indeed, most of my friends were. Well, this means that as an adult, I have friends all over the place which is great. So dont' worry about that. Children are rescillient and highly adaptive to new environments.

And Doha is quite close, shouldn't be an issue to fly back frequently for visits.

As for a driving license, they seem quite keen on the international license here, so if you manage to sort one out before you leave I guess it would be ideal. Local driving instructors, if you peruse some of the other posst on the forum and check on the internet, have a very dodgy reputation at best.

I say grab the opportunity, they don't come too often. Good luck!

Hey,

Thanx Olivier & Knut. Yup, u r spot on bout the leaving Doha part. He loves Qatar & so do i. But its time to move on. He's not only being offered a bigger pay(2,000 BD + housing) but a better position 2. Which i'm assuming should be good enuf. Besides when i checked the real estate market, it seems cheaper than Doha. So all in all this seems like a good move. So well, lets c what he decides. I've already told him how i feel. But have also told him that in the end whatever he decides, i'll support it 100%. After all for better or worse... lol
Hmm, when i googled bahrain, i did figure out that the nearest options would b Juffair & Adlia. Will look into Tubli too. Thanx. However, at the risk of sounding vain, even thou v r Indians, v've been used to living in  the westerner oriented part of Doha. So hopefully i'm not going to offend any of my fellow country men when i say this, but r either of these 2 areas 'Indian'??? If u kno what i mean. No offense to any1 plz.
Knut, thanx for the vote of confidence, i'm a clueless mom, thanx to 9 yrs of being cabin crew. So my best friend is google & sites lik this, where i meet like minded people & realize that i'm not alone.
Once again appreciate all the help & will keep u posted on what my husband decides.
Until then ciao.

Swapna

Hi Swapna !

I guess no offense taken ! Even though I'm French and I appreciate being with my fellow countrymen doesn't mean I dream of living surrounded by them !!! Actually I even tried to avoid the compounds full of Frenchies ! So I understand your point... Where's the fun of living thousands KM from home if it's like being there ! Juffair is a very various melting pot with a lot of residence hotels and clode to the US Navy base. Adliya is a great place where a lot of very nice restaurants and bars are located. Which means it's crowdy during the week-end and parking might be a nightmare ! I'm not sure you'll find a lot of accomodations available there...
Thanks for keeping us posted anyway but I'm sure that whatever decision your husband will take, it'll be for the best of your family !

Friendly yours

Olivier

Hi,
Thnx Olivier for that. Always wondered how people felt soooo comfortable sticking to their own nationalities. Happy yo kno i'm not the only 1 who finds this weird .
Btw, whats the deal with buying property in Bahrain. Saw a loooot of apartments for good prices. Thinking it'd b a better idea of just buying a place on a loan rather than paying rent. What do u think? Also, read bout the freehold law. It says u dont need a sponsor & u get permanent Residence Permit. So what exactly does that translate to? Does that mean i can work too. & that i dont need to b under my husbands sponsorship. Its all a bit too confusing.
If u can make any sense of it all, plz explain.
Merci buku.

Rgs,
Swapna

Hi Swapna

I would like to welcome you and ur family!!!!!!!! yeah, ur choice is correct and here the life is cool and more relaxed too. hopefully we will meet soon in Bahrain. By d way, whr ru basically from and whne ur going to come over here.....

Take care n pls keep in touch if u need any assistance here.

tks

regards
ragav

Hi Swapna,

As far as the freehold properties are concerned I didn't consider this option so I did not dig into the process.
All I know is there are many people stucked here with a huge loan over their shoulder and waiting since many month to move in their new house/flat. Due to several month delay in the construction, they have to still pay a rent PLUS their loan.
Furthermore, by Bahrain law, you can't leave the country if you have a ongoing loan.
I qlso found that on the internet :
http://www.bonjourdubai.com/modules/new … 1&forum=19
Sounds like your "life-long residence visa"might not be that long finaly :p
So I'm not quite sure, but I think it would be much wiser to come here first before making tyhat kind of decision from abroad. Even if it looks like a good deal, you're not very well protected by the law if anything goes wrong, so...

For the visa, resident visa is supposed to allow you to work, but maybe for those freehold properties they'd make specific visas ? I'm not sure about that. If you want to dig deeper maybe you could contact a layer here or at least check with the LMRA website (Labour Market Regulatory Authority).

Hope this will help you

Have a nice day...