living in Jeddah with or without my family ?

As I was advised when trying to make the decision bring your family with you. Due to his schedule we don't see my husband a lot during the day, but it is still better than trying to Skype with him. Especially if you have young children.

Activities availability depends a lot on what compound or area you are in, but if you have girls there will definitely be less for them to do compared to boys. At least I have found.

Schools are difficult to get into in the fall, I don't know about in the spring. Registration for next year is in March I think. There are 3 big expat schools and lots of international. I have my oldest in an international schools and she seems to do well there, but we are definitely one of the few non saudi/arabic families. She kinda stands out. Debating about switching her to one of the other schools (Conti, American, or Jeddah Prep) next year because we will find more western expats there.

I have only been her 8 weeks so there are definitely more people who can give you better advice, but this is what I have learned so far.

Thanks for the info stressed-mom and i hope you become more relaxed soon

i have 2 & 5 years old girls ; and yes i heard compounds are better choice but also very difficult to find one soon ; the good part is they will follow me only on September when the new school year starts ; my 5 years old in an American / IP system and prefer to get her enrolled within the same system .

can you provide some names of compounds with family friendly type of living .

one more question ; is it easy & safe for my wife to go out on her own using a taxi to shop from a mall or a hypermarket ?

thanks a ton

Mo

I can't tell you what to look for in compounds or which ones, but there are a ton of threads on that topic. My husband looked at a few with someone his company hired to find us a place. Basically it was we took what was available the fastest.

The American school is the only one I know of with the American system. The other 2 I mentioned are British based. Definitely look into them now as they fill up quickly. Most require an interview of child to register (not enroll) so be sure to try and have a family trip here around March (I think) to do that. I still don't know how we got my daughter in a school as we didn't start till August really. Everything is done in the spring for the next fall.

My compound offers a daily bus to the malls/markets or we can use one of the drivers. It is not bad & I have been left alone. Though my red headed child brings in lots of attention. I still prefer the major shopping trips to be with my husband.

Of course you should move your family, what kind of life is it without family?  Besides, you have young children, so you both need each other.  Compounds have 6-12 month waiting lists.  Once you get here, go visit as many as you can asap and put your name down on their lists so once your family arrives, you can hopefully all move in.  Lists of compounds:

​​http://about-jeddah.blogspot.com/2008/1 … on_24.html
​​http://issuu.com/djmagzine/docs/jan48  page 112
​​http://onlinejeddah.com/category/direct … -compounds
​http://www.destinationjeddah.com/portal … le&id=1636
http://www.jeddahpoint.com/housing-comp … -list.html
http://jeddah-blog.com/2013/02/13/jedda … ds-housing

Activities for kids won't be like in the UAE, but it is ok.  Depends mostly on what school they will go to, and where you end up living.  Your wife and daughters will have an immeasurably better life inside a compound, with activities to do, freedom to walk inside the compound without worry and without having to cover up, cleanliness, foliage, play areas for children, sports courts, swimming pools, mini-market, restaurant, shopping and school buses, dance/yoga/exercise studio, gym, etc.  Having lived in this country for 30 years, 6 of them on a compound, I can unequivocally say that life outside a compound, especially for a family, is no life at all, rather it is suffocating life a prison (unless you are a very rich person and have your own mansion with gardens, pools, and enclosed outside spaces).

stressedmom wrote:

There are 3 big expat Western schools and lots of international.

Fixed it for you.

DEFINATELY with family especially since yours is young and developing. Compound living will save your sanity. Take it from trape/ , he's on point! Best of luck and please do get yourself on a wait list asap!

thanks Guys for the replies

my all the way priority is having the family always together ; i am just not so sure if they will be able to adjust to life there ; from all of the posts i read ; you may get kind of negative views from reading most of the blogs.


Mo

jo-mo wrote:

thanks Guys for the replies

my all the way priority is having the family always together ; i am just not so sure if they will be able to adjust to life there ; from all of the posts i read ; you may get kind of negative views from reading most of the blogs.


Mo

You'll be okay because your children are young.  When they hit pre-pubesence, however, things can get weird.  I think the separation of sexes is a distortion of reality and warps the mind, esp. of the young and impressionable.

As everybody has advised, you've got to be in a compound. 

Best of luck!

So true- I friend came here last year with a 16 yr old... Didn't work out at all for them... It is still a mess and difficult.

One of my children was born in Jeddah; three were born in the Old Country, as we refer to the USA.  (It's a joke!)

The children are very different, I feel, than they would have been if raised in the USA.

My children attended an international school that had a wonderful reputation.  I was lucky enough to get a teaching job there, and was always near them, always in touch with them, their classmates, and their teachers.  At this school they learned principles and method of applying them to everyday life, both in school and out of school.  They learned compassion, to respect others, and to respect strangers of other lifestyles and other religions.

I'm particularly glad that my son attended a boy's school in Saudi Arabia, and my daughters, a girls'.  I know that from my own American upbringing, that girls in mixed schools are much less likely to become leaders in student government, clubs, drama, projects, and so on.  From my own experiences growing up in Seattle, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Alton, Ilinois, I have come to believe that girls in a mixed school are often discouraged, directly or indirectly, from particpating in leadership roles in clubs, projects, choirs, leadership roles, and even in sports.  They are assistants: vice presidents, recording secretaries, and so on, but not presidents or chairmen.  They are discouraged, directly or indirectly, from participating in leadership roles, and from competition in sports.  They learn to manage as well as direct.  They are assistants: vice presidents, recording secretaries, stand-ins, props managers and so on, but not presidents or chairmen. 

The trick is to make sure that students in all-girl schools do have the same educational, sports, and other opportunities as do the boys.

Thanks to All for their very kind replies .

annecollins : very interesting views ; i like the positive way you look to life in Jeddah and specially the education for girls , finding the best educational environment for my angels is one of my key goals in life .

on another note ; how the ladies , house wives or working moms do spend their free time ; i am sure mostly will be with new Friends within the compound communities but are there any other options ? and what about the family activities during weekends ?

i am usually set my expectations to the lowest level possible to avoid surprises and disappointments .

again i am sorry for all of the questions but i went through most of the threads around here and i can tell that compared to your replies it was extremely negative and put me down.   

Mo

I can only speak to the activities available to me on my compound, but there is a twice daily shopping bus one in the morning and one in the late afternoon, weekly arts and crafts morning, monthly coffee morning, and aerobics for the women. I think also karate??? I do know that we are offered a compound bus to 2 western beaches on Saturdays. I have to admit I am online more now than I used to be, but with a 16 month old in tow it is a little harder to join some of the activities. Though I have already made a few good friends on compound.

AnneCollins: It was good to here your thoughts. I am a little nervous with the segregation for my 4 year old as she is quite the rough and tumble tomboy who still loves her fairies and princesses. At her school they segregate I think at 8 which I not thrilled with. I don't mind in the teenage years there being separation in school as long as there is interaction in other activities. Personally I played a male dominated sport (waterpolo) for 10 years and to this day have more male friends than female (though my closest are female). If my daughter ends up more like me I think the segregation would be harder on her.

Mo - the blogs are depressing, but if your wife goes in knowing what to expect it helps. I do get frustrated with the whole non driving & abaya stuff, but I am adjusting and I know over all this is best for our family at this time as in the states there are very few job opportunities for my husband due to the sucky economy. Also the benefit of the company paying for school and plane tickets is huge!!!

stressedmom wrote:

I don't mind in the teenage years there being separation in school as long as there is interaction in other activities.

Exactly!  I went to an all-girls HS in the States, too, but had social interaction with neighborhood boys, friends of my brothers, teammates, boys I met at dances, etc.  Here, however, there is none of that *unless* you are on a compound (and even on a compound, children you kid's age might be limited).

One other thing about girls being educated here:  unless it's at an international school, I think girls are schooled to accept their 'place' in society (ie. KSA society).

Hi there first came and check the place out first Make sure your Iqama status or your family is in place before you bring them all over.I find myself struggling as my employers hasn't fixed my Iqama and I'm here with my son.Its a problem If anyone can give advice on this issue please help
Other then that its a nice place.

Amelua Meruno wrote:

Hi there first came and check the place out first Make sure your Iqama status or your family is in place before you bring them all over.I find myself struggling as my employers hasn't fixed my Iqama and I'm here with my son.Its a problem If anyone can give advice on this issue please help
Other then that its a nice place.

How come you are here with your son when your iqama is not ready, are you on visit visa with your son ?

Dear HR GURU

can you advice on the new IQAMA law and the work visas ; i suppose to be working as a director but my employer said that we might get you an accountant visa or accounts manager , sales manager ....etc while on the contract and reality i will be working as the company GM ; i felt this is very wired but they mentioned its very normal in KSA and there shouldn't be any problem with MOL and bringing my family to live with me under my sponsorship .

the whole thing is not understandable for me ; i work in UAE now and my residency, contract and everything else shows the same as my actual title .

appreciate the advice and thanks in advance.

Mo

We were brought on a family visa My husband has his iqama and once we got here the company started on our iqamas which is still in process after months so just be careful that you don't sit with the same dilemma as I want to leave but am struggling to get my iqama for the exist visa so if someone can advice please do.
Beside a that it a lovely place Ps live on a complex its better for the kids

jo-mo wrote:

Dear HR GURU

can you advice on the new IQAMA law and the work visas ; i suppose to be working as a director but my employer said that we might get you an accountant visa or accounts manager , sales manager ....etc while on the contract and reality i will be working as the company GM ; i felt this is very wired but they mentioned its very normal in KSA and there shouldn't be any problem with MOL and bringing my family to live with me under my sponsorship .

the whole thing is not understandable for me ; i work in UAE now and my residency, contract and everything else shows the same as my actual title .

appreciate the advice and thanks in advance.

Mo

Dear Mo,

What you need to know about KSA is that when it comes to labor laws / regulations / hiring practices this is pretty much in stone age. I have mentioned some time back in this forum, as a joke about a lion at the zoo here in KSA which only eats banana's b'z his profession in the iqama says Monkey.

This was the scenario up until recently, now with the checking and crackdown started by labor ministry ,they are checking two things: if you are working under your own sponsor and if you are working as the same profession mentioned in residence permit.

So legally its not possible, but looking at this from the companies perspective, not all companies get visas as per titles they require, nor does labor office have visa titles that could satisfy the ever changing business nature of companies and hierarchies. So what to do commonly is to get you here on a visa with any title that they have. So probably they have accountant or account manager visa ready with them and they will give you now a contract with that title to get the visa ,while your actual job with them might be Director or GM.

What you can do is ask them if they will be able to change this profession for you after you arrive here on what ever title they give you now. If they confirm then go ahead.

Hope this helps.

Amelua Meruno wrote:

We were brought on a family visa My husband has his iqama and once we got here the company started on our iqamas which is still in process after months so just be careful that you don't sit with the same dilemma as I want to leave but am struggling to get my iqama for the exist visa so if someone can advice please do.
Beside a that it a lovely place Ps live on a complex its better for the kids

Got it . Good luck , the delay was probably due to the rush in labor office and passport office before. Now that things are back to normal it should be ready soon.

Dear HR Guru
Thank you for the advice Do you perhaps know anyone who can help me speed it up as I'm getting a bit stressed with all the crack downs I would like to get it like yesterday I need to get home
Thanks again for your advice
A

Amelua Meruno wrote:

Dear HR Guru
Thank you for the advice Do you perhaps know anyone who can help me speed it up as I'm getting a bit stressed with all the crack downs I would like to get it like yesterday I need to get home
Thanks again for your advice
A

Dependents who has not got iqama yet need not worry about crackdowns unless you are working some place. If this is not the case you need not worry.

Dear Guru
But I would like to get an exist visa and go home I was told without the iqama I can't get an exist visa I would like go home real soon Thank for you advice I feel a little less stressed but I would still like to go home soon

I already responded in the thread that you made.  This is what I said:

If your iqama is not ready, unfortunately you have to wait for it be made before you can leave.  This is assuming that you intend to come back.  Once the iqama is made, you will receive an exit-reentry visa to be able to travel and return within a specified period.

If you want to leave permanently, and your iqama isn't ready yet, I am not sure what the rules are.  Maybe you have to wait for it to be made first, or maybe they can just cancel your visa and let you leave.  Have your husband speak to his employer if you don't plan on returning.

Amelua Meruno wrote:

Dear Guru
But I would like to get an exist visa and go home I was told without the iqama I can't get an exist visa I would like go home real soon Thank for you advice I feel a little less stressed but I would still like to go home soon

As Trapezius said you cannot leave on re-entry without getting an iqama. that is if you intend to come back later.

If you do not and want to leave permanently then ask your husband to tell his company not to process the iqama any more, rather take your / child's passport to passport office (jawazat) and to get you final exit. This can be done.