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Hi canuckinmelb and welcome to the forum!

Hope that you'll soon be enlightened.

Harmonie.

Family status including Medical Benefits
Yearly Vacation
Cost of Students Schooling for Family
Car allowance / fuel allowance - Better make it as percentage of your salary
Bonus
Overtime

techathand,
Thanks for that.
Just to be more specific, I am a single guy so no need to worry about family things.

So it's typical that a company should include medical coverage in their contracts in KSA?

Vacation, I get 4 weeks paid vacation here.  Would it be reasonable to request that for KSA?

4 weeks paid vacation a year.. actually it should be 1 month every year.. and not 4 weeks..it is usual in Saudi Arabia for Engineers.

canuckinmelb wrote:

techathand,
Thanks for that.
Just to be more specific, I am a single guy so no need to worry about family things.

So it's typical that a company should include medical coverage in their contracts in KSA?

Vacation, I get 4 weeks paid vacation here.  Would it be reasonable to request that for KSA?

I believe it is reasonable to ask for 1 month paid vacation per year and ticket per year

Cool...thanks Techathand...

1 month paid leave IN ADDITION TO national holidays (the 2 EID holidays, which are usually five working days each).

Good luck.

Thanks Allicat...
Such a diverse opinion from expats in Riyadh on here.  Some find it boring, others seem to enjoy it.
Hope the negotiations are successful, as I would like the experience of living in a non-western country.

I plan to make the most of it.

Hi,does anyone know if I am allowed to exit to Bahrian or Dubi on my EQama for two days? do I need an exit visa?

Hi Canuckinmelb

My advice to you is to negotiate the accommodation,Riyadh is very expensive and if you don't have the right accommodation you will be very miserable here.I had this experience with my employer;before I arrived from Canada they informed me that accommodation is provided or equivalent of SR 14000,I wasn't aware how much the rent would cost in Riyadh and my housing issue is not resolved till now after being here two months.Make sure you can have split Vacation and no guarantor is needed every time you exit the country that's what I am facing now,I didn't know about these issues and the personal didn't inform me.Good luck and welcome to the exciting city of Riyadh!!!!!!!!

Faysg,
What do you mean I need a guarantor every time I leave KSA?
I need someone in Saudi to be a guarantor??

With the job, so far all the company as said was the the salary, which is 2.3x my after-tax income here in Australia.  I'm not sure how much more I can negotiate.
In terms of housing, I could request that part of my pay be a housing allowance?

Since they will want me in Saudi within 1-2 months, there's no chance of getting compound housing.

What would be the cost of rental for a furnished apartment not in a compound?

faysg wrote:

Hi,does anyone know if I am allowed to exit to Bahrian or Dubi on my EQama for two days? do I need an exit visa?

Yes, you do... you're leaving the country and then coming back.  So an exit-reentry visa is needed.  Your company can probably get it for you within a day or two (hope you didn't plan to go this weekend!).

Thank you Alliecat for the info.I am planning to get away for a couples of days end of Apl. to Re-energize my brain,the first two months are very tough, it takes good four months to settle down!!!!!!!!!!

faysg wrote:

Thank you Alliecat for the info.I am planning to get away for a couples of days end of Apl. to Re-energize my brain,the first two months are very tough, it takes good four months to settle down!!!!!!!!!!

I'm planning a little holiday myself--figure I should probably visit Dubai before leaving the ME.

Does anyone know a good Chinese restaurant in town?

faysg wrote:

Does anyone know a good Chinese restaurant in town?

My favorite is Mirage, across from Euromarche.  Beautiful place and good food.

Alliecat wrote:

faysg wrote:

Hi,does anyone know if I am allowed to exit to Bahrian or Dubi on my EQama for two days? do I need an exit visa?

Yes, you do... you're leaving the country and then coming back.  So an exit-reentry visa is needed.  Your company can probably get it for you within a day or two (hope you didn't plan to go this weekend!).

Actually exit-reentry visa are done online in 5 minutes now adays!

That,s a good plan Alliecat enjoy your vacation;hopefully they will approve my vacation on June 15,I can't wait, the moment I submitted my vacation my anxiety level start building up,I made all the booking for 10 days  in Cape code,Hyanis port.

I will check it out this weekend,something different then the hospital food.

Hey, just deleted my old account, so I could make a better name.
I was posting under "canuckinmelb"....now it's this one.

It seems like it's not exactly the salary that is the sticking point, it's how to address the housing.  I think I will ask that I get put up in a serviced apartment for a month, while I look for a place, and request that a portion of my salary be a housing allowance so I can get it upfront and have the money to pay for a full years rent.

Is that your pic or do you bear an amazing resemblance to Brad Pitt?

yeah, the resemblance is uncanny...I get that all the time...
I should have gone into acting

Hi CelbGuest,Ya man that's what happened to me, I found out after I signed the contract that I need a guarantor every time I leave the kingdom or I have to leave in my account equivalent to two months salary.

Can anyone advise on whether the salary I'd be receiving is in line with expats in KSA?

Total salary - 35,000SAR per month ($110,000 per year USD)

The role is a Senior Structural Engineer (at least 10 years experience).

It looks like the average salary in Australia (where I work) for a similar role is about $94,000 per year.

The company hasn't said anything about additional housing/transportation allowances.  So I wonder if I should be asking for that on top of this salary, or ask them for a portion of this salary to be dedidicated to that (since housing needs to be paid in one lump sum)