½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Hello Johnro and welcome to ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

While waiting for members to best guide you, I invite you to read out articles we have in our Living in Saudi Arabia guide.

This will prove useful to you!

Regards
Kenjee
½ûÂþÌìÌà Team

Hello Johnro,
Congregations for your new job

let me ask you why are you concern about how much you should bring with you? is your employer not trustful enough to pay you on time?

Usually, people take in mind to bring a reasonable amount of money to cover the first month necessary expenses. Then you will be able to depend on your paycheck taking in mind that your salary is decent enough to cover your expectation of your desired lifestyle.

I would tell you bring 10,000 SR in cash, you might not consume it all and the excess will be saved & easily returned, better then bringing exact figure that might not cover your expenses. But if you are also going to pay for the accommodation then bring more than that.

It is wise to make sure that your credit card / ATM card will be working fine in Saudi as an emergency solution in case something not expected happened. And its your bank who has the best answer!

Though, credit cards are rarely rejected here.. but no one knows. One of my Dutch friends was visiting here late 2013 for a task and he found that his personal card was not accepted so he used his AMEX provided by his company.

About buying a car, you should wait till you arrive. And in the first period rent a car to be able to move around.
Once you found your situation stable and your employer is not going to provide you a car which usually they do or they will pay you good transportation allowance. Then, you can buy a car on the lease basis after getting your Iqama.

One option might be also good enough, check if your employer can buy you the car in cash and they deduct from your pay on monthly basis, this way you will avoid the banks interest rates! they register the car under their name with you being the authorized user and you can travel, go wherever and everybody is relaxed.

Welcome to Saudi and best luck

I guess he is just paranoid about the things, which usually everyone is while relocating to this country. Good Luck in Advance to @ Johnro

Thanks a lot for your help... everyone!

I got different feedback regarding credit cards. Is it widely acceptable? etc.

Another actually weird question.. I will start work on a visa until I get my Iqama... I understand that i can't open a bank account or anything without an Iqama.. How then would I cash the check? does the employer pay cash? Thanks again

Johnro wrote:

Thanks a lot for your help... everyone!

I got different feedback regarding credit cards. Is it widely acceptable? etc.

Actually I use Master Card and Visa Cards and both are accepted in the kingdom. Havent got any problem in using them at any point of time.

Johnro wrote:

How then would I cash the check? does the employer pay cash? Thanks again

You have to carry some cash with you and Hopefully you will get your Iqama in 2-3 weeks time and then a bank account where your salary would get transferred eventually. But Just keep cash on you for a period of 30-45 days, Just in case !!