Q8NRI FORUM

Hi Friends,
Greetings!
Nice to see a lot of active members, helping out others in this forum.
Have a job offer and Planning to relocate to Kuwait in May'2011 with my family.
I am from Chennai, Currently living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Would like to know more about Kuwait city,schools, accommodation(rents) and its lifestyle.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks.

Hello srvnn..

Welcome to Q8NRI...

To give you a better picture about the living expenses, please let us know how many kids you have and their ages. Also, what part of Kuwait you will be working and where are you planning to stay. Do you have company transportation or do you plan to buy a car? Will you get private medical insurance for the family etc etc.

This info is required as rents vary according to the place of stay....even school fees varies depending on schools.

Share whatever info you can and that will get you a better idea about the expenses.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply.

I have 2 lovely kids, doing their 8th and 3 rd grades.
Would prefer to stay close to school rather than office, My office located in Shuweikh, Off Canada Dry Street, Kuwait.
Planning to buy a car on arrival, but m not sure about the driving license procedure, I have valid Indian DL.
I have gone thro your DL section and I found my self eligible with minimum salary criteria, but what about minimum 2 years stay in Kuwait. Wont get DL for 2 years? should depend on private transportation?

Company provides medical insurance for family, hope this will cover all medical expenses.
Looking for a good Indian school with CBSE syllabus, m wondering if DPS or its franchisee available in Kuwait, If so I would prefer DPS. So my preferred location of accommodation would be near to school and a 2 bedroom flat in decent location, and would be nice if Indian fresh veg markets near by .

Hope the provided info would give an overview of my requirements.

Thanks for your time.
Have a great day!

Hi Srvnn,

You are welcome...Now lets take your queries one by one...


If your work place is on Canada Dry, your best bet is either Riggae or Abbasiya which are the nearest Indian residential areas. Or Salmiya but that will be a little further. CBSE Indian schools are in abundance in all these areas.


Yes, DPS school is very much available in Kuwait but that will be very far from your work place. Or if you specifically want to send them to DPS, then you will have to shift to Mahboula, Abu Halifa or Mangaf which are the residential areas for Indians near to DPS which is in a place called Ahmadi. Regarding Indian vegetables, all these residential places are full of small bakalas, and you can also visit Hypermarkets like Lulu, Sultan Center, Carrefour, Geant etc once a week.


Driving Licenses regulations do not affect professional like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and some other professions which are exempt from these regulations. For others, it is a tough time. You said you are in Saudi...do you have a Saudi DL? If yes, it may be easier by surrendering Saudi DL, but you will have to check that.

So, keeping these things in mind...lemme try to give you an idea of expenses per month keeping your family of four in mind.

Rent in for a CAC 2BHK flat: 200-250 KD
Groceries: 100-150 KD
School fees for 2 kids: 60 - 120 KD (Schools fees for DPS and Bhavans are on the higher side)
School Transportation for 2 kids: 20 - 40 KD
Visa fees for 3 depedents: 60 KD
Maid expenses: 50 KD (part time)

Then you might have some extra expenses for the first time like furnishing your flat (around 800-1000 KD) and One time Visa fees for 3 dependants around 500 KD. Also, be sure that your kids do not lose out on a schooling year cos it may take upto 3 months for you to complete formalities to bring you family after you land here and schools are not very happy to give seats to kids in between a term!

The above expenses varies as per your living style but I have tried to give you a rough idea. Hope it helps

PS: I too work near Canada Dry street. If you dont mind, PM me your company name...

Hi there srvnn.....welcome to Q8NRI....and thanks for posting ur query here.

Like our Super-duper poster Paul, mentioned, I believe u hav got an insight on how things fare around here. But believe u me, srvnn....Kuwait is anytime betta than Jeddah. Period.

Pls feel free to ask more queries or clarifications n u will hav many diff views n ideas from many of our esteemed members.

Regretfully, since its a Saturday n most are having a holiday, the responses are low.

Hope this forum will help u make the right decision and we wish you all the very best.

Good luck mate.

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your detailed reply, got an idea about the Kuwait life, useful info.



"Visa fees for 3 depedents: 60 KD" is it a monthly fees? or one time.


Regards.

Hi Jonyboy,
Hope you are recharged with your short vacation, looking for the friends with the same enthu.

Yes, our Paul is like "Paul the Octopus" who, helped to predict the football world cup results, our super-duper Paul is helping me out in predicting my Kuwait relocation.

Goodnight.

You will have to pay yearly 41 KD for Insurance and stamp fees for one dependent every year....that was a mistake. Apologies!...So it comes to around 10 KD per month for 3 dependents

I am blushing....thanks for the kind words...I just want to help people

your job postings are a great help to people too