<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We all dream of having a better life. For some of us, that means going out of our home country and getting a better-paying job overseas. That means sacrificing all that’s familiar to us. Our friends, our favorite haunts, and most importantly, our families. If there was a way to take them with us, we would have all of them in a moment. The good news is that some countries provide a family visa, with the </span><a href="http://embassies.mofa.gov.sa/sites/Philippines/EN/AboutDiplomaticMission/Consulates/ConsulatesServices/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kingdom of Saudi Arabia</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and the </span><a href="http://www.dubai.ae/en/Lists/HowToGuide/DispForm.aspx?ID=44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">United Arab Emirates</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> among them.</span></p>
<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone size-large wp-image-4529 size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="665" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/father-daughter-beach-sea-38302-1024x665.jpg" alt="Work Overseas and Have Your Family With You" class="wp-image-9562" title="Work Overseas and Have Your Family With You" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/father-daughter-beach-sea-38302-1024x665.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/father-daughter-beach-sea-38302-300x195.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/father-daughter-beach-sea-38302-768x498.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/father-daughter-beach-sea-38302-1536x997.jpg 1536w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/father-daughter-beach-sea-38302-1200x779.jpg 1200w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/father-daughter-beach-sea-38302.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>It won’t be idyllic bliss if you don’t plan ahead.</figcaption></figure>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plan Ahead</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the cliché goes, “Fail to plan, plan to fail”. So it is when getting your whole family a visa when you work overseas. Much like when you draw a </span><a href="https://www.trueprofile.io/member/resources/gameplan-getting-healthcare-job-overseas" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Master Plan</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in getting a job overseas, you also need to have a blueprint in moving your family elsewhere. List down the things your family would need, the </span><a href="https://www.trueprofile.io/member/resources/pitfalls-overseas-job" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">pitfalls</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> you might encounter, and everything else that occurs to you as you go along. Then sit down with that list and reconcile it with the timeline and costing.</span></p>
<h2>Cost vs Time</h2>
<p>It would be an ideal world if we can get all that we want. As overseas workers, we’re familiar with compromise. It would hardly be practical to upend your family’s life for just a year’s contract overseas. Some companies shoulder accommodations for their workers’ families, depending on their position. You would need to ask yourself if having your family with you will still leave you with enough savings to offset being away from your home country. If the visa that your family has been granted allows for your spouse to work, that would consequently be better for you.</p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Read Up</span></h2>
<div class="wp-block-image size-medium wp-image-4501"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="680" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-165873-1024x680.jpg" alt="Work Overseas and Have Your Family With You" class="wp-image-9563" title="Work Overseas and Have Your Family With You" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-165873-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-165873-300x199.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-165873-768x510.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-165873-1200x797.jpg 1200w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-165873.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Your family should have fun as well.</figcaption></figure></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, </span><a href="https://www.trueprofile.io/member/resources/ten-dos-and-donts-in-saudi-arabia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">read up</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on the country that you are targeting for your overseas job. Not just for you, but also for your family. What is their culture? What are the <a href="https://www.trueprofile.io/member/resources/ten-dos-and-donts-in-saudi-arabia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">things you need to avoid doing and the things you need to start doing</a>? Is that country kid-friendly? Are there affordable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_schools_in_Saudi_Arabia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Schools</a> where you’ll be assigned to? Will your family have sufficient entertainment when you’re not with them? We’re talking about malls, museums, and entertainment centers here. You can’t really expect your family life to revolve around you alone. You would also need to keep in mind their well-being. Will the medical insurance be covered and/or affordable for your family? These are the questions that you would need to answer before deciding on having your family with you.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Requirements</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Different countries have different requirements in granting a family visa. They also change from time to time. Be careful in reading up from a blog article that was made way back in </span><a href="http://life-in-saudiarabia.blogspot.com/2015/03/procedure-to-apply-for-permanent-family.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2015</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as the law might have changed since then. What’s</span></p>
<div class="wp-block-image size-medium wp-image-4503"><figure class="alignright size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="682" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-266094-1024x682.jpg" alt="Work Overseas and Have Your Family With You" class="wp-image-9564" title="Work Overseas and Have Your Family With You" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-266094-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-266094-300x200.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-266094-768x512.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-266094-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-266094.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Relationship means communication with one another.</figcaption></figure></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">ideal is to read up straight from the official website. If that’s not possible (as in the case of </span><a href="https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/Home/Services/citizens" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Saudi</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> where there’s </span><a href="https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/FamilyVisitVisa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">no English translation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">), look for the </span><a href="https://www.realsaudi.com/permanent-family-visa-detail-process-saudi-arabia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">latest</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> articles online.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Communication</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, don’t plan alone. Because you’ll be making plans for your whole family, communication and setting up their expectations is crucial to making this work. You won’t be successful and your family won’t be happy if their input is disregarded. You might be happy initially because you have them with you, but it will make you miserable in the long term if they’re not content with what’s happening in their lives.</span></p>
<p><i>Picture attribution <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CC BY 2.0<br></a>Featured Image – flickr.com/</i>sydneytreasuresphotography</p>
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