Saudi Arabia...

CRHSrn · Dec 23, 2003

to some of you nurses who have been to SA ... just how good IS the pay ? i heard some very STARTLING figures last night at work and i'm just wondering if they are true. i might be willing to do some work over there if it's as good as i hear it is.

ps ... i'm looking for actually $ amounts ... i heard you can make many hundreds of thousands :eek: of non taxable dollars ... just looking to clear things up. thank you.

Sarah Kat · Dec 23, 2003

Originally posted by CRHSrn
to some of you nurses who have been to SA ... just how good IS the pay ? i heard some very STARTLING figures last night at work and i'm just wondering if they are true. i might be willing to do some work over there if it's as good as i hear it is.

ps ... i'm looking for actually $ amounts ... i heard you can make many hundreds of thousands of non taxable dollars ... just looking to clear things up. thank you.

I tell you, the in current climate, I wouldn't go near SA. The ruling class is having way too much trouble keeping the islamic extremists in check, and the US has withdrawn their troops. I think you'd be safer somewhere like UAE or Kuwait. They are still very wealthy nations where the pay should be very good, but are more USA friendly... but that's just my opinion. PS I have NEVER been to the mideast.

CRHSrn · Dec 23, 2003

ok, i'm not sold on any one country, SA, UAE, etc ... if the money's there ... so am i ... just what kind of money am i looking at though.

travis_lane · Dec 23, 2003

I'm a paramedic presently living/ working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. You 'all completely have the wrong notion in regards to the pay over here. I try to tell ya what I know....

The pay is based on your nationality. Saudi's get paid the most, then Americans, next the British, Canadians/ Australians, South Africans.... down the list to the Asians; Philipinos, Pakistanis/ Indians... and so on....

First the exchange rate is SA$ 3.75 = US$ 1.00. The Saudi and US dollar is always compatible and never changes. This is an advatage to the Americans here and a disadvantage to other nationalities when the market is bad.

As an American paramedic... I make SA$9200. (US$2454.) a month based on a 44 hr work week. This is less than $30,000 a year. I make more money back home! A South African paramedic who does the same job as me makes SA$6000 per month.

Overtime= we do not get time/ half overtime (1.5)... we get (1.2).

Another example... the construction workers from Egypt and India make less than US$200 per month.

As an RN from North America.... your base pay will be in the ballpark of SA$ 12,500- 13,500 a month (US$3600.) I believe they are offering a sign-on bonus also for RN's. (The pay scales have not changed in over 10 years)! 75% of the staff where I work appear to be nurses from Asia.

I personally didn't come here for the money. I make more money as a paramedic back home in the States. There is plenty of generous vacation time here and cheap tickets to the neighboring countries here in the Middle East. I have travel plans for Egypt in February and Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon in March.

Everyone has they're own reasons for coming to a place like this. My reason was to travel to these hard to reach countries nearby. I had a really bad experience with my recruiter... and I've already been in trouble here for critisizing them on the net. I don't want to disuade people from coming here... If you choose to come... don't make the mistakes that I made by trusting your recruiter! I'd be happy to answer any of your questions....

[email protected]

Ferret · Jan 30, 2004

Hi All,

Does anyone know anything about family (accompanied) contracts in Saudi or the UAE for RN's? The agencies I've contacted have not been very helpful. Thanks.