Moving with my young fanily to Kuwait in August!

Hello clarewhite28.

Welcome to Expat.com!

Aurélie

Thankyou! I have so many questions! Do you think we can have a good time as a family over there? xxx

ask your questions away and we'll do our best to answer em for u

yes, u will have a good time. change is good, u'll be flabbergasted with the differences at first, but then it'll be like an adventure.

Thanks for the reply! We can't wait!!! All the big important stuff is already sorted, like our accommodation and kids' schooling, but I have loads of practical questions about lots of different things really!

How do people socialize out there, (working full time with two babies, it's probably going to be hard to socialize at first) but are there any teams to join eg netball, footy etc?

Can you get by without a car? I've heard horror stories about the roads and was wondering about public transport...or is it just easier to hire/buy a car and get used to it?

Is there any British tv through satellite?

How much is a flight to Dubai as I've heard many people fly over for a weekend?

What should we pack??! Clothes wise? Can it get really cold in winter?

I'm sorry if these questions seem dumb but there is lots going round my head xx

Clare, actually Kuwait has some advantages for families, the life is more relaxed here and less hectic. There are a lot of activities if you take time to look around. EEK! newsletter is a good source of information in that regard. Summertime is a bit of a dead season as it is impossible to have any activities outdoors.
To be honest, you might get by without a car but very unlikely. I guess if you are living close to your work it would be doable, with occasional taxi or a car rent, but not having one will limit your options. I quickly realized I will need one, but my office location is such that I had no choice. Public transport exists, but not sure it is something you would use as a family.
I was horrified about the traffic, but I got a hang of it within a week, and so will you. Just forget everything you have been taught until now.
Satellite TV is available with a ton of channels including the British ones. You will get it installed in a day and it costs around 10 KD per month.
Don't know precisely, but I think the flight to Dubai is not expensive - however it is not that bad here that you need to think about it right away.
During the winter it gets cold, so yes, you do need some warm clothes. Actually, I found out that I need to bring a light jacket or a long-sleeved shirt with me during the summer, as all public places like to crank their air conditioning to max, and personally I was freezing.

Keep the questions coming, I know I had a ton as well...

I really appreciate your help guys! We have just over 4 months to prepare so it's lovely to hear some advice!
More questions...

Are there any branches of either HSBC or NATWEST banks there? I'm just wondering what wI'll happen with my accounts over here, as I'll still have to send money home to cover my mortgage in UK etc....will I be taxed in UK for this?

Are men and children allowed to wear shorts on the beaches? What about football shirts too?
Is Christmas recognised in Kuwait?

Again, these might seem like dumb questions but it's hard to really find much info on Kuwait compared to other countries xxx

Regarding the banking and the taxes it is somewhat a grey area and depends on the country. If you can find a tax advisor to answer it for you it would be great, but in general you are not taxed if the countries have a agreement about double taxing. Problem is that there are no taxes in Kuwait and I am pretty sure that our home countries would be delighted to tax us. I got advice not to stir it and keep the low profile. As for moving the money abroad, there are several options, some are more affordable than other, but they all cost money.

Shorts are fine. You can celebrate Christmas if you wish just  like many people do.

Happy to help!

I'm an American so of course I'm into that brand of football that you don't really use your feet for but throw it!  However, I'm an oil explorationist and my well drilling manager is a Brit who organized a social football playing weekly in Mina al Zour south of the city.  Of course, you are coming in August when the daytime temp is 50-55d C. so you the leagues may be laying pretty low for a couple of months.  Give me a holler when you get here and I'll introduce you to the oil-camp Brits.

Can I just add on the subject of clothing, you as a woman can also wear long shorts and just above the knee summer dress or longer if you prefer. As long as you are not showing cleavage you will be fine. It's all about respecting the culture and remembering this is a Muslim country. I moved here a week ago and I wish someone would have told me that because I thought I would not be able to show my legs even below the knee but people don't mind especially because we are expats. You can actually wear a bikini on the beach especially beaches that are attached to hotels.

You will learn quickly and once you do will enjoy your time here.

I am not sure whether you know about the currency. It is higher than the pound, you get roughly 1 Kuwaiti dinar for every 2 and a quarter pound.

Kuwait is children friendly, it's just a matter of your kids getting used to the move.

You will not be able to hire or buy a car into you get your residency and until then there are plenty of taxis and the fares are quite reasonable.

Just remember when it comes to buying food to go to big supermarkets and get locally grown and packaged food they are generally cheaper plus you will find that the bigger supermarkets always have offers and discounted items.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

A small correction - you can rent a car with your temporary visa, but you need to have your international driving license with you - so get one made before you get here, just in case.

You guys are so helpful...thankyou! We can't wait to join you in about 4 months time!

Hi Clare,

This is week 2 in Kuwait for me (from the UK) my wife and 3 boys (aged 5,4 and 1) are still in the UK but coming over once we can sort out all of the paperwork etc and I get settled into the new job ...

I am still loving the heat, that may change when we get to mid-summer!  Once the family is back together we'll live in Salwa probably and we'll get a big/safe car too, not least because the petrol is so cheap..  Personally the roads/driving don't appear to be as bad as you might expect (given the info you read before coming) there isn't the anger and aggression you find on UK roads (especially London/ South East) there is a lot of random lane changing, pulling out and pushing in but with a lazy relatively friendly anything goes sense … its odd but you get into it quickly (as a passenger).  I don't think I've seen one child in a car seat when travelling, this freaks me out (when you see kids playing on the dashboard of other cars travelling 50mph) – I guess its cultural but we'll be bringing our car seats out and plugging the children in as we would in the UK.

I went to the public beach at the weekend and it was pretty relaxed, more so than I would have expected.  I see kids running around in shorts and t-shirts all the time, both inside and outside.

Now the important stuff … I haven't got to grips with football coverage yet, there are lots of internet streams you can watch but the internet service in my company serviced apartment is not great, I was going to upgrade the internet and get a 4G internet USB thing for my laptop but you need your civil ID to take out the contract (that's in process – about 2 months from start to finish I'm told – with company assistance).  Check out Expat VPN on Google, I signed up with one of the companies which means when I get good internet coverage I can watch iPlayer etc.  There are lots of topics on here about getting a dreambox (satellite) as well as conventional subscription satellite TV although there seems to be a huge array of options.  I watched a game on fox sports the other day and it had a mix of US and UK commentary team … hilarious!  Once we have a longer term villa or apartment I'll seriously get into how I get the football coverage.  Mean time there are lots of bars that show live sports and there are lots of internet option (you can get match of the day streams)

I am hoping I can plug myself into some 5-a-side, I'll keep you posted.  Everton have a junior football school here so I'll get my older boys in there when they arrive – they do coaching for all age groups (depending on you persuasion (red or blue half) I'm a blue so delighted Everton are here … part of Bill's grand plan to leverage some investment from overseas … ?!?!  There are 2 or 3 other well established junior football organizations too.

Having not lived outside of the UK I have to say its a good/interesting experience so far … it a surprise when things happen quickly though

Nick

Sorry for the essay … lots of random thoughts about Kuwait so far

Hello just come to kuwait u can send me a messege to tell u where can go and take ur kids