I'm wondering if anyone who knows about American taxes for expat teachers can help. This is not our first rodeo, but this is the first time half the family will live in the U.S. and the other half will work in China. My wife will pay taxes on her Chinese salary in China, but we're not used to paying U.S. taxes on our foreign income! I think we won't be able to declare the bonafide residence tax exclusion that we did in the past because I and one child will be living in our primary residence in the U.S. I'm guessing she could be exempt from U.S. taxes on her salary based on the "physical presence" test, but we don't want to have to be away from each other all but 29 days a year.

Any ideas?

Me too. I know there are lots of international teachers in Cairo. What gives?

Just a follow up for your FYI: the school did offer money for yearly flights for both of us. No restrictions really on what it means to be a trailing spouse. Or at least none so far. Not sure if we're moving forward because the salary is a little low, but we're considering it.

I've lived and worked in the ME before: UAE, Oman, Jordan, and Egypt. I've never had an issue with the visa or heard a horror story about a dependent visa in any of those spots. Sometimes you have to leave the country once a month and come back in until they get it settled, but in those schools/countries, they had it done well before Christmas

Shadowjack, I'm working for a virtual school, so it's full time work from home unrelated to Covid. Most schools in the U.S. are in the building and I assume that most schools globally will be moving toward that unless we get hit by another crazy variant. Even in places that friends teach that have been virtual this year (AUS, Vietnam, Korea, etc.), there are plans to get back to in person or hybrid soon. I really like what I'm doing coaching online and have some elderly relatives that I'd like to be available for. However, I'm sure I'll miss the classroom energy in a few years, and would like to eventually join my husband to be a teaching couple again. I can certainly be with him in country for a bunch of the school year since I have that flexibility in my new job. I just wouldn't be a typical trailing spouse.

Hello. I'm wondering what kind of salary I should expect living in Cairo. I'm a certified teacher from Canada with 20+ years experience about half of that international. I'll get flights and an apartment from the school, but what should I be looking for to live comfortably in a "posh" area of Cairo? I know inflation is really high there now.

Bummer. Thanks for your advice, everybody. This is a new school, so I don't think if I got a flight allowance that it would create any resentment at this point, but I take the point. I will say to Sid that he didn't get the offer because he qualified for single status. The school wants me too. I'm an experienced teacher, DPC, IB examiner, etc. It's just that I'm happy working from home at the moment and don't want to give up the sweat pants to go back in a school building just yet. Maybe in a couple of years

In our state, the student has to graduate from an in-state high school to qualify. Didn't work out for us

Hello. My husband was offered a teaching/coordinating job in the middle east. He doesn't have details about the package yet, but when he sees them, we want to know what we should be looking for in terms of the family. Our children are college age, so I'll stay at my job in the U.S. until they graduate. I'd like to able to visit him during the school year though so we want to know if we'd have a leg to stand on if we insist that I should get flight money too. Certainly they'd be paying for my flights if I was an accompanying spouse.

By the way, we have 20+ years experience each including lots of IB, experience in the region, advanced degrees, great recs, etc. I'm pretty sure the school will be interested in employing me in a couple of years if things work out with hubby. Just saying that to add info in case you think they'd be inclined to offer me flight money since they may want to keep me in the mix for the future.

Would love to know your advice, especially if you have experience with a similar situation.

I have decent insurance from my school in country, but I had a medical emergency this past summer in the U.S. Although our school policy supposedly covers this, I've found out the hard way, that it doesn't come close to reimbursing me for the kind of charges one racks up for 5 nights in a hospital in the States. I'm still negotiating and sorting things out, but it looks like I'll be on the hook for almost 20 thousand dollars. Essentially, they will pay me back for my expenses only up to what they would cost here where fees are much less expensive.

So my question is if anyone has any advice about how to handle any future emergencies while in America in the summers. I don't want to have to cut our vacations short because I'm so worried about this, but my understanding is I can't get a temporary or emergency policy for my home country.

Any ideas?

That was a good read, Monkeycat. Lots of details and tips. Good luck in your search.

Well, you can live on it, but it's well below the average in the decent international schools in Muscat. I'm assuming this is not an offer from ABA, ISM, BSM or even TSS. Medical care is pricey, so make sure you're all covered under the insurance. If you're going to be at the same school when your babies are of school age, I would try to re-negotiate for full fees.

The end of service benefit is law in Oman. You should also expect yearly flights, and a small transportation allowance.

Food, restaurants, and cars are about as expensive as Dubai or Europe. Household help is relatively cheap, but even petrol is pricey these days.

Muscat is a really nice place to live, so if your husband is a starting teacher and you want to put a couple of years in and you're willing to live frugally, I would say go for it, but that salary is not good for a teacher with experience.

It's no problem getting these medications in the UAE. Several of my students take one or more of them. I don't know, however, about insurance coverage. It may depend on the quality or tier of your school's program.

This has not been my experience working in four international schools in the ME in Egypt, Oman, Morocco, and Dubai. All the schools were top tier in their region with a very international student body though. I found most people respect Judaism and Jews; it's Israel that's the problem. As long as you're not espousing pro-Israeli sentiment, you'll be left alone. In most cases students were interested in different religious and cultural practices and traditions. We feel like we had great opportunities to teach students to respect differences.

The visa is not about the school's motivation. Schools in Dubai are inspected by the KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Ministry). If they deem your preparation inappropriate, they can revoke the teaching visa. Fees and authorization to run a school are set through KHDA, so all schools (except for AS Dubai) have to abide by their rules.

Thanks for your replies. I'm taking all of the above into consideration. I'm not desperate to get out of the classroom- just looking for a new challenge. And looking at options other than the ones I identified here too.

BTW, I have lots of IB experience including coordinating the Personal Project and Extended Essay, so I don't think the role of the librarian in IB learning will be a big stretch. Thanks again for your advice.