Fairly standard. Sometimes this can work in your favour as the school can actively keep up a pool of reliable landlords who want to stay on good terms with the school and therefore keep the properties in good order. I suppose there is a chance it's all a scam with school employees pocketing kickbacks. If it's a good school and not for profit, the former is more likely. If it's some fly by night money making dive then it could be the latter.

I am with wrldtrvlr. This is a very big deal indeed. If you turn up married having signed a contract as single you can be in real trouble.
Many schools are duplicitous, but starting your contract whilst covering up a major untruth is probably not the way to go.
Having been hired in the ME, you could also be in definite trouble if you don't get married and your fiancee comes to visit you. I don't know if you realise this, but females visiting a man, or having a man stay with with a woman or visiting women alone, especially if you are in a sponsored housing, can potentially see you in jail.
Maybe I am over-reacting as I have not lived in the UAE but having lived in the ME for a fair stretch, I've know of some very nasty situations along these lines.
Breaches of contract can result in your being fired and your Search Associate not accepting you back as a candidate.
I don't know if this is your first IT gig, but don't start your career badly!
You need to have a very big think about this. Good luck!

Tons of things online. Drexel University is very good. :-)

That's wonderful news! Congratulations!

-SIGH- we all have our crosses to bear......

I agree with Darwin. We are a teaching couple with one EU and one USA passport. Recently, a job opportunity turned out to be a dead end because we were not both USA passport holders. There are definitely solid schools that recruit americans.

I would go with the professional help route. I don't have to file, but my american other half does. Once, we filed and the IRS said we owed $8,000! We hired a professional, who essentially patiently re-filed exactly what we had sent before. It took 3 goes but the IRS finally realised their mistake (they wrongly applied the overseas allowance) and we did not have to pay. I think we pay this person $400 a year plus some audit insurance. Given that he has found us a total of nearly $9,500 refunded from the IRS we consider him a bargain!
I thought the tax authorities in my country were bad, but the US lot make me shudder....

"If you really believed what you wrote, you wouldn't feel the need to defend it so strenuously."
Hmm, yes, sure. I think sitting happily in my lovely house thousands of miles away from my passport country writing about my contentment with life OBVIOUSLY means I am living a lie. I am gratified to think that someone who has never met me has such astonishing insights into my psyche.
I stand by my opinions. There are many people living a very fulfilling life out here "on the circuit" and I am glad you are enjoying your life back at home.
Happy new year! XXXXX

I believe there is still a lot of mileage in teaching at international schools. There are some great schools back home in the US and UK. To make sure our kids got into a good one in the UK we'd have to live in a circumscribed postal area or pay a ton to go private. In the USA there are also some really highly rated schools where we own property, but frankly I don't want my kids to be educated in a system that is frequently saturated with christian religious nonsense. Right now they are being educated in a pretty optimal environment as far as I can see.
We just had a spectacular holiday, mainly visiting friends we have met from our work around the world, and we have money in the bank. There have been tough times, but it's always been worth it, and we've never considered throwing in the towel.
I really ache for folks who have been shafted by shitty admins or who have other really bad experiences.

Fur us, the education of the kids trumps everything. One of us gave up an admin position to change direction and support our kids at a crucial time in our lives and have never regretted it. For us, a few years here and there might not be significant, but I agree with the other poster that this is a massive proportion of a childhood.
Having said all that, you sound like a pretty tight family who discuss things together, so you should have faith and commitment in each other to make a success of your next post, whatever you decide. Good luck! XX

Gosh I am so sad for you. I feel really bad that the whole IS experience got off to such a lousy start. After 16 years and 5 schools I have rarely come across such bad apples. Maybe I have been very lucky but having worked for 6 directors I can say that 5 of them were outstanding and one was really very good. No-one has treated me badly. I have worked under some straitened conditions and through some really bad times but no-one has ever been selfish or thrown my to the lions. Quite the opposite in fact. I am sure the types of people you describe are out there but I have never met them!
Please keep looking - there are some wonderful schools and admin out there. Good luck.

For those of you who are interested, this article pretty much summarises the state of affairs with regard to the falsely accused JIS teachers.
http://www.chch.com/bantleman-trial-continues/

Interviewed together by skype. However, if you are teaching in different divisions you would quite possibly be interviewed separately by the division heads.

Dear Simpleword
Thanks for the roundup on this situation. Can you elucidate a little further on your comment regarding the illegality of having a western director? That's the only thing you mention that I haven't heard of. Perhaps this is one interpretation of the rule regarding no more than 49% foreign interest ownership?
Thanks
Cheery

This was a long time ago, my first IS teaching job so I found it in TES (Times Ed. Supplement)
I am uncertain about the best fair as I was not looking at S.America this time around. I am sure you will find a great deal of information on this site.
Best wishes
Cheery