Job Discussion Forums

[smokesignals]

Previous to 2013, I had 3 medicals in-country, as part of the process of getting an employment visa. I did not have to pay for them. Now that I am about to return, it looks like I am expected to foot the bill for the medical myself, to obtain my employment visa, with a new employer. Details are sketchy at the moment, but I know from another recent job offer, that the vague list of "tests" that I was expected to pass on the medical form would have taken ages to complete, and been extremely expensive. Not only that, but the staff at the medical centre here in the UK could not really understand exactly what was required. Perhaps the clearest thing was the HIV test. I had one of those in 1997 for a visa to enter Russia, and it cost me a lot of money back then!

Does anyone else have demands to produce a medical before arrival in Oman, and in what form does that take?

Right now, I am pushing for an early arrival, to "settle in" prior to starting work, which I need to do anyway, and undertake the medical at the same time, in Oman, hopefully at my new employer's expense.

My, how employers and recruiters are getting cheeky now - baisa-pinchers!

[veiledsentiments]

Your new employer should provide the forms that need to be filled. This was actually required when I went to SQU in 1988, so it isn't anything really new. They sent me the form and my doctor in Egypt (where I was currently teaching) filled it out. I brought it with me and then once in Oman, had the HIV test, and chest x-ray to confirm.

VS

[smokesignals]

1988! Well, that was donkeys years ago.

I was not required to complete any part of a medical outside Oman in 2007.

Also, what about the scenario of if you are already in Oman (whatever the circumstances) and you are offered a job? Surely, you should be able to undertake all steps of the medical inside Oman?

[veiledsentiments]

What should be and what is... two different things in the Gulf. LOL I don't believe that the contractors have been requiring it. Check with current rules as to transferring... it can be problematic. There have been stories that one must leave the country for a couple years. Your current employer likely has to sigh off on it... and your new employer would have to push for the transfer.

VS
(yes, Oman was a truly wonderful place in 1988... SQU only two years old... my first job after my MA... very little traffic... no such thing as a tourist visa...)

[1st Sgt Welsh]

[balqis]

I am also of an opinion that your prior-to-arrival medical test will not replace the official one to be done in Oman after you arrive.

Therefore go for the absolute minimum, i.e. take the cheapest shortcut available for you, and if you know a doctor or have one in the family, try to do it with the befriended doctor. In medical test forms sometime it is enough just to indicate ''negative'' next to the question. So a lot can be done with it just over a cup of tea with lemon.

The problem arises, when/if you have to legalize/attest such medical test certificate, as then you will/may be asked to produce the actual test results, though again not always, sometimes they = the body that legalizes such medical cert - only attest the doctor's or hospital's stamp.

But is it a requirement for Oman?
I have never heard of it before.
Panta rhei though...


balqis

[Tazz]

Never heard of anybody having to pay for the medical themselves-always the employer/ recruiter.....for whom was the OP intending to work?

[balqis]

One more thing I should add.
This medical test form is a regular document provided to you by the embassy of Oman. It is not something random you get from some physician, but a document you download from the Oman Embassy website.
Is there such document on the website of the embassy of Oman you will be dealing with?
This standardized medical test is a regular requirement for KSA contracts fro example.
balqis