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aliceinwonderland
Joined: 06 Mar 2012
Posts: 13
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 Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: the checklist to go through before you accept the offer |
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| desert_traveller wrote: |
[...]
2a. proper work visa from the very beginning (ie no fishy business with entering on a visitor visa which may allegedly get converted to a work visa later - which is IMPOSSIBLE and ILLEGAL and WILL NEVER HAPPEN)
OR
2b. clear communication that it is a visitor visa without false promises that it would get converted into this or that. in this case, it absolutely must be a multiple entry visitor visa valid for at least 6 months (option 2b is only if i would not want to stay in saudi for more than 1 year)
3. clearly written in the contract that housing allowance is an option (ie as an alternative to company housing)
4. housing allowance 25% of monthly basic salary, transport allowance 10% of monthly basic salary (as stipulated in saudi labour law)
5. THURSDAY FRIDAY OFF (may not be the case) [...] |
@ desert_traveller:
Thank you for your post. I found it helpful as I am busy considering whether to work in the KSA or not.
Some questions, hope you don't mind:
Regarding 2(b): Is a visitor visa the same as a business visit visa?
If yes: As I understand it, working/ residing in the KSA on a business visit visa is illegal. Why would anyone want work / reside in the KSA illegally for a year? How common is this anyway and what happens when people get caught?
If no: how is a visitor visa better than a business visit visa? And how does one know the difference?
Regarding 3-5: What is the point of insisting on this in one's contract --if "employment contract" is a fluid concept in the KSA, as it also is in the Far East, for instance?
(Fluid concept = not a binding agreement; can be changed unilaterally by the employer; on paper expat employees have recourse to labour boards and such, but in practice enforcing your contract or "rights" as an employee is well nigh impossible).
Alice |
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cmp45
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 1475
Location: KSA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:59 am Post subject: |
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Generally speaking, those employers who organize an igama (work visa) for the employee from the very start are generally the ones that you can trust to honor the other areas that you may have negotiated within a contract such as housing allowance etc.
KSA has its own strange way of doing things...the laws on paper may not always be enforced...so if you decide to go with a business visa, there is a higher probability for problems to occur. The insidious nature of some employers is something to be wary of... perhaps there are some employers that honor a contract on a business visa...but it is better to start off with the right proceedure... a work visa is the best way to go in KSA.
The main conundrum for most people is deciding which employer to trust.
I admit it may seem like a crap shoot, but if you learn to fine tune your BS meter you can usually figure it out.
(offical term) business visa = (unofficial term) visitor visa |
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desert_traveller
Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 335
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 12:38 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by desert_traveller on Thu May 03, 2012 1:27 pm; edited 8 times in total |
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aliceinwonderland
Joined: 06 Mar 2012
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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@ cmp45 and desert_traveller,
Thank you.
I think I can stomach many things, but working and living illegally in a Middle Eastern country - or any country, for that matter - is not one of them. That is also why I wondered how many people actually fall for this kind of thing (well, I almost did, sorry to say) and what happens to them in the end.
I understand that these are desperate times for some people, but how anyone can "offer" you a job in the full knowledge that you'll be working and living in a country illegally, while at the same time deliberately withholding that information, is beyond me.
How depressing. |
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JerkyBoy
Joined: 12 Jan 2012
Posts: 485
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, but if you work illegally you can actually leave any time you like. Whereas if you are legal, you surrender your passport and you need to permission to leave.
So there is an advantage to it in that sense. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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Dear JerkyBoy,
True - as long as you have the money to pay for your ticket.
Regards,
John |
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