Job Discussion Forums

[dee123]

Hi, I have been told the following:

We will organise a 180-day multiple entry visa (while your Iqama (work permit) is processed).

Has anyone experienced this before?

[scot47]

Translated that means :"We have no allocation of work visas so will bring you in illegally on a business visa. If things go wrong - that is tough on you."

It is analogous to someone from the USA hiring Mexicans and telling them to come to New York as tourists because that is the normal way of doing things.

A business visa is for someone coming to KSA to do business, not to go into a classroom and teach English.

Ministries in Riyadh are now aware of this scam. When they take action, guess who will be the losers ?

[nomad soul]

[sicklyman]

[Grendal]

This is the closest thread I could find, without doing a proper search, to people illegally here in Saudi Arabia.

The ministries of the Interior and Labour have urged illegal expatriate workers to legalize their residency and labour status during the current amnesty period, which ends on Nov. 3, to avoid punitive action.

'You have to take speedy steps to legalize the status of workers by approaching government agencies in compliance with rules and regulations,' the two ministries said in a joint statement issued on Tuesday.

'Punishment will be imposed on violators, including expats and their employers, in accordance with the law,' the ministries warned. 'We will not show any leniency for violators,' they added.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah extended the first-three month amnesty period in response to proposals made by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour, and Interior, as the period was not enough to rectify the status of millions of workers.

The royal decree extending the amnesty also cited requests made by various foreign affairs embassies that have complained of the 'pressure on their missions' from the large number of workers seeking to correct their status.

The decree had also warned of a crackdown on illegal workers after the amnesty ends. Hundreds of thousands of undocumented expatriate workers, including overstaying pilgrims and runaway workers who escaped from their employers, have rectified their status since the government announced the three month grace period.

Countries with large numbers of undocumented workers include India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Egypt, Nepal, and Yemen.

Jeddah: ARAB NEWS Sept. 11 2013

How this is going to apply to countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa that have wives on their husbands iqamahs and are teaching with propper credentials, I don't know. ? ! ? .....

Grendal

[plumpy nut]

The Iqama is a residency permit. Your 90 day employment visa leading to an Iqama will run out before 180 days so this sounds fishy. Iqamas can usually be processed long before 90 days. For your own good make sure its a 90 day employment visa or a 90 day temporary employment visa. Those are the only types of visas that are legal in the KSA for teaching. As far as a work visa, I don't know what that is. If it's a business visa, lot's of luck. Notice the word employment in the two visas I mentioned, clarify this with the recruiter and hopefully they won't waste your time and effort by lying.

[plumpy nut]

[AJ88]

[scot47]

Let me repeat the point I made above. What would you make of a restaurant proprietor in New Jersel telling a group of Central Americans, "Come on a tourist visa and you can work in my place. I have clout with the authorities. I will fix it after you arrive."

Those who travel to teach in KSA on Business Visas are being treated in exactly this way.

[nomad soul]

[AJ88]

So my question is this. What exactly is a proper employment visa. Is it the same as a 'work visa'. Having spoke with the visa agent, they only do work visas and not employment ones.

[nomad soul]

[Wilsonthefarmer]

[nomad soul]

[AJ88]