Job Discussion Forums

[Don Mario]

This will be of special interest to all Canadians applying for an Employment Visa while in Canada. After waiting 3 weeks to get a medical report and another 6 weeks to get over the Xmas holidays, my visa application went to the KSA Embassy Jan 12. Jan 21, I get a note from the coyote (employment agent) that the visa staff needed a letter. It was asking about a check mark that said '' Yes '' for previous military service. I gave them quick note explaining that 30 years previously I had been in a very low profile position in the CF and was discharged due to a skiing accident.
Jan 26 I got it, a sorry note, no visa approved. Thus, no job prospects, every again, in the KSA. I don't see the magic, do you?

It comes down to not trusting anyone, anywhere, anytime, for any reason.

So much for continued good diplomatic relations between North America and the word.

DM

[water rat]

So you're saying if one has ever been in the military, they will be refused a Saudi visa?

All right, but not so for Vinnell Arabia. It's all about military training there, and many non-ESL ex-Army guys train the Saudi troops in mortars and tanks and such. I was never in the military (conscientious objector form the Boy Scouts of America, I was), but of course, we ESL guys rarely were ex-soldiers. However, the ex- US Army guys respected more those of us who had been, and the people hiring figured you'd adjust better to the military lifestyle at Camp Vinnell.

Not so. A former colonel who joined our ESL team ( a fine teacher btw) quit after a few weeks because life at Camp Vinnell was more restrictive than what he was used to in army life.

And little old peacenik me - I attended orientation with six ex-soldiers. One bruiser almost fainted when they wanted to needle him for a blood test.

Then about six weeks later, looking around the fortified residence compound, and making inquiries I learned that all six of them were gone.

I was the sole survivor - able to withstand 120 degree evenings, homemade beer, restrictions on our movements beyond camp needles and no women. We rats are timid, but resourceful and tough.

[nomad soul]

[Don Mario]

Just a foot note. The job was in communications, as in a radio operator.
The equipment was quite antiquated. I never left the training base in Canada, so no, no Ramo applications, James Bond, Jason Bourne.
If anything it was boredom and stress of dealing with military that was
the threat.

Can't convince paper pushers about that.

DM

[plumpy nut]

I assume all of this occurred after you spent say $1000 US on medical bills for the visa. It's hard to put a finger on the slowness of the reasoning in a Saudi mind. Why not just forgetabout the yes checkmark and go on from there like they do in the West. "Oh we can't consider this without some documentation, so we'll just scratch off the Yes checkmark".

[nomad soul]

[Don Mario]

To the curious responders. The letter said that I never left Canada.
Any person with a brain who knows training bases can tell you there
is no access to information, of any classification.

Somebody doing there pathetic job has watched too many movies on TV

The cost for putting together the visa process dollar wise, over 6 months, ran upwards of $1500 US.

Then to be turned down? No excuse, no reason given.

DM

[nomad soul]

You didn't mention your age, but it's possible you were actually denied a visa due to your age. Lately, teachers age 58 and over are finding it hard to even get an interview because they're too close to the Saudi retirement age of 60. (See "KSA Age Limits" http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=107454 )

[hash]

[quote="Don Mario"] I gave them quick note explaining that 30 years previously I had been in a very low profile position in the CF and was discharged due to a skiing accident.
/quote]

If the reason you were rejected was because of the tick mark next to the military question, it was probably NOT because you were in the military but because you were discharged for a PHYSICAL reasons from the military (due to a skiing accident).

Most likely they figured if your injury was so bad that they had to discharge you from the military, why it only stands to reason that you are still unfit to serve in the military and thereby in KSA too, even though your accident occurred 30 years ago.

It's like saying "I had cancer 30 years ago but have been cancer free for nearly 25 years." Doesn't matter....once they see the word CANCER, you're doomed. [At least in the USA, medical insurance companies used to work this way too.....once you HAD somethng, these insurance companies would not cover you for previously held illnesses........no matter if you were "cured"]

Your mistake was telling them WHY you were discharged. Did they ask you that specific question or did you voluntarily offer that little tidbit?

[DrNapalmstrike]

So if you don't check the military service box they won't know to check, is that what the consensus is? What if yuo have a less than honorable discharge? Also, is the CRB looking for felonies, or will a misdemeanor, say possession charge, from almost 10 years show up too?