Job Discussion Forums

Captain Willard · Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 251

VS, Babe, if the consular officials at the embassy choose to push the issue, they can go to court in KSA and compel the return of the passport. Whether they will or not depends on the consulate. However, KSA still decides who can leave the country, etc. Holding employees' passports is a vestige of the mentality that employees are slaves. That mindset is only slowly changing in KSA.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Ah Captain... my little studmuffin... you do make me laugh. It is very unlikely that the embassy would bother... and if they did, the employer would hand you the passport at the airport as they were getting rid of the troublemaker. LOL

VS

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

"You can't fight City Hall."

Or an employer in KSA.

Do what you are told, repatriate your earnings and leave.

Do not neglect the second step or you will face the fate of the Luckless "Ghost" who still has six years savings plus bonuses accumulating dust in a Saudi bank account that he cannot access !

Captain Willard · Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 251

VS, Sweet Cheeks, the passport and the exit visa are two legally different things in KSA. However, law doesn't mean much in the Magic Kingdom. The coin of the realm is wasta. Employers are afraid that with a passport, the employee might abscond across one the the many long borders in the desert somewhere, or find another employer with enough wasta to change the visa, etc. Saudis themselves excel at avoiding inconvenient laws. They don't want the foreign workers to do what they might do in a similar situation.

Consulates may not involve themselves in reclaiming passports seized by employers, because the passport without the exit visa does not guarantee the right to leave the country. Some might decide to push the issue regardless since it is a breach of security to allow a non-governmental entity to hold passports to crack encryption and security in the passport. Considering that you have never lived and worked in KSA, and appear to have no background in international law, your comments are quite amusing.

2buckets · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 515 Location: Middle East

US Consulate (Jeddah) received complaint about my passport held hostage.

Got passport back a few days later, along with lecture about how I "embarrassed" the company.

BTW the complaint came from my senator to State Dept. to US Consulate.

I have wasta too.

Used the same tactic to get things done in consulate in Isfahan in early 1979.

johnslat · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 8:37 pm Post subject:

In early '79, we were unable to get anything done at the U.S. consulate in Shiraz, seeing as the entire staff had decamped in haste without bothering to notify any of us who had registered with them (the first and last time I ever bothered to do that), and the building was locked, bolted and barred up.

Regards,
John

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I would never rely on His Excellency, Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to do ANYTHING for me !

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Captain Willard · Joined: 11 Sep 2010 Posts: 251

Oh, you unfaithful servant! You have embarrassed your master! The loss of face must have been painful to him.

Really, for those who post here but no longer work abroad, it is now almost impossible to get into a U.S. consulate without showing a passport with all of the anti-terrorist security. Any employer hoarding employee passports is asking for trouble. Wasta of the sort your describe is easy to acquire in the U.S. for a small campaign contribution. We can play the wasta game too, but only to a point. At the end of the day, it is their sandbox.

sicklyman · Joined: 02 Feb 2013 Posts: 930

johnslat · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:58 am Post subject:

Dear sicklyman,

Well, I'm glad for you. So, you would advise everyone to assume that their embassies will take care of any such incidents?

My experience with U.S. embassies/consuls hasn't risen to the same level of assistance, but perhaps I've just been an unfortunate exception.

Regards,
John

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

sicklyman · Joined: 02 Feb 2013 Posts: 930

johnslat · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 5:33 pm Post subject:

Sure - give it a try with the U.S. embassy/consulate.

So, recapping:

1. contact you embassy/consulate about the company's illegally holding your passport.

2. If you're British, the British embassy/consulate will get it back for you.

3. If you're not British, try anyway.

4. Now that you have your passport but cannot leave the country (you need the exit visa, which - guess who - the company you've probably just pissed off has to get for you) you're all dressed up but have nowhere to go. And your employer may not regard you with great kindness.

Would that be a fair summing up?

Regards,
John

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain