Job Discussion Forums

a_ibrahim · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 54 Location: ohio, usa

Hi everyone,

Ok, I got an offer which I accepted. I'm in the process of having my documents translated into Arabic. In the offer, it only mentions having these documents translated into Arabic and being attested to by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and authenticated by the Saudi Embassy and getting the medical exam. I've asked them questions and I've gotten responses to some of them. What I'm trying to figure out is what else should I be doing, if anything?

I've read through so many posts that I'm not alarmed, as this seems to happen often. I just want to know what else I could be doing to help speed up the process. I would have to give 30 days notice to our landlord prior to moving. There are other loose ends which would need to be tied as well. So, any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Amal

Cleopatra · Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:55 am Post subject:

a_ibrahim · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 54 Location: ohio, usa

Hi again,

How long would you say it normally takes to jump that hurdle?

Amal

Cleopatra · Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 7:35 pm Post subject:

That's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string?" question.

There may be others here who are better informed as to how the whole "block visa" thing works, and they may be able to give you some idea of how long the process is likely to take. But as I say, it all very much depends on factors such as who your employer is, how much 'wasta' they have, how many visas they are allocated for your nationality and position and so on. I'll make a wild guess and say it shouldn't take longer than a couple of weeks start to finish, but I'm prepared to be corrected on this.

a_ibrahim · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 54 Location: ohio, usa

Thanks again.

Yeah, I asked about how long the visa process would take. They told me usually about 4 weeks. I thought I'd ask about others' experiences for more information. As I said before, I don't want to be twiddling my thumbs and then be told I need to be on a plane tomorrow.

Thanks,

Amal

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

The answer is that there is no answer. Whatever they tell is probably wrong. Whatever you guess might be right. And your chances of twiddling your thumbs for week(s) and then being told to be there yesterday are high.

The only way to avoid this problem is to avoid the Gulf in general and KSA in particular.

VS

kanterbrau · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 38

Amal,

Don't be too surprised if twiddling your thumbs for ages and then being told to get on a plane tomorrow is exactly what happens. In fact, from my past dealings with the Saudis I would agree with the previous contributor that they are just as likely to keep you dangling while they take their sweet time making up their minds and then tell you to be on a plane YESTERDAY. I don't mean to be flippant at what is obviously a trying time for you, but if youre going to work in KSA then the sooner you stop trying to second guess your employer's actions and motives the better. They do things when they're good and ready and not a moment sooner.

I agree wholeheartedly with the previous contributor who advised against laying out money on medicals etc. until you are sure that you do indeed have a position to go to. Further, I sincerely hope you have an assurance that all such expenses will be reimbursed by your employer on taking up the position.

Hope it all works out for you, Amal.

Good luck.

a_ibrahim · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 54 Location: ohio, usa

Well, that's what I needed to hear, or read. I'm not at all annoyed with what anyone has said. I wanted to know what it is I may be dealing with so that all surprises are no surprise.

Unfortunately, it's too late to avoid KSA for now. And KSA is actually where I want to be. I'm pretty much prepared for the people. As far as my employer, I don't know.

Thanks again to all of you for your informative posts.

Amal

Cleopatra · Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:33 pm Post subject:

The above posters are right.

Saudi culture is very much a "here and now" culture. There is little or no planning for the future, and little concept of time managment. As kanterbrau says, trying to get people to speed things up is useless at best, and can cause a lot of mutual antagonism at worst. Also, don't neccessarily expect your employers to have a lot of understanding of the difficulties and time involved in the visa process, even if they have been employing foreigners for years. It's not unheard of for employers to make unreasonable demands for you to be in Riyadh yesterday. When you patiently explain that you would love to be on that plane now, but can't be because they didn't send you this or that paper on time, your words fall on deaf ears. Not a bad preparation for life here, BTW.