Job Discussion Forums

[sharene23]

Hello,

Does anyone know if an employment visa application will be rejected if the applicant is pregnant?

The visa allows sponsorship of the family, with the wife as the sponsor of the husband/children.

And of course, no chest x-ray as a result of the pregnancy.

Any info will be appreciated. Thanks.

[scot47]

I think it unlikely that they will give a visa to you to come and work if you are pregnant.

[ummkhadija]

Hello: Sharene23

Well, they generally do not have a problem, I had accepted a job in KSA last year, but than an unexpected family health emergency came upon us, and I had to decline the offer, but I was pregnant, and they said it was o.k.

However, they only give you two weeks medical leave after the birth of the child and they do not pay you for your time off.

Hope that helps.

UmmKhadija

[sheikher]

Hope this helps:

http://www.mol.gov.sa/en/Documents/LaborLawPart9.pdf

Article (151):
A female worker shall be entitled to a maternity leave for the four weeks immediately preceding the expected date of delivery and the subsequent six weeks. The probable date of delivery shall be determined by the physician of the firm or pursuant to a medical report certified by a health authority. A woman may not work during the six weeks immediately following delivery.

Article (152):
During the maternity leave, an employer shall pay the female worker half her wage if she has been in his service for one year or more, and a full wage if she has served for three years or more as of the date of commencement of such leave. A female worker shall not be paid any wages during her regular annual leave if she has enjoyed in the same year a maternity leave with full wage. She shall be paid half her wage during the annual leave if she has enjoyed in the same year a maternity leave at half wage.

Article (153):
An employer shall provide medical care for female workers during pregnancy and delivery.

Article (154):
When a female worker returns to work following a maternity leave, she shall be entitled, in addition to the rest periods granted to all workers, to a rest period or periods not exceeding in aggregate one hour a day for nursing her infant. Such period or periods shall be calculated as part of the actual working hours and shall not entail any reduction in wages.

Article (155):
An employer may not terminate the employment of a female worker or give her a warning of the same while on maternity leave.

Article (156):
An employer may not terminate the employment of a female worker during illness resulting from pregnancy or delivery, and such illness shall be established by a certified medical report, provided that the period of her absence does not exceed one hundred and eighty days. The employment of such female worker may not be terminated during the one hundred and eighty days preceding the expected date of delivery in the absence of one of the legitimate causes provided for in this Law.

[ummkhadija]

Hello: Sheikher

Thanks for the information, even though I have no intention of having childen when in KSA, its interesting to see that what the prior employer told me was not factual to the specific labor laws in SA.

But, it seems that many company's in KSA have their own labor laws.

Thanks!

[sharene23]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Umm Khadija, from what I understand, you didn't go through the visa process last year when you were pregnant? You got a verbal ok from the employer regarding the pregnancy? If you don't mind, could you share the identity of the employer in question?

Thanks Sheikhker for the post. I had actually already seen the labor laws. I assume that these laws only apply once already in KSA.

What concerns me is whether they will even let me get in. The medical exam for the visa will reveal the pregnancy, is this grounds for the visa to be denied?

I'm waiting for a response from my employer...but would love to get some first hand info from those of you who might have had a similar experience.

[sheikher]

Hope this helps:

http://americanbedu.com/2008/09/16/saudi-arabia-and-medical-examinations/

"Everyone that is sponsored into the Kingdom due to employment will be required to take a medical exam. In fact, if you are not yet in the Kingdom you should be aware that you will likely be taking two medical exams. That�s right. Your first exam will be taken while still in your home country and required in order to obtain your visa. Then the majority of employers in the Kingdom will require their new employees to take another medical exam after arriving in the Kingdom. Part of the reason for this is to confirm that the findings of the first exam were true and correct. That a new employee has no communicable diseases; is not infected with HIV; does not have hepatitis and is not pregnant."


http://saudia.wordpress.com/category/gulf/

"Usually once you get an employment offer from Saudia, most of the difficult tasks are handeled by your employer and usually they take most of the pain for you. Normally, the Saudis have agents in all part of the world � these agents are paid by the Saudi Employer for facilitating you. For me, this has been the easiest task to get a work-visa of Saudia. Trust me, for me getting a visa of Singapore was much more difficult, much more time & pain staking than getting a work-visa of Saudi Arabia. My agent did a wonderful job. Though I have been a bit lazy on my side, but there was no lack of commitment on agent�s part."

Medical Examination

"You need to have a medical examination by the appointed medical centres of Saudi Embassy in your country/city. For residents of Karachi, Saudi Embassy in Karachi have such medical centre �Taj Medical Centre� on Khayban e Shahbaz, D.H.A. Karachi. It would take roughly around 2 hours to get all the process done. This will include blood tests, urine test, x-rays & physical examination like eye-sight, chest & could be something related to private parts. If you are woman who have conceived before the medical test, make sure that you inform them about your pregnancy so that you could avoid the x-ray test which could turn fetal for your baby in progress. Make sure that before going to the medical centre, you take a lots of liquids so that you don�t have issues while they give you plastic bottle for taking sample of urine, this is what happened with me, I had to take atleast 4-5 glasses of water to get the sample out . There are 2 types of reports, ordinary & urgent. In case of Ordinary/normal you�ll get the report on next working day and in case of urgent, you�ll get report same day. Yes, charges are little different. But not very different. I opted for the urgent one. Before going to Medical Centre, consult with your agent, he�ll take time for you from medical centre + he�ll give you a form stamped by the agent that you�ll present to medical centre. Make sure that you have atleast 4 passport size photographs with white/off-white background, your passport & your national ID card before you go to Medical Centre."


OR find something here

http://workinginsaudiarabia.blogspot.com/


While you're deliberating, you may be entertained by

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/12/01/61154.html

[veiledsentiments]

[ummkhadija]

Hello: Sharene23

[Mia Xanthi]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

saudi "anchor babies" are not encouraged...

NCTBA

[sheikher]

How very true.

Five minutes ago I spoke over the honker with a high official from the Government Department Concerned.

"Just tell her to give birth now!"

'Nuff said.

[sharene23]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I know it's a bit late now, but I need a couple more posts to start pms...

[sharene23]

What I meant to say was pm's...ie private messages.

[veiledsentiments]

As I understand it... pregnancy puts pms into remission.

VS