Job Discussion Forums

[nomad soul]

[hash]

I think you've been approaching this all wrong.

The "Bank" is only the intermediary between you and your (previous Saudi) employer. The funds belong to you, then the employer.

Ownership, per se, is never "the bank's". I imagine the "bank" will wait a certain predetermined amount of time for you to (legally) recover the funds at which time, the funds will be returned to the depositer (employer). The bank does not "keep" the funds just because no one's come forward to claim them.

So, it seems to me, you've been approaching the wrong people. Your EMPLOYER in KSA - the one who deposited the funds in your account - is the one you should be in contact with. You've never mentioned that you have approached them at all, which I find somewhat incredible.....and suspicious.

As anyone who's worked in KSA knows very well, "people you know" is a fictitious concept in KSA. Within 2 weeks of your final departure, you simply cease to exist at your previous employer's location (except as a computer entry). You also cease to exist for anyone still working there, unless you had extremely close friends (which is also pretty much ficticious in KSA). KSA is too much a "transient" society (like some cities in the USA, like Tucson, AZ). Here one day, gone the next. There are no "bridges", for the most part, either to burn or to cross over on.

My point is, expecting "someone" in KSA to "come to your rescue" by volunteering to become your "power of attorney" person in this case, is out and out daydreaming. It ain't gonna happen. (It would have already happened had it been possible in the first place). Cross this option out.

From what I gather, you've been gone from KSA for about a year now. Chances are there's been at least a 50% turnover at your previous employer. The fact that you haven't contacted any of the supposedly "good people" at your employer's, simply proves that in fact, you know no one there now that would attempt to assist you now (otherwise, you would have contacted them by now).

Your situation is by no means "unique". I've known people 10 years out of KSA who are still daydreaming of the "funds" still owed them by KSA just waiting for them to pick up. I know a couple of guys still fantasizing about a "disability" award "owed" them by KSA as a kind of pension. Not once have any of these fantasies come to fruition.

As I said, the only realistic way for you to recover these "funds" will be through your KSA employer. The only other avenue you could pursue is to get hired by a new employer, re-enter KSA legally and then take it from there. You could then actually VISIT both your ex-employer and the "bank" to solve your situation.

However, I must say I find your entire "story" harder and harder to believe, I'm sorry to say.

I wonder what was the (real) cause of separation from you last employer (did you just walk out?), what really happened in "Nepal" (were you really there at all?), your Saudi embassy "visit" in London, your current "job" in China etc.

The entire situation sounds more and more delusional to me and is indicative of a superb and classic ending to a KSA fantasy episode brought on by having resided in the "Magic Kingdom" too long.

[cnthaiksarok]

[cnthaiksarok]

[cnthaiksarok]

^ ^ ^ "like" hash

[ghost]

Quote:

I think you've been approaching this all wrong. The "Bank" is only the intermediary between you and your (previous Saudi) employer. The funds belong to you, then the employer

.


Thank you. Point taken. I will deal with this matter through the PM function or email in future.

I had many good colleagues in Saudi, who are still there now. It was a good place to work. I am still in contact with some of those people by email, so things are moving in the right direction. There are some trustworthy people there that one can rely on, who have already helped me greatly. Those people will be contacted again soon. I have not forgotten them.

I did not change the location in my settings, because there was a glitch in the system when I tried to do that, with my previous email, one that is not currently available to me in my present location, in China. I have also not been able to use Yahoo or Gmail out here, but that is another story.

Ghost in China

[nomad soul]

[hash]

nomad soul said:
[The OP didn't turn in his iqama before departing KSA nor did he leave on a final visa, which adds to the problem.]

If this is what actually happened, then most likely the OP no longer has a valid claim for renumeration of any kind. He broke the law on two very serious counts.

Both actions, permanently leaving the Kingdom without turning in your Iqama and permanently leaving the Kingdom (for whatever reason even if through no fault of your own) without a final exit visa, means that the employer itself has had to pay fines of one sort or another to the Ministry of the Interior and besmudged its face in one way or another.

That's like saying I didn't file US income taxes because "I didn't know I had to if I was living overseas".

This would be particularly true if the OP was actually terminated by the employer (as one reader noted).

If the OP was on a terminated status, it is extemely odd that he would put himself in jeopardy as far as Iqama and visa expiry DATES are concerned. It sounds like he was in a state of shock and didn't know what he was doing. (I've seen THAT happen a few times).

No - The OP is at fault here. He basically broke the law in KSA and he has thereby forfeited any compensation due him at the time of final departure. This is probably why he didn't and hasn't contacted his former employer. I said I found this "incredible" and "suspicious". Now I know why he didn't. He knew he was in the wrong and wouldn't get anywhere with the employer.

Further:

1. He has likely jeopardized any further future employment for himself in the Kingdom. Up to about 10 years ago, you might get away with all these "machinations", get a new passport issued and return after a year or two. But with the age of computers, this kind of action stays in the books.....permanently. His recent actions vis a vis his former KSA employer are much less likely to go unnoticed by any future KSA employer (or even Gulf employer).

2. The OP's actions have not only harmed him, they have potentially harmed the situation of all his "close" friends and foreign workers in the Kingdom. It is precisely because of actions like this that the Saudis have turned much more aggressive towards foreigners as far as sticking to the laws and requirements as written in the books. In the past, foreigners, especially westerners, have pretty much been able to get away with anything in the Kingdom - but this has long since ceased to be the case.....and it it because of these actions (whether deliberate or innocent), the that boom has been lowered in recent years.

A clear example of this is the current obsession by KSA regarding "online degrees" as being totally worthless. When it was found out that engineers and doctors and even airline pilots could easily obtain fraudulent online "degrees" testifying as to their expertese, the Saudis had a fit, heads rolled and online was out forever.

[scot47]

I think Ghost was not terminated. His contract was not renewed. there is a distinction. he made the mistake of going on holiday before Final Departure. He planned to come back and then leave on "Final Exit". He had a large sum in a Saudi bank - including his end-of-service benefits and vacation pay

He went on holiday to Nepal where he was detained by trhe authorities. As a result he did not get back to KSA during the window of his re-entry visa. Iqama expired and so his bank account was blocked.

He is "Out Of Kingdom" (OOK) and his flithy lucre from several years is locked away in the Riyad Bank.

[cmp45]

A case study in what not to do during one's time in KSA.

1. Never keep large amounts of earnings in a Saudi bank account; transfer it else where ASAP. You never know what can happen.

[jaffa]

[scot47]

A case was raised against him by a Nepali citizen, I believe. Whether this was a matter of business, or an affair of the heart, I know not. He was certainly misguided in leaving his savings to the tender mercies of the bank in Dhahran.

Banks in KSA are generally reliable, but you can only access them while you have a valid Iqama.

[hash]

MOD edit