Job Discussion Forums

[nickwils]

You don't intend to take your laptop to Saudi?

[nomad soul]

[nickwils]

[Rostom]

[habasambi]

oddyknocky85,
What are the housing options offered by ICEAT for single female employees?

[nomad soul]

[caliph]

" female teachers are required to live in housing (usually apartment blocks) exclusively for single women."

aka "girl ghettos"

[britishdjinn]

ICEAT 2014 – A Cautionary Tale

Teaching at King Saud University, Riyadh.

ICEAT (The International Company for Education and Training) is a recruiter of English teachers for King Saud University in Riyadh. They are part of the Al Wakheel Group, a larger Saudi entity.

In 2013/14 they employed 17 British and Irish teachers on a temporary 90-day work / visit visa with the promise that the teachers would be sent back after 1 month to obtain the proper Iqama work permits. This did not happen...

The company initially said that it could not obtain Iqama permits due to slow bureaucracy at the Jawazat (Passport Office) caused by Haj pilgrims. They then said that a new issue of Iqama permits would shortly happen. In the meantime the teachers’ temporary work permits expired. The company obtained a number of 5-day extensions and finally a month extension but then said that they were unable to get any more. They held on to the passports and claimed that there were not physically in the office but at the Jawazat. For six months. In effect the teachers were trapped as illegal workers in Saudi Arabia, were unable to leave the country at all for an entire year and were even told not to leave Riyadh.

Saudi law requires all residents to carry an Iqama or passport at all times. The teachers had neither, just a piece of paper. Without an Iqama they were unable to open bank accounts or rent an apartment. The British Embassy advised the teachers that they were illegal and should leave the country, clearly impossible without a passport and with an expired visa…they offered to supply a list of lawyers but said that they could not get involved in such disputes.

The company said at all times that there was nothing that they could do about the situation and that it was all beyond their control.

They subsequently said that the visas were not really work / visit visas but business /visit visas for which they had paid 845 pounds sterling. This allegedly gives the holders certain extension priviledges as they are officially on ‘project management’ duties as temporary contractors. It said work/visit visa on the visa…

The company then said that their inability to obtain either visa extensions or Iqama permits was because of the Nitiqat system – that they did not have enough Saudi employees on their payroll. They said that they only needed to hire 10 Saudis to change their status and had done so but that the Saudi authorities would only accredit one new Saudi worker per week so it would take another 10 weeks before they could legalise the status of their teachers. 10 weeks passed and nothing happened…

At every opportunity, the company asked its teachers not to come into the office but to register complaints on an internet-based system “so we can track them properly.”

The company has a large posse of Indians whose jobs, apart from doing the administrative work (“we are not Saudis, we are like you, we do not understand the system, there is nothing we can do”), appear to be handling a continuous stream of angry western teachers.

To be charitable, you could argue that the problems were genuinely systemic or caused by administrative inertia, however the company has been bringing teachers over on work/visit visas year after year after year. They have in the past assumed that there would be amnesties or that wasta (influence) could solve the problem. There has recently been a crackdown on issuing extensions to such visas although at the end of the year they magically appeared with the passports and renewed extensions.

No Saudi buys any of this. The suggestion is that it is cheaper to bring teachers in on work/visit visas rather than obtaining Iqama permits and by trapping the teachers in Riyadh they reduce wastage – they cannot ‘do a runner’ (itself not a very good sign).

If Saudi embassies overseas continue to issue work/visit visas to these recruiting companies they will continue to bring people over on them (fast and cheap, no medical costs).

KSU (the university) says that they will not accept teachers on work / visit visas anymore but they have been saying that for years. There is a reason why they contract these services out. They need 400 teachers…nobody cares. It’s a numbers game.

The western recruiters who put you in contact with the Saudi recruiters will tell you anything.

DO NOT TRAVEL TO SAUDI ARABIA UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES ON A 90-DAY TEMPORARY WORK/VISIT VISA FOR A 1-YEAR CONTRACT.

ps In other respects ICEAT is mostly OK – they at least pay you on time but in cash as you don’t have a bank account. They add insult to injury by charging you a hefty fee for sending the money back (they say bank charges).

Teaching at KSU is OK. The good classes are good…

[scot47]

I really do hope people read this and act accordingly. It would be nice if Govt unis in KSA stopped using these contracting companies and stuck to direct hire.

[nickwils]

Thanks for the post.

Why are you not able to get a bank account?

[nomad soul]

[veiledsentiments]

[scot47]

Residency ("Iqama" in KSA) is necessary to do anything. Ignore the advice from those who say it is okay to go to the Kingdom on a business visa. It is not - unless you are on business. If you are WORKING, eg as a teacher, you MUST HAVE residency.

[nickwils]

I was informed by the agency that recruited me that an Iqama was mandatory this year and the communication that I have had with ICEAT seems to confirm that.

[nomad soul]

An employment/work visa has always been required for those seeking legal employment and residency (iqama) in the Kingdom. Unfortunately, ICEAT hasn't always complied with this requirement for the teachers they bring over.