Job Discussion Forums

[ibnAdam]

I know universities vary, but is it standard to expect most employers to pay for the ticket to Saudi and visa expenses? Would you say this applies to most quality institutions, or is it a case by case basis?

[usool]

Hello

I had five offers to come and teach in the Kingdom, all of them offered to pay for the flights. As for the visas, none of them mentioned the costs associatied with that except one.

Regards

[jeddahteacher]

They pay for airfare period. I forget about the visa. They are supposed to pay for your igama, but some institutions extort the fee from you.

[Cleopatra]

All employers pay airfare, some pay visa expenses. It depends.

BTW, the visa in itself is not a great expense: as far I know, there is only an administration cost, the equivalent of 50SR (less than �10) at least in the London embassy.

What CAN work out expensive are the various, tedious procedures you have to go through in order to get said visa: you may end up paying for a few DHL parcels, assorted rubber stamps from assorted goverment depts., and then there is the medical test, which can cost over �100. Some employers are quite generous: I know of a place which pays for all of the above (right down to the registered mail to send your passport to the embassy) and even reimburses you on excess baggage costs - which, again, can be considerable. However, most places, as far as I know, expect the employee to foot all of the above bills. These can mount up to several hundred pounds before you even know it.

[scot47]

It is a legal requirement that the employer provides you with a ticket, or pays the cost. Mind you it is also a leggl requirement that the employer pays for visa and residence permit (igama) but they do not always do that.

thee Labour Code is actually quite protective of your rights as an employee. The problem is getting legal redress when the employer turns out to be be a crook.