Job Discussion Forums

[guty]

I have been offered a post in Saudi, but, unusually am having to make all arrangements myself, and as part of the visa is a medical I am looking for a suitable place in the UK to get it done.
Has anybody else done this before? Does anyone have contact information of anywhere in the UK to get the Saudi medical completed? I have tried several places, including BUPA, and have been told it is not possible, of course I know it is, just not where it is.
Thanks

[scot47]

There are two types of medical. The first is for the company and should be organised and paid for by them IF THEY WANT IT.

The second is required by the Embassy as part of the visa issuing procedure. You need to be tested for AIDS and Hepatitis. There are any number of places in and around Harley Street that do this. It is best to check with the Saudi Embassy. Ther may be a standard form.

[MacMahon]

I understand St.Marys Hospital offer tests. They are located in west London, Edgware rd. to be exact. Mind you it is a 'clinic' and most are there, eyes welling, to find out if they'll make it past the next 5-10 years, so it's quite uncomfortable for those just looking to prepare a work path! If your conscience is clear have no fear... Harleys the smoothest option on the tongue but not the pocket although def. worth an enquiry. The results from St.Mary's Hospital should take a week or two to process then you pay a fee to have them forward the paper to your G.P. As for G.P's again a fee is usual and they get to ticking the boxes. If you don't have any genuine complaints it shouldn't be hard to sort, a few weeks at most. Hope it helped?

[Stephen Jones]

Medical Express at 117a Harley Street is the one I have always used and recommend. I believe the price has gone up now to �240 as the Saudis now ask for more tests than before, but you will get the results within 48 hours, and for a small extra charge they will take them to the Foreign Office and get them stamped for you. You will probably get the money back off your Saudi employer anyway, and in my experience people who try to do things throught the NHS or their local doctor not only take weeks longer but end up paying considerably more money as well.

You can just turn up or arrange an appointment:

117a Harley Street
London
W1G 6AT

If you don't live withing commuting distance of London you might consider using their visa branch to sort out your visa. These expenses are not normally paid by the Saudi employer but you can always put the claim in with the medical and see what happens. The address for the visa section, if you want to use it separately is

Suite 833
78 Marylebone High Street
London
W1U 5AP

Fax/tel +44 (20) 7727 7672

[email protected]

[MacMahon]

Thats very reasonable, points and notes taken for future!

[Cleopatra]

The Saudi medicalcheck is very comprehensive - the doctor who did mine said never in his life had he seen such a demanding check for a visa application! Most decent clinics should be able to do it: look for a "Tropical Disease"clinic possibly. Be sure to keep all receipts and the results: the first befcause your company should reimburse you allexpenses (which could be over �100, easily), the second because you will need to show the results to your employers. I didn't keep the results slips and had to go trhough a load of tiresome tests once again when I got to KSA. Don't make my mistake!

[guty]

Thanks all,
very useful stuff, better than I was given by the embassy. Medical express was the best and easiest option and the one I would reccommend.
Thanks again

[GrizzlyAdams]

What exactly does a medical consist of? What kind of illnesses are tested for? Is it just a physical examination?

[johnslat]

Dear GrizzlyAdams,
All my medicals were strictly "physical exams" ( no shrinks involved, maybe because they figure you'd have to be a little whacko to want to go to Saudi in the first place ). I believe the Saudis are specifically interested in the STDs - AIDS, hepatitis, etc. - but they also want to make sure you're not likely to die on them too fast. Getting one can be an expensive matter - but you might want to try what I did the first time. Went to one of those places where you give blood - or gamma goblin ( spelling? ) - and talked the "doctor" in residence there to fill out the form for me and stamp it. It worked fine. By the way, you'll also need a "police check".
Regards,
John

[Stephen Jones]

No police check for the UK John; don't put the poor guys off; it's difficult enough getting staff as it is :)

[johnslat]

Dear Stephen,
OK, I'll bite. How did you know that GrizzlyAdams is in the UK? I checked his profile and there's no location listed. But thanks anyway for that info about no police checks there; I'd ( obviously ) assumed it was the same everywhere - but why in heaven's name would I expect the Saudis to be consistent or logical?
Regards,
John

[scot47]

Stephen Jones is right about problems in recruiting. I am about to suggest to my manager that we emulate the Royal Navy's recruiting tactics of 200 years ago. The Press Gang can be reconstituted to get together likely lads to come and staff the classrooms of the Middle East.

When you are at your next conference be wary of taking drinks from shifty looking strangers. You might waken up in a ME staffroom ! And worse - I might be your supervisor !

[johnslat]

Dear scot47,
Hmm, this could cause a language change. Instead of saying someone was "shanghaied ", they'd be said to have been "riyadhed".
Regards,
John

[Stephen Jones]

Actually, the problem lies with the Brits. They will refuse to issue police clearance if you have not been resident in the country for three years.

I ended up coming back to Saudi because I couldn't get a teaching job straight off in the UK. They refused to hire without police clearance, and they UK police wouldn't give it, so I had to go off to get a "certificado de antecedentes penales" from the Spanish Embassy, having persuaded the Agency that a photo of hands and feet intact proved I hadn't been a nuaghty boy in Saudi. The woman at the Embassy wasn't very happy; she explained that the Spanish government had refused to issue any more through the Embassy because in the past they used to get asked for half-a-dozen a year and now they were being asked for half-a-dozen a day, and they were under the impression that London had become the centre of some kind of judicial scam. While we were talking, somebody else knocked on the door asking for one. She reluctantly agreed to process the application anyway, after pointing out that her son had just started teaching in Spain and the Spanish had not asked for any of this nonsense. Her parting comment was, "Why should the Spanish Embassy have to pay the price because the British have gone hysterical?"

A year or so back they revamped the system and your employer, or possbly you, applied to a special Agency for clearance. Of course Blairite/Thatcherite orthodoxy insisted that the contract for organizing this should go out for tender, with the result that loads of schools couldn't start on time because the staff hadn't been cleared, because the agency had sent all their files off to New Dehli for processing (it was cheaper to do it there). After a week of tens of thousands of schoolchildren walking the streets unsupervised because of fears of possible paedophiles in the classroom, the Ministry relented and told schools to take uncleared teachers in provisionally.

[GrizzlyAdams]

Thanks for the replies.

I am indeed in the UK -England to be precise.

Grizz