Job Discussion Forums

[jeddah999]

I am a Canadian citizen currently working in the Kingdom. I entered the country through London in 2000. I want to leave and come back with a new company. In order to avoid the strict nature of the Saudi embassy in Canada, I would prefer to use London again. However, I have heard that this is no longer possible. It is said that you must enter the Kingdom via your home country. Is this true?

Thanks

[scot47]

This depends on your prospective employer. Some can do this without making an issue of it. Some are reluctant. Some will just say "NO".

[jeddah999]

Thanks Scot47,

That is in regards to the employer. Assuming that the employer is fine with me coming in via London, do you know of any laws at the Saudi embassy level that say that you must use the embassy in your home country?

One of my friends told me that this is the case, but I seem to remember seeing posts of people (I assume they're Westerners) saying that they come in through other Gulf countries.

Thanks

[egyptfan]

I thought it was possible to get a visa for Saudi in Bahrain as a friend did a few months ago.
He left Saudi on an exit only visa, went to Bahrain with his wife and re-entered the country a few days later on a new employment visa from the Saudi Embassy in Bahrain. However, they messed up his wife's visa and she came in on a visitor visa. As she had to go home on emergency leave before they changed over her visa, the new employer was going to bring her back in as before, stop over in Bahrain for a few days and then come in as her husband had done. Now it transpires that this situation no longer applies i.e. the Saudi Embassy in Bahrain will not issue employment visas for other nationalities. Whether this is just the situation in Bahrain or elsewhere I'm not sure, but there would appear to have been some changes recently (in Bahrain at least). She has been told she will have to get her visa issued from her home country (UK)

[Cleopatra]

There are some indications that various Saudi embassies are tightening up procedures for visa applications. In any case, it's always been true that the procedure is more complicated if you apply in a country other than the one of which you hold citizenship. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it will likely make things more difficult. The best thing is to contact the London embassy and,- in the unlikely event of your being able to speak to a real live human being at the end of the line - ask them what policy they have in this regard. Regulations, and the strictness iwth which they are applied, vary considerably from one embassy (and one employer) to the next, so generalised answers aren't very helpful here.[/quote]

[egyptfan]