Job Discussion Forums

[williamwallace]

Dear all,

Can anyone tell me if an iqama can be given to an employee of a company before coming to Saudi (if I was to be hired directly by the school/college/university)? I ask this as so many posts warn against going on a visit visa/business visa and as such I am a little confused as to which visa one should be on if the iqama is not given initially.

If the iqama is given, is it possible for my family to come with me straight away or must they wait until I am actually in Saudi for a specific period of time?

Any advice/info. with regards to the iqama will be appreciated.

[Jacob82]

Dear William the process is as following

The recruiter will send you the visa ( The visa should be work-visa/ do not accept business-visa ) to the Saudi embassy, then will go through the certificate attestation by the Saudi embassy, if everything went okay, they will ask you to hand in the passport to get your visa> pack your stuff to the airport then to KSA. Now.. your recruiter will then start the process of issuing your Iqama, usually it takes 1-2 weeks, then you will be able to get Saudi driving license and a bank account, a nice SUV as well ?? as for your family.. it depends on your recruiter I mean you should tell them that your family will accompany you...then after you arrive there and get the Iqama done you will start the process of getting your family with you....you need to submit an application of family visa( I don't remember what they call it ) to the ministry of interior ...but be careful you need all your documents attested by the Saudi embassy in your country ...so do it before going there..finally the ministry will give like 2 weeks to wait for their response...if they approve it they will notify you that the visa will be sent to the embassy in your country

By the way I think you need to go through medical tests before submitting your documents to the embassy in your country and before submitting the documents to government to get the Iqama

I hope this will help ...

[johnslat]

Dear wiliamwallace,

"Can anyone tell me if an iqama can be given to an employee of a company before coming to Saudi . . ."

No, it cannot. You cannot legally possess an iqama outside of Saudi Arabia. In fact, iqamas must be handed in before one exits the country.


Regards,
John

[williamwallace]

Thanks for the replies. It has certainly cleared things up!