Edu Experts

Since the universities  are so desperately in need of language teachers here in the Kingdom, everybody and his brother has become a 'recruiter' to make some quick money.  In fact, somebody has offered ME a job as a recruiter 'consultant,' knowing I'm American and apparently supposing I'd be able to get him more clients because of this.

ANYWAY .. to answer your question.. this 'recruiter' of yours has no idea what he's doing.  There's NO WAY you should have to give him any money.

If you're serious about Saudia, find another recruiter!  There's a million of them.  Go to DavesESLcafe and have a look.

Good luck.

I must say I am startled at the hostility exhibited by the previous poster.  Certainly no need for that.   My comments were in no way dishonest nor am I trying to "trick" anybody out of making money (this is actually laughable).


I know it is not common procedure to pay for your own visa. Mine  was PAID FOR as was the visa agent in DC.  Once you get to Saudia, you will be reimbursed for incidentals if you have receipts. 

Bottom line is the OP has doubts about her recruiter and there are things she  doesn't feel comfortable with.  This being the case, she needs to look for a different recruiter.  Common sense.

If the recruiter is asking YOU to find out how to get a work visa, yet asking for money from you to boot, that has Red Flags and alarm bells all over it.  As Alliecat said, there's so many Universities and colleges looking for instructors that you can take your pick of the litter, and most recruiter do NOT ask for anything except the documents necessary for the hiring.  Paying up front and being re-imbursed later is standard practice.  Some employers skirt the work visa process initially by changing your job description to one which falls under a "business" visa category and then once you are here, they have you do an over-the-border run to a nieghboring KSA embassy to process the work visa.  Others do it "properly" from the beginning, having you obtain your work visa first from your home country, which takes from one to two months, usually, though I'm sure someone will respond with a post that says they got one in two weeks or something. One to two months is the norm.  In summary, stay away from any recruiter who #1: seems like they are feeling their way through the process themselves and #2, asks for money up front.

Dave-KSA wrote:

In summary, stay away from any recruiter who #1: seems like they are feeling their way through the process themselves and #2, asks for money up front.

Exactly right!

I've been here going on three years and my annual reviews have been glowing so I am not some disgruntled teacher who couldn't make it. 

In fact, I've said nothing negative about the Kingdom ('horror stories'?  The previous poster seems somewhat manic and easily confused) but I do encourage the original poster to find a recruiter with whom she is comfortable.

Since your over-the-top rebuttal directly followed my posts and made accusations of dishonesty, bias and bitterness, there was no doubt they were directed at me.

Your confusion lies in not being able to distinguish between recruiters and Saudi Arabia.  One can discredit certain disreputable recruiters WITHOUT discrediting the Kingdom. 

My advice was to find another recruiter (even directed the OP to DavesESLcafe), not discourage her from coming to KSA.  I thought this was quite clear.

How about if we just leave it like this:

       You say she can pay the money and be reimbursed when she arrives, no problem.

         Dave and I advise her to find another recruiter who pays for the visa himself.

         None of us has discouraged her from coming to Saudia to work.


Is this acceptable?

Peace at last!