Help with Infomation Please

Hi Nelson,

Welcome to the Forum and the Kingdom, too!

I'll try to answer the questions based on my experience:

Is there any accommodation on compounds or are they really all booked up for 6 months+?

From everything I've heard, this is true for the better, sought-after ones.  I think you might be able to get into one of the small ones with fewer amenities farther out. Others can tell you about this better.

How long does it take to get the residence permit from arrival?

For me, it was only 3 weeks (last year, and during RAMADAN!  Everybody was astounded!!) but it can take up to 3 months.  It just depends--on how busy they are, how hard your employer is pushing it, how much wasta your employer has, etc. etc.  Just cross your fingers!!

How long to set up bank account?

As soon as I got the iquama, I had the bank account set up the next day (al Rajhi).  However, I've heard people say there are some banks where you can set up an account without an iquama (but I don't know where).

How do you send money home (UK)? is it easy and does it cost allot?

Fastest is to send a draft and Al Rajhi charges 75 SAR to the USA.

Best of luck!

Q. Is there any accommodation on compounds or are they really all booked up for 6 months+?

A. WAIT LIST OF 6 MONTHS IS A FACT. YOU MAY HAVE TO OPT FOR A STUDIO OR APARTMENT, EVEN OUTISDE A COMPOUND.

Q. How long does it take to get the residence permit from arrival?

A. MAY VARY FROM 1 WEEK TO 4 WEEKS DEPENDING ON THE PAPERWORK AND EFFICIENCLY OF THE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS OFFICER WHO CARRIES OUT THE PROCESS.

Q. How long to set up bank account?
A. A WEEK MAX.

Q. How do you send money home (UK)? is it easy and does it cost allot?
A. PRETTY EASY WITH MOST BANKS OFFERING VARIOUS#FORMS OF SERVICES. WESTERN UNION SEEMS TO BE THE MOST POPULAR AND FASTEST. SPEEDCASH OFFERED BY SAMBA IS ALSO AS GOOD.

Thanks for the information and apologies for the late reply. I finally made it to Riyadh, now I need to look for what there is to do other than eating

eating quality food, eating quality food and only eating quality food

well, I don't even know if it's 'quality' food but everybody who gets here gains weight. 

Comfort eating? Boredom eating?  Take your pick

Sidetracked:  your question was 'what to do'   Well, Alisan has some things posted up in her 'what to do' thread and Saft mentioned a bazaar at the Malaysian embassy.

If you're interested in sports, some of the guys on this forum have talked about playing golf or squash.  Contact them if you play, too!

Best of luck, Nelson.  I know it's difficult, you just need to make some friends

So Nelson, where are you now living and is your family coming?  Are you on a wait list?

If your family is coming, when? We're being told we're getting compound housing but I sure want to believe they mean WHEN WE ARRIVE,   not "Sometime in the future"... yikes!

Hey Spitfire, I am in a hotel close to my office for the first month. My family will join me alot later because I have children in the middle of GCSE's in the UK and it would be unfair to pull them out of school at the moment.

It;s like this for me:

Hotel 1 month (get iqama then bank account)
Then I can be paid my living allowance so i will most likley get a furnished apartment close to work.

6 months or more before my family join me I will apply for a compound to move to so they can join me straight there.

It sounds like if you company are telling you that you will be on a compound then they could have reserved spaces in one of them?

I was told lots of horror stories about the journey here like immigration and customs but I had no problems, straight through. I did not even have to open my luggage just xray.

Good luck anyway

OMG I applied for my Iquama yeaterday and got it today!!!

There must be something in the water???

lol...my iqama also came in a day!

Woaw, they have much improved the system then in Saudi. 10 years ago it would take ages to obtain the iqama!!!

I waited more than 4 months before I could join my husband in Saudi (from the date he obtained his iqama, which took about 5 months).

I got mine in three weeks last year, in the middle of Ramadan!

Colleagues had warned me it would take months!!

that's good news. So Allie, is it possible that arriving during Ramadan speeds things up b/c fewer people are applying then, or was it just a fluke? Anyhow, Nelson -it's nice to hear things are going smoothly. you are on a roll!

still i wud suggest not to apply during ramadan

still i wud suggest not to apply during ramadan

True but you gotta do what you gotta do.  That said, I think I was extremely lucky.

you can say that again, in ramadan EVERY thing becomes slow and EVERY one becomes relaxed and EVERY ones temper is always on the edge cuz EVERY one is HUNGRY. lol

Salman

PS.

Nice Picture Shahab!

well as Allie says, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. If we arrive in Ramadan, well, what can I say? I hope it's before or after, b/c I definitely don't want to get the wrong impression if everyone's hungry/grumpy.   I promise not to eat in front of others!

Seems as if my getting a work permit BEFORE going, will slow us down so I'm going to go on my husband's visa and hoping I can get a work permit when I get there. I mean, if we are to arrive in 60-90 days, there's no way I can count on the permit coming thru for me by then, whereas my husband's seems likely. Why add to the burden of paperwork? Make sense?

Can't I just glom onto his papers to get there and then hope for the best, professionally, once I'm there? Let me rephrase, I think that's what's going to happen so I'll make the best of it...

Ah, "clarity".

Ah, "clarity".

By Jove!! I think she's beginning to get it!

"Never ventured, never won!"

Thanks Grandpa for teacing me that when I was a teen. May God Have Mercy on your Soul

musicman wrote:

Q. Is there any accommodation on compounds or are they really all booked up for 6 months+?

A. WAIT LIST OF 6 MONTHS IS A FACT. YOU MAY HAVE TO OPT FOR A STUDIO OR APARTMENT, EVEN OUTISDE A COMPOUND.

Q. How long does it take to get the residence permit from arrival?

A. MAY VARY FROM 1 WEEK TO 4 WEEKS DEPENDING ON THE PAPERWORK AND EFFICIENCLY OF THE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS OFFICER WHO CARRIES OUT THE PROCESS.

Q. How long to set up bank account?
A. A WEEK MAX.

Q. How do you send money home (UK)? is it easy and does it cost allot?
A. PRETTY EASY WITH MOST BANKS OFFERING VARIOUS#FORMS OF SERVICES. WESTERN UNION SEEMS TO BE THE MOST POPULAR AND FASTEST. SPEEDCASH OFFERED BY SAMBA IS ALSO AS GOOD.

Hey Music man,

Is it possible that we can even receive money sent otuside of KSA here, through western union