Can I arrive with my husband?

It depends on ur company, you both can come together and I have seen real time examples where couples have come together !!

But all of them weren't that happy to come together with the partner !!

BTW as a heads up, things really move at a snails pace here !!

Hello Carebear

Think yourself to be lucky.......as I am going to explain you the whole lot.....been there done that...moved into Riyadh about 5 days ago.

Ok..

Your husbands visa will have to be applied first and once he gets here then there is a process of Iqama to be issued and he may straight away be put up in the villa assigned (if on company lease, if not after Iqama) and the same case with the car.

Once all this is done and he settles in, he can apply for your Residency visa's which may take upto 2 months and then you can come in, however, wearing an Abaya and follow what you have read on the internet.

Now this is all done by the company and their public/government relations staff. Also, all of the above is generally done by a large scale organisation which is a US/UK or western based organisation.

Hope this helps...let me know if you want any specifics.....as I mentioned....been there done that!

Cheers

Mavs

Thank you very much.  That helps a great deal. I will have to go back to Arizona to wait anyhow as there is nothing here in London for me.
I can make myself an Abaya while waiting.

Why is that?  A bad thing to arrive together?

Making an Abaya...now that are some skills...maybe my wife can do that for the couple of months until she joins me from Australia.

Just forgot to mention about the household items....you don't need them here....the houses/villas are fully furnished here and stuff which you may require (minimal) can be purchased for cheap at IKEA...so get a storage allowance added on his contract and get a removalist organised...

Mr. Anand is correct in most things. Let me write down my version:

- Your husband should arrive here first and alone. I have never heard someone arriving with spouse (unless he has some really big contact in government to over-ride the process).

- After arrival, your husband's employer will apply for his Iqama. This process can take from 1 week to 2-3 months. All depends on Mundoob (Employer's authorised person to deal with government processes).

- Once he will get the Iqama (Residence Permit), he can immediately apply for your visa. Again this process can take from 1 week to a couple of months.

- No idea if you have to go back to US to stamp the visa. I think, your husband can ask this question from your employer even now.

- Just to clear a point here. Family status is provided by Employer and Visa is issued by Government. They are two different things. Employer's provided family status means you will get Iqama renewals, medical insurance and annual return tickets same as your husband on employer's expenses. Issuing visa is totally government matter; not related to employer. He will only issue a letter of employment status for this purpose. Your husband need to have a good qualified profession for it plus enough earnings to apply for it. However, this doesn't seems a problem in your case. The best an employer can do is to actively involve his Mandoob to deal with visa processing.

Hope this helps...

That helps thank you. In some ways, it makes it easier knowing that. I'll just have to drag sewing machine etc back to AZ and do just one shipment.
I don't plan to bring the usual household things at all. Having said that, I am a sewing professional. I've been cooped up in tiny space in London. I'm planning on doing a great deal of sewing there in Riyadh .