Visa nightmare!!

Jameel, you are not alone. There are others like you from the UK too waiting for the issuance of their visas for the same organization and were also scheduled to have been available to commence work in Riyadh before the new school semester started.

This is nothing new to this region. Things take time and everything can wait and will wait. Thats the way the desert wind blows here.

As long as you have been offered a valid employment contract by the School and signed the necessary documents with the employment agency in the UK the visas will arrive all in good time. The only economic issues that you may have to face are if you have already resigned your job over there to take up this offer and are losing money on account of this.

It is sad, but true, that many suffer such situations but, let me reiterate that it will not be for too long. The visas will come, only when they come, of course. No different from the lady coming round the mountain...

Hi Jameel.

Im in the same boat as you.

living life out of a suitcase with no salary and lodging with my parents.

life is crap and its not our fault. However, we can make calls and send email til we're blue in the face.

the fact of the matter is: there is nothing we can do but wait.

see you at work!

Gents, you have to make a decision how long you are willing to wait.

I've known people to be "on the hook" for 11 months or more, and still no word.

Were it me, I'd set myself a date and say, "On this day, I just quit waiting."

But I would also be looking, like hell, for a new job right now.  Don't wait.  Get on it.

I have been waiting for over a month now but am keeping my outlook "high"!!  Positive, positive, positive.  Hopefully it will be this week (heard that for the past 5 weeks though).

Good luck amigo's

jswwjw wrote:

I have been waiting for over a month now but am keeping my outlook "high"!!  Positive, positive, positive.  Hopefully it will be this week (heard that for the past 5 weeks though).

Good luck amigo's

who is your employer, pal?

He's not a teacher, if that's what you're asking.

From the time you sign the paperwork (depending on your employer) the average time seems to run between 30 and 45 days for all the paperwork to be processed.

It just all seems ridiculous.I mean... what do they expect us do while we wait?? Saq-81 are you going to manarat also? Apparently the school has said that I'll get paid from the 18th which isnt bad seeing ive missed two weeks of work.
I'm definitely holding out for this job, according to the recruiter its only a matter of time now...but thats the issue its been these last few weeks not knowing what to do.

Guys, this time of year is bad (read more bad than usuall) for visas being issued. The government hold off on issuing them because some people get them to sneak in for Hajj.

Nelson17 wrote:

Guys, this time of year is bad (read more bad than usuall) for visas being issued. The government hold off on issuing them because some people get them to sneak in for Hajj.

So what your saying is that they wont issue the visa till after hajj?

I'm saying things will take longer.

To understand your position, does the Saudi Embassy already have your passport and is taking its time or are you waiting for the paperwork to submit to the embassy with your passport?

If its only a question of losing money then its better you clarify this promptly with the recruitment agent in the UK first and establish the ground rules upfront to alleviate the anxiety.

Most organizations start the payroll from the date of landin on KSA soil, as I understand, unless and otherwise specified in writing.

My passport is with a consular service in London, who will deal directly with the embassy. This agent is dealing with all the schools visas and he charges £350 a visa - which has already been paid!

jameel137 wrote:

My passport is with a consular service in London, who will deal directly with the embassy. This agent is dealing with all the schools visas and he charges £350 a visa - which has already been paid!

This part took my agent 2 days in may, you should not have waited very long at this point.

Chase up the agent.

jameel137 wrote:

It just all seems ridiculous.I mean... what do they expect us do while we wait?? Saq-81 are you going to manarat also? Apparently the school has said that I'll get paid from the 18th which isnt bad seeing ive missed two weeks of work.
I'm definitely holding out for this job, according to the recruiter its only a matter of time now...but thats the issue its been these last few weeks not knowing what to do.

Jameel - i am a manarat man. Also, I've been in touch with a few others.

between us, we have called the school (you know the two guys), also we've been ringing our visa man (O.Y.)

I havent been told i'll be getting paid from the 18th though, so I hope this applies to everyone!

Jill and I married on the 8th July (put it in your diaries). I took the Marriage licence, all stamped up by everybody to Admin and filled out an application form for Jill. The process normally takes 6 -8 weeks
The company take applications on the 1st of the month, ie 1st August. I was concerned that Jills passport had her old name but I was told that it would be OK.
He then asked 'When do you expect her to come out?'. I said 'End of Sept'.
He laughed and told me that it would be mid Nov.
He explained, The broker was on holiday, then he was on holiday, then Ramadan and Eid followed by Hajj. Total of 4 1/2 months.
We married because we want to be together.
I know that we will be - one day.

Thats another thing I need to wory about...bringing my wife over! Hopefully this shouln't take too long..Saq-81 what are you teaching?? and where are you coming over from? We should all get paid from the 18th according to MZ, well his said they've made a request to the committee but he couldnt promise anything...

Family visa issuance should not be an issue for teachers. Everything depends on how efficient your HR department at the school is. If you know how to deal with the Pharaohs successfully you should be able to swing it. Ive had many a fight with them over my daughters (who teach in the Girls section) paperwork. They, once, even lost her passport and then denied we had ever given it to them. Help!

jameel137 wrote:

Thats another thing I need to wory about...bringing my wife over! Hopefully this shouln't take too long..Saq-81 what are you teaching?? and where are you coming over from? We should all get paid from the 18th according to MZ, well his said they've made a request to the committee but he couldnt promise anything...

Im from manchester jameel.

I already know another one of us. I'll email you my mobile number if you like and we can chat?

Im gonna teach english. yourself?
Also, MZ has been promising a lot of things. reminds me of a line from the simpsons:

"Dont let your mouth write cheques that your butt cant cash"

checks are ole Flintstone era.
we use plastic

jameel137 wrote:

Thats another thing I need to wory about...bringing my wife over! Hopefully this shouln't take too long..Saq-81 what are you teaching?? and where are you coming over from? We should all get paid from the 18th according to MZ, well his said they've made a request to the committee but he couldnt promise anything...

Regarding the pay - if it is not in writing, it's not happening.  Even if it is in writing, it is subject to "insha'Allah" (God willing) and we all know what that means over here!  Sorry to be pessimistic, but .......

I know what you mean...Is it really that bad out there? As in is the system so inefficient?

seeing is believing.
be prepared for surprises
life still goes on
nothings impossible
somethings are best left to be the way they are
life will go on!
no big deal

jameel137 wrote:

I know what you mean...Is it really that bad out there? As in is the system so inefficient?

I would put it this  way:  don't count on anything until it's actually happened. 

Also, the system here is all about follow-up, follow-up, follow-up!
Be friendly and courteous but persistent--this always works for me, eventually. 

bottom line: Nothing has happened until it has happened!
Period
QED

jameel137 wrote:

It just all seems ridiculous.I mean... what do they expect us do while we wait??

They don't care what you do while you wait.  Get another job, rob a bank, catch an STD...they don't care about you as a person.

jameel137 wrote:

I'm definitely holding out for this job, according to the recruiter its only a matter of time now...but thats the issue its been these last few weeks not knowing what to do.

Would any recruiter say any different?  They don't get paid until you are in the country and working.  They will keep you encouraged and hopeful as long as you can.

Good luck on this...but depending on a recruiter's encouragement and promises isn't where I would be placing my bet.

Once you get down here you will forget all about the waiting game, dont worry..... bet, many in here came up the same beanstalk?

musicman wrote:

Once you get down here you will forget all about the waiting game, dont worry..... bet, many in here came up the same beanstalk?

Not me. It was obvious from the beginning how long it was going to take to get all the paperwork in order (not just for the visa but also an outlandish amount of paperwork for my sponsor) and, seriously, I never expected it to work out.  I sure wasn't going to quit the job I had based on a 'promise' 7,000 miles away (!!) so I waited until the visa was issued and I had my passport back in my hands and THEN I gave the 30 days notice in the States as per my contract there.

At that point, I advised my sponsor so they could make the necessary travel arrangements in five weeks.  My rationale was that if they'd waited seven months already, five weeks wasn't going to kill them and obviously it didn't

Lolz, thats a pleasant Visa story for a change.
When I was first hired by SAMBA they sent me a fax copy of the visa to me and asked me to proceed to the Saudi Consulate in Bombay, since Sri Lanka didnt have a mission at that time.

When I presented my papers to the visa section they asked me "Who is IBM?" as my professional certificates were issued by the IT giant for whom I worked back in Colombo.

Yikes! There were no recruiting agents and the like in those times. We had to find out the ropes the hard way and fend for ourselves with the begging bowl.

Called my Dad back home in Colombo and fortunately for me he knew the Sri Lankan Trade Commissioner in Bombat whom he asked to call on and seek help from.

The TC was a delightful man who agreed to take all my papers and send them back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo through his weekly mail bag for translation,authentication, attestation and va;lidation.

The whole process tok 30 long days.

I enjoyed a fully paid vacation in Bmbay at he Holiday Inn, Juhu, on SAMBA's Account.

Those were the days!

I am also waiting for the visa since August 2010, which is my contract signing date with a multinational company having 50% share holding, and when I asked the reason for the delay, my company's representative said it was due to Ramadan, a huge amount of people perform umrah during the holy month, now they are saying to wait for next couple of weeks. very surprised !!!

Pray to God to automate the visa process for all.

musicman wrote:

Lolz, thats a pleasant Visa story for a change.
When I was first hired by SAMBA they sent me a fax copy of the visa to me and asked me to proceed to the Saudi Consulate in Bombay, since Sri Lanka didnt have a mission at that time.

When I presented my papers to the visa section they asked me "Who is IBM?" as my professional certificates were issued by the IT giant for whom I worked back in Colombo.

Yikes! There were no recruiting agents and the like in those times. We had to find out the ropes the hard way and fend for ourselves with the begging bowl.

Called my Dad back home in Colombo and fortunately for me he knew the Sri Lankan Trade Commissioner in Bombat whom he asked to call on and seek help from.

The TC was a delightful man who agreed to take all my papers and send them back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo through his weekly mail bag for translation,authentication, attestation and va;lidation.

The whole process tok 30 long days.

I enjoyed a fully paid vacation in Bmbay at he Holiday Inn, Juhu, on SAMBA's Account.

Those were the days!

Ian also had a fairly swift process - Saudi company applied for visa, sent the letter over which then enabled us to apply in the UK and visa sorted within 6 weeks.  We are on multi entry visa's which suits us for a multitude of reasons, our 6 monthly visa renewals have (so far) been very smooth and gives us the opportunity of a paid two weeks at home (added bonus).  This was only Oct/Nov 2009, so you see, its not all bad here.