Attention: All Engineers (Mohandes) in KSA

All expat engineers have to register with SCE

By ARAB NEWS
Published: Aug 26, 2010 00:08 Updated: Aug 26, 2010 00:08

JEDDAH: Foreign engineers have to be registered with the Saudi Council of Engineers for the issuance and renewal of their iqamas (resident permits), according to a directive issued by Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif.

Abdullah Bugshan, chairman of the council's board of directors, thanked Prince Naif for his support to the organization and said the new directive would help improve the Kingdom's engineering standards.

“We are happy over the government's desire to develop the engineering profession, which plays an important role in the Kingdom's development,” he said.

Bugshan said the government passed a law eight years ago to regulate the council's activities. “The council was established to improve the standard of the engineering profession in the country,” he said.

Bugshan said the council would review the academic and professional qualifications of engineers. “We'll also encourage engineers to apply the best professional practices,” he added.

He said the ministries of interior, civil affairs, higher education, labor, planning and economy, municipal and rural affairs and water and electricity have approved the council's professional endorsement.

Organizations such as Saudi Aramco, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation and King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology have also approved the endorsement plan.

“As a result, a large number of engineers have already registered with the council,” Bugshan said. He added that the Arab and Gulf engineers' federations have given their support for the Kingdom's endorsement program.

“The Federation of Engineering Institutions in Islamic Countries has also welcomed the principles adopted by the Kingdom for professional endorsement. Most Islamic countries have expressed their readiness to adopt similar regulations,” he said.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article113870.ece?comments=all

Yeah, this is hilarious. It's for everyone that has an Iqama that says you're an engineer. And it doesn't matter how long you've been here.

It's basically a money making scheme. It's simply ridiculous at the amount of backed up processing that's going to happen from all of this.

I know someone who's been here for 40+ yrs, and they almost refused to renew his Iqama because they wanted him to register with this thing. It wasn't such a big deal, but getting his original degree from the 60's (or so) was.

absolutely right beezer, so those people which their iqama says engineer but they are not engineer i wonder what they'll gonna do.

For membership: (Fees for 3 years)

Engineer Degree: 1250SR
Associate Engineer Degree : 1700 SR
Professional Degree: 2300 SR
Consultant Engineer Degree: 2800 SR

i wish the company will shoulder these fees for us.. :D:D:D:D:D

This 'Saudi council' of whatever profession is a money making thing - I have my exam 27th Nov. Booked by my employer not myself. And I have to pay for it myself. And the Riyals will be taken off my salary over a few months. I also hear my Iqama will not be renewed if I dont get registered.

Protest! :sosad:

I'm a registered Engineer in the States (CA and NV) and I have annual dues ($100/yr) for each state.  Company picks up the tab.  working here in KSA, my employer will take care of it.  Usually the registrations require CEU's, but doubt it here.

Doesn't really seem to matter, no one "stamps and signs" drawings here that I have seen.  One has to back in the states for it to be legal so they know who to sue if something goes wrong. Here seems kinda odd.

One of my friend's friend working in ministry and he told me that this was introduced to curb some unlawful things that has been done and continue to be doing. He was telling that a lot of people who are working as Engineers as actually not registered as Engineers in their IQuama and has been referred to doing other professions and reverse is also happening , a lot of people who are said to be Engineers in their IQuama are actually not engineers. Not sure how it happended, but it happens like this.

So to stop this, Govt wanted to do this registration process where if you need to be working as an engineer, you need to be registered in the Association. Badly, for the sake of some people who is doing this against the law, all has to suffer.

Terms & conditions of Professional Accreditation registration at Saudi Council of Engineers

*Fill out the application Form on-line to obtain an SCE membership

*Fill out Professional Engineering Degree Application

*ProfessionalGrades responsibilities & requirements

Engineer, E

Responsibilities:
1. Offering technical assistance for the teamwork with which the engineer works.
2. Focusing on professional development programs through Participating in different professional programs.
Requirements:
1. A Bachelor's degree in engineering from an accredited University or institute.


Associate Engineer, AE

Responsibilities:
1. Signing reports and design works beside an engineer whose professional grade is not less than a professional engineer, PE.
2. Offering engineering services in his filed of specialization.
3. Practicing all engineering tasks, under the supervision, follow up and certification of a professional engineer, PE.
Requirements:
1. A Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited University or institute.   
2. A documented professional experience for a minimum (4) four years.
3. A minimum of (70) seventy qualifying points.


Professional Engineer, PE

Responsibilities:
1.    Preparing and offering engineering services only in his engineering field of specialization.
2. Signing reports and plans of direct or indirect responsibilities.
3. Training engineers at the level of associate engineer and below.
4 Undertaking engineering arbitration and settlement of disputes (qualification required).
5. Managing contracts of engineering services.
6. Assuming leadership responsibilities.
Requirements:
1.  A Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited University or institute.     
2. A (9) nine years documented acceptable practical experience.
3. A minimum of (100) one hundred qualifying points.

Consultant Engineer, CE

Responsibilities:
1. Authentication of Engineering services in different fields.
2. Signing reports and schemes in various specializations.
3. Training engineers at the level of a professional engineer and below.
4. Undertaking engineering arbitration and settlement of disputes in all fields (qualification required).
5. Offering various engineering consultations.
6. Leading teamwork in different engineering specializations.
Requirements:
1. A Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited University or institute.
3. (19) nineteen years or more of documented acceptable practical experience.
4. A Minimum of (250) two hundred fifty qualifying points.

*qualifying points (qualifying points)

Attach a copy of the followings:

ü  Bachelor's Degree Certificate (or equivalent). CAV certificate (for applicants who have studied in Philippines), Copy of the backside on the degree certificate (for applicants having Egyptian & Pakistani degrees/certificates), Mark sheet or transcripts along with Seat Number for Indian Degrees, Mark sheet or transcript for degrees with no discipline .

ü  National Id card for Saudis, or Iqama for non-Saudis.

ü  Passport for those who graduated from non-Saudi Universities.

ü  A letter from employer stating job title, rank, and starting date.

ü  Certificate of Practical Experience (for Government Employee).

ü  Experience Certificate, attested by the Chamber of Commerce (For Private Sector employee).

ü  Experience Certificate, verified and attested (Outside Kingdom).

ü  Certificates of training Courses, conferences, seminars, etc.

ü  Personalized Photo (5x5) cm with white background.

Paying the required Fee at any of SCE Offices Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam) or deposit/transfer the amount to “Saudi Council of Engineers” to SAMBA, A/C # :

IBAN:SA 8440000000009907003875

Please attach a copy of the receipt.

Required fees (3 years):

ü  1250 SR. : Engineer Degree.

ü  1700 SR. : Associate Engineer Degree.

ü  2300 SR. : Professional Engineer Degree.

ü  2800 SR. : Consultant Engineer Degree.

Submit application with all requirements to SCE branches at Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, or through mail (P.O.Box 85041 Riyadh 11691 Fax: 014027532), or scanned copies to e-mail:  [email protected] or [email protected]

  Remarks:

ü  Please submit Only applications for Engineers (holding a B.S. “or equivalent” in any engineering disciplines from an accredited 4 years “minimum” University).

ü  Incomplete files will be rejected.



for more info, check SCE website www.saudieng.org

good luck sparrow!!! :):):)

protest?lol its their law..sad to say but we don't have any choice but to follow it.

in the requirements, they didnt mention about americans and british and other nationalities except Filipinos, Egyptian, Pakistani and Indians maybe others are exempted.lol

wwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh... i wish i wish the company will shoulder the expenses... :whistle::whistle::whistle:

LOL! Ths is hilarious. The Arabs (from all regions) are gonna have a hard time with this one, if its really implemented.

Usually most Arabs refer to their professions, irrespective of what field it is, as an "Engineer".

Hence we have,
Computer Engineers (any technical IT guy)
Sanitary Engineers (Garbage Disposal)
Maintenance Engineers (Utility guys, Masons, Bricklayers)
Design Engineers (Decorators)
Architectural Engineers (Draftsmen)
Business Engineers (most CEO's fall into this category)
Project Engineers (Supervisors)
Water Engineers (Plumbers)
Woodworking Engineers (carpenters)
Satellite Engineers (Dish/Receiver installers)
etc, etc

in addition to the regular, official Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and other specific fields that are considered engineering, normally.

Looks like we are gonna have fun?

Our company also crculating such forms through e-mails and requesting to fill them. I am wondering beside there are people named themselves as an engineer actually they are not, some of my colleagues (real engineers) working under i.e. blacksmith iqama, since government not giving visa to particular engineering. So what will happen to them?

I do believe this 'saudi council liscensure' will hold a lot of weight if one ever has to return to Saudi after contract has finished. I know it will for me. So I do protest a little less. :rolleyes:

I'll pass this on to my employer but we have many saudi's working in the Khobar office.  Also the firm I work for bought the Saudi company and I am sure they are on top of this, but I'll check and let folks know if an issue for engineers registered (and previously documented upon arrival) from other countries.

PS - We are subs to ARAMCO and I doubt they would let it happen.

Havnt you noticed the prefix "Eng" before names on business cards similar to "Dr.". Ive seen tons of them floating around. Anyone who is not a Doctor is an Engineer, here.

It is a term often misapplied as you noted earlier.  But there are a few of us legit ones out there.

Oh sure, we all know who the real "men" of he profession are. Seeing is believing. My old man was one (Civil), so I can recognize the telltale signs when I see them. And he was damn good at his job too. God Bless his soul!

i received a circular from our company regarding this matter..but still not clear who will shoulder the expenses..
anyways, all the requirements are mentioned above, so need to prefer all the necessary documents before its too late.. :):):)

"Early bird catches worm"...how about the late ones? :D:D:D:D

The early worm also gets caught first...

@uvnpsaradhi

One of my friend's friend working in ministry and he told me that this was introduced to curb some unlawful things that has been done and continue to be doing. He was telling that a lot of people who are working as Engineers as actually not registered as Engineers in their IQuama and has been referred to doing other professions and reverse is also happening , a lot of people who are said to be Engineers in their IQuama are actually not engineers. Not sure how it happended, but it happens like this.


Here's an excerpt from "Working in Saudi Arabia" blog   
'You must be absolutely sure about your job title mentioned in your visa. It will be in Arabic, so you will have to get the help of someone who knows Arabic fluently to know its "exact" meaning. Confused? :-/ Read on. Every sponsor is given some visas by the Saudi government. Unfortunately, the profession or the trade mentioned in the visa need not necessarily be the job you are supposed to do, though officially this is not the case. In 9 out of 10 cases, the sponsor just grabs whatever visa is available and brings expats into the kingdom on that particular visa. For example, let's say a sponsor has a visa for a plumber. However, he may not be needing a plumber but rather an engineer. Since he was given only a plumber visa by the government, he would try to bring the expat on whatever visa is available.'
http://workinginsaudiarabia.blogspot.co … visas.html

Hopefully that provided some clarity on how this happens uvnpsaradhi

It's not the sponsor just grabbing any visa that he has laying around. It's very rare for a sponsor to just have them "lying around"

I don't think some of you know how hard it is to get resident visas for employees over here. And you can't ask for new visas if you still have ones open. You also can't generalize on what kind of visa you want. It's specific as hell.

This how specific visas are:
Citizenship | Country Coming From | Profession
So if I have a visa for a Canadian, I'd have it that he's coming from Canada most likely. But imagine I found a guy and he's living in Australia and has a computer science degree, but I want to bring him over as a web developer I can't do that. I'm totally screwed in this situation. And I can't apply for a new visa cause I still have one free. And I can't get a refund. Well, I can. But I'll get it in like 10 yrs.

So most companies just go the general route and choose a few professions and then spread them around countries.
Labor Worker
Engineer. But even engineer has become specific now, architectural engineer, civil engineer, environmental engineer, and so on.
Manager. Even that has become very specific. Sales. Store. So on...

I have an architect right now, he's not an architectural engineer, but he's an architect (arts & science). Those are two differences right there. So if I had an architect engineer I would have to bring him in on that.

Also, some of you fail to realize that engineers and only a few handful of others were the only ones allowed to bring their families over here. So yeah, take example my guy. If I want to bring his family over I can't. Because art degrees aren't on the list.

Companies spend good money on their iqamas and even a bit more trying to get them to go through. Sometimes you ask for 10, they say OK. Then they come back and say you only get 5. So you choose 5 and they then tell you to choose 3. So you become limited.

This is not an end to corruption, this is not an end to anything. It's just a money making scheme. And now all those professions that are "engineer" have to be changed to whatever profession that is. Imagine having over 800 employees with 30% of them having false professions. That's my HR work time and money that could be put to use doing something more important. And what benefits are there in joining up. If it was really an attractive offer then people wouldn't have a problem signing up.

Hi All,

Is there any case you know about who is having a different degree but is on engineers visa and tried to get registered with SEC?

What is the outcome? are they only entertaining 4 years degrees or they also considering other degrees as well like 2years degrees? e.g IT

BUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
:D:D:D:D:D

Seriously? WOW!!

And there is a test and everythign you say?
interesting. Looks like a lot of people would have to dust up all their old books!

Oh man! and I thought I left behind my engineering stuff!
urggghh!!

heya

ukk, it is clearly mentioned in their site this: "Please submit Only applications for Engineers (holding a B.S. “or equivalent” in any engineering disciplines from an accredited 4 years “minimum” University)."

i guess it is in the earlier post too so i hope it could help.

Redgoblin, some people says there will be an exam.. but if u check their site they didnt mentioned anything about the exam. what clear thing is you have to pay in order to register along with the required documents.

Damn! i received a circular telling that we have to shoulder the fees for the registration. Its unfair!!! :mad::mad::mad:

@ seeker of truth,

Thanks for your reply but are they gonna provide some advice to those people who have different degrees but working on engineering visas?

I think they may ask them to change the profession as per degree! Any other opinion?

what if someone dont get registered with Saudi Engineering Council?what is the penalty or draw back?

They strip you of your geekness.  It is an awful thing to see....

xain, they will not renew your iqama if your position on it is of "engineer".

@funkydelicguy: Thanks funky, yea its of engineer,so it means there is no specific time line for registration, i can get it anytime before my iqama expired?

Dear all,

I am a deploma holder working as an Auto Cad Draughtsman and in my Iqama it is Civil Engineer what should I do now.

Please advise me what to do.

Regards,
Ahmed.

ahmed12

Please pay a visit to SEC and check with them although the counter clerks dont know but still its better to visit may be you will get some other people with same case.

Secondly upload all your doc with you application that is online and very easy now, As per new procedure they will do the initial verification of the application and if accepted will ask you for the submission of fees other wise they may issue a letter so that you may change you profession as per your degree. Cheers

ahmed12

Note that without SEC profession change letter no one(with engineer mentioned on Iqama) can even initiate a profession change request in the passport office.

Jawasat office requires this letter for engineering profession to be changed.This is a mandatory requirement as per new rules, No IQAMA transfers as well with engineers mentioned on IQAMA without this letter from SEC.

I hope it will help.
BR

I am an Diploma Holder 3 Years. and working in Saudi from last 8 Years. My Iqama profession is Engineer. I was hired from a European company and came on Engineer visa. Now if  SEC dose not recognise Diploma Holders as Engineers , wat will happen to people like me???.

Dear mab 1234,

Myself being a diploma holder looking for the solution, I came to this country 20 years ego, initially  my profession  was "supervisor for works " 6 years back during the saudisation drive company asked to produce the certificates and passport dept. changed my profession to civil engineer . now SCE say three year diploma in civil engineering is not considered for registration  now  I don't know what to do

Gentlemen, Any 3 years (Associate Engineering) Diploma holder would like to share his experience about Iqama renewal if their profession was Engineer. Your advise could help many other readers. Thanks in advance.

I have uploaded my MCA certificate to SCE website and after 2 weeks I got this message.

"Dear Applicant, Thanks for your application. The requirement for professional registration at SCE is a BACHELOR degree in ENGINEERING with a minimum of four years study. Please upload complete set of academic record/transcript of bachelor degree for further review. Regards, Accreditation Center, SCE."

Can anyone pls advise me are they ask for my Bachelor Science certificate or they need only Engineering Certificate. MCA is equivalent to Computer Engineering. My profession in Iqama is "Electronics Engineer".

Please advise.

Guys,

Any one with degree or diploma in any discipline other than engineer, but title mentioned as engineer on IQAMA is required to change his profession and will have to take out engineer from his title on IQAMA.

Upload all your doc's to SCE and then let them evaluate, if you have an engineering degree you will get the letter for passport office so that your IQAMA can be renewed other wise you will get a rejection letter in you company name and then your company may initiate the profession change request in passport office.

Cheers.

Everybody is an Engineer in the Arabian Gulf

ukk wrote:

Guys,

Any one with degree or diploma in any discipline other than engineer, but title mentioned as engineer on IQAMA is required to change his profession and will have to take out engineer from his title on IQAMA.

Upload all your doc's to SCE and then let them evaluate, if you have an engineering degree you will get the letter for passport office so that your IQAMA can be renewed other wise you will get a rejection letter in you company name and then your company may initiate the profession change request in passport office.

Cheers.


Our Member UKK is absolutely correct. I have uploaded my MCA certificate and today they sent me a message asking to collect "Non-Registration" letter from their office in Riyadh to process "Profession Change in Iqama. All readers whoever in my position upload along with a request to SCE to provide such letter to help in profession change. Now I will give this letter to my company and hope they will change my profession.

musicman wrote:

Everybody is an Engineer in the Arabian Gulf


We got it the first time you said it. Whoever didn't get it that time probably got it in your second post. Whoever didn't get it that time...etc

El Flamengo wrote:
musicman wrote:

Everybody is an Engineer in the Arabian Gulf


We got it the first time you said it. Whoever didn't get it that time probably got it in your second post. Whoever didn't get it that time...etc


Didnt know you were more than one person?

Ok! so what would I be an Engineer in?