Bank Account Frozen due to Iqama (Residency Permit) Expiry

Natour Active member

42POSTS

14 years ago

Hi,

Has anyone been in the same spot where your bank account is
Frozen by the bank because your Iqama has expired,
Renewal will take some time as my company has to sort out some issues
With the labor office first.

My question is how do I access to my money in the bank ?
Any tips or previous experience on the matter would be great.

Thank you

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TheLegendLeads ViP

5763POSTS

14 years ago

Yes, @cobonedeals is right.

It happens with everyone every year unless you visit them with the renewed iqama ahead of the expiry time stored in their records.

My last year experience was horrible. I visited my bank's 8/9 branches in different areas in 15-20 days and all of them apologized saying that the system was down at that time.

It took me some 2 months to get it reactivated (though my iqama had already been renewed).

Stuart1 Member

21POSTS

14 years ago

I have a slightly different case - I have left the Kingdom and been drawing down cash from the Samaba ATM here in Dubai. Finally its seems my old employer has got round to cancelling my iqama and the account has frozen. But I have left the Kingdom, no iqama to renew. Lost money? Any way of getting the balance and closing the account?

Wilson Guest

0POSTS

14 years ago

oh,i got to go update my iqama by visiting my bank, or even i will face the same problem. Thanks for the information

Salman Omrani VIP Member

1389POSTS

14 years ago

in special cases the bank will help you withdraw your money after you prove your identity using your passport. but you'ed be closing your account for good. this solution would work perfectly for Stuart1. but if you want to keep your account, wait for your iqama renewal. or try to negotiate a withdraw using your passport or iqama copy with a letter from your employer asking for the banks cooperation. in this case your best shot would be to go to the branch your account was opened and check with the branch manager directly.

Salman

1 member reacted to this post

Popolocroix Serial expat

423POSTS

14 years ago

Natour wrote:
Hi,

Has anyone been in the same spot where your bank account is
Frozen by the bank because your Iqama has expired,
Renewal will take some time as my company has to sort out some issues
With the labor office first.
My question is how do I access to my money in the bank ?
Any tips or previous experience on the matter would be great.
Thank you

Screw these banks...

It's like, MONEY IN, and NO MONEY OUT.

I know one case, wherein despite the guy's iqama being expired, his salary was mistakenly transferred into his account. Alas...his money was trapped that time for like 2-3 months...however, i do not know if they were able to fix it already (his iqama is still expired). Or just maybe, it's the same way Salman puts it...

harryKSA Member

22POSTS

14 years ago

Has anyone been in the same spot where your bank account is frozen by the bank because your Iqama has expired, renewal will take some time as my company has to sort out some issues with the labour office first.

Being a recent arrival to KSA, all this is new to me. However, it sounds to me like the government and banks are effectively encouraging you to use Saudi banks as nothing more than a clearing facility for your salary, so you transfer all your money out of the country as soon as possible.

How can that be good for the Saudi economy?

A more sensible arrangement would encourage people to keep their savings in local banks.

TheLegendLeads ViP

5763POSTS

14 years ago

A frozen account can always accept transactions coming IN, withdrawals are barred. Isn't this funny?

3dnan Serial expat

207POSTS

14 years ago

#10

TheLegendLeads wrote:
A frozen account can always accept transactions coming IN, withdrawals are barred. Isn't this funny?

You have a government working from one side, and a bank working from the other side, did you expect it to be any better

Salmans suggestion seems to be the most reasonable one, all the best Natour, keep updating us.

Falcon22 Member

10POSTS

14 years ago

#11

Online banking does works even they freeze the account

It happened with me but I paid some bills and transferred some amount during the frozen period.

Yobhtron New member

8POSTS

13 years ago

#12

Need to take note of these experiences. Thanks for the share.

KUTTICUTE Member

1POSTS

12 years ago

#13

Though my iqama is still having validity time of 6 months .My account is freezed due to same reason.I dont know how its happening

Hasnaa ViP

4079POSTS

12 years ago

#14

Hi KUTTICUTE,

Welcome to Expat.com.

Please note that you have posted on an old thread.

To obtain more answers, it would be best if you start a new discussion with all your questions on the Saudi Arabia forum.

Getting in touch with an official of the bank may help you understand what happened to your account.

Best of luck,

Hasnaa
Expat.com Team

shiva bahadur New member

2POSTS

11 years ago

#15

not up date

Deen Mohammed Member

1POSTS

11 years ago

#16

Hi
I have been recently renewal my iqama ; so i want to update my by online.

Stuart1 Member

21POSTS

11 years ago

#17

If you still have your bank ATM card see if you can still get cash out with it. Most Saudi banks have ATMs in the UAE and Bahrain too.

marc pinas Member

3POSTS

11 years ago

#18

pls help i cant widraw my money here in the philippines on my samba atm..
and im not coming back to saudi arabia to renew my iqama in case it was frozen due to expiry..
ive tried to register for online banking but service is not available and ive tried calling them but the person answering my call is speaking only in arabic.. is there anyway or any advise pls..

mannyd Serial expat

309POSTS

11 years ago

#19

why you did not withdraw all your money before going to your country?

sorry if you can not withdraw, we can't withdraw your money too! no pun intended. but that's a big mistake.

bank policy is you should be in saudi to update your data/iqama and your account will be reactivated. no phone call will help you. good luck!

marc pinas Member

3POSTS

11 years ago

#20

ive called samba bank @ kingdom branch and the bank mngr said my acct is not frozen and i still have 10 days to use it, thats why ive decided to send my atm through fedex to my friend in jeddah and hopefully he can withdraw from there, but im wondring if its no frozen why cant i make withdrawals here in phils and even balance inquiry?

mannyd Serial expat

309POSTS

11 years ago

#21

marc pinas wrote:
ive called samba bank @ kingdom branch and the bank mngr said my acct is not frozen and i still have 10 days to use it, thats why ive decided to send my atm through fedex to my friend in jeddah and hopefully he can withdraw from there, but im wondring if its no frozen why cant i make withdrawals here in phils and even balance inquiry?

you are so trustful. how can you be sure your friend will help and not take your money? i just hope nothing goes wrong with your money. any one will tell you over the phone your account is ok but the reality is you can not withdraw and you cant do balance inquiry. good luck.

Ejy1991 Member

2POSTS

8 years ago

#22

Salam,

Im now in jordan and i have rajhi bank account and I couldn’t withdraw money from atm, and i think its due for my iqama has expired, they have alrajhi branch in jordan, can i withdraw my money there if i show them my old iqama and original passport copy? Please help

xinnjashen New member

4POSTS

8 years ago

#23

hi! my iqama will expire this august 7 and the bank sent me a notice about my account. my employer will not renew my iqama and i will go for final exit. my question is will i able to withdraw my money 1 week before my iqama expire?

Yzran jane Ahamad Member

1POSTS

5 years ago

#24

My account in NCB is frozen since last Thursday...and my boss transferred my salary to it..even he knows that my iqama is expired already..and my passport is expired too since last October...the bank told me to renew my passport first...so that my boss can renew my iqama..but the passport renewing takes almost 3 months..my question is..I really need the money..what can I do to be able to withraw or send my money to my country?please I need help...

mmjv29 Member

16POSTS

5 years ago

#25

No chance of getting your money as long as ur iqama is expired. You have to renew ur passport then ur iqama then u can get ur money

BlackHoleSun Member

15POSTS

5 years ago

#26

Yzran jane Ahamad wrote:
My account in NCB is frozen since last Thursday...and my boss transferred my salary to it..even he knows that my iqama is expired already..and my passport is expired too since last October...the bank told me to renew my passport first...so that my boss can renew my iqama..but the passport renewing takes almost 3 months..my question is..I really need the money..what can I do to be able to withraw or send my money to my country?please I need help...

If you have online banking and still able to log unto your account, you can transfer the money to one of your friend and let him/her withdraw the money.

Arsal7 ViP

1357POSTS

5 years ago

#27

BlackHoleSun wrote:
Yzran jane Ahamad wrote:
My account in NCB is frozen since last Thursday...and my boss transferred my salary to it..even he knows that my iqama is expired already..and my passport is expired too since last October...the bank told me to renew my passport first...so that my boss can renew my iqama..but the passport renewing takes almost 3 months..my question is..I really need the money..what can I do to be able to withraw or send my money to my country?please I need help...

If you have online banking and still able to log unto your account, you can transfer the money to one of your friend and let him/her withdraw the money.

Impossible.
It is frozen.

BlackHoleSun Member

15POSTS

5 years ago

#28

Been there before, done that. After my residence ID got expired, I wasn't able to withdraw any amount. I've tried playing around on my online banking and to my surprise I was able to transfer the entire amount to a friend and let him withdrew it. It's a first hand experience and not a make up story from anyone else.

Arsal7 ViP

1357POSTS

5 years ago

#29

BlackHoleSun wrote:
Been there before, done that. After my residence ID got expired, I wasn't able to withdraw any amount. I've tried playing around on my online banking and to my surprise I was able to transfer the entire amount to a friend and let him withdrew it. It's a first hand experience and not a make up story from anyone else.

I had some experience.
Now, it's impossible.

vbgoud513 New member

3POSTS

4 years ago

#30

Hi Friends,

I left (Final Exit) from Saudi Arabia on 9th Oct 2021, My employer was accidentally deposited the Final Clearance Amount in a My Samba Bank Salary Account on Nov 2021.

The account was seized/frozen it seems and registered mobile was deactivated, I couldn't able to withdraw through ATM from Dubai. The account will be deactivated soon since my iqama expiry date is very close.

I could able to see the money through ATM in Dubai but no luck to withdraw.

Could anyone please help me out of this issue?

Thanks,

Mohamad Abdullah Member

10POSTS

4 years ago

#31

Dear,

I think you will not be able to find a solution unless you have a valid resident permit connected to the same account.
Unfortunately, the sum is lost forever.
Shouldn't deposit in your Saudi Account while you have final exit.

Wish you all the luck

Arsal7 ViP

1357POSTS

4 years ago

#32

vbgoud513 wrote:
Hi Friends,

I left (Final Exit) from Saudi Arabia on 9th Oct 2021, My employer was accidentally deposited the Final Clearance Amount in a My Samba Bank Salary Account on Nov 2021.

The account was seized/frozen it seems and registered mobile was deactivated, I couldn't able to withdraw through ATM from Dubai. The account will be deactivated soon since my iqama expiry date is very close.

I could able to see the money through ATM in Dubai but no luck to withdraw.

Could anyone please help me out of this issue?

Thanks,

Ask your kafeel to visit the bank.
They will help.
Money can be retrieve.

1 member reacted to this post

saqayyum2000 Serial expat

447POSTS

4 years ago

#33

vbgoud513 wrote:
Hi Friends,

I left (Final Exit) from Saudi Arabia on 9th Oct 2021, My employer was accidentally deposited the Final Clearance Amount in a My Samba Bank Salary Account on Nov 2021.

The account was seized/frozen it seems and registered mobile was deactivated, I couldn't able to withdraw through ATM from Dubai. The account will be deactivated soon since my iqama expiry date is very close.

I could able to see the money through ATM in Dubai but no luck to withdraw.

Could anyone please help me out of this issue?

Thanks,

Dear Brother
this is a mistake from both ends you and your company(kafeel) why did you leave before your EOSB cleared, and now your Company deposited that money in wrong account.
Go to bank site get the number of overseas customers and contact them by call second option is your company has submitted the amount and if they want they can return it back and transfer in correct one but for that company needs to do hard work thats why they told you to its paid.
Solution is only that you talk to bank as overseas customer and ask them to find you a solution. and ask them what documents they required.
Hope direct communication with Bank will solve your case.

1 member reacted to this post

kaiserkirmani New member

4POSTS

4 years ago

#34

Yes my iqama was expired few months back after renewing i got to knw that my bank account has been blocked that i made through online app. Then i visted nearest branch they asked for branch and i said its online but unfortunately they didnt gave correct information what to do ... any suggestion what should i do now?

vbgoud513 New member

3POSTS

4 years ago

#35

Thanks

I'll reach out ..!!

Thanks,
Bhaskar Vemula

harrislodhi Member

22POSTS

4 years ago

#36

My iqama is expired, I am on final exit visa in kingdom, one of my friend transfer amount in my bank account which is frozen, how can I withdraw the money and idea?

Mehmoodwahid Member

1POSTS

4 years ago

#37

Hi
Guys. Lemme share my experience today. As my sabb account was blocked due to iqama renewel issue. The only way to retrieve the money is to close account permanently. They will give you some form to fill up and with in 10 min I was able to withdraw my money. I hope it help

1 member reacted to this post

esubpatan Member

19POSTS

4 years ago

#38

Dears,
the same case with me too. My account is on hold after sponsor is changed .
if anyone is having the
1. Salary Certificate
2. Salary Assignment

templates please share me .

Hazel Aquino Member

2POSTS

4 years ago

#39

Hi May I know what you did to fix this issue with frozen bank account? Thanks

Wilson Guest

0POSTS

4 years ago

#40

@Mehmoodwahid hi my account is blocked as I went in final exit . My company transferred my funds to that account which they froze on my final exit. Can u help what I can do