Family Reunion!

Welcome to the blog, amegy, and glad that we've been of some help!

What you ask is something that has frequently been addressed, if you want to scan the threads.  It can take your husband up to 3 or 4 months to get his iqama and another 3 or 4 months (or more)  to get your visa, depending on the time of year (fortunately you missed Ramadan, at which time everything pretty much slows to a halt).

If I'm wrong with these numbers, I'm sure somebody will jump in and correct me lol

Best of luck!

Amegy - Again, welcome to the Forum!  You will be glad you joined us, as Im sure you have noticed, we have some great fun here and when we get together as a group.

As for your coming to Riyadh.  Since your an American, and depending on where you husband works, you should be able to travel to KSA with him immediately.  But housing should be your first area of concern. 

We have been here almost a year (OMG - I can't believe this!)  and we traveled together.  But we did our homework and made sure we had acceptable accommodations before we arrived. 

There is a wealth of info in the guide and a ton of pp here that can assist.  So do some reading and then don't be afraid to ask some questions.  We are def here to help when we can. 

Looking forward to meeting you when you arrive!  I see another party on the horizon!  lol:lol:

Cheers!

Welcome Amegy, we'll look forward to your arrival. We seem to have an influx of late and just bring a bucket full of 'sense of humour' with you and you'll be fine.

Dave

Dave, how long is it taking you to get Jill here ????

I hope he doesnt have to,
fall down
and break his crown
for her to come
tumbling after?

Thank you all so much, I feel right at home already
We have 3 little ones who have never been away from dad more than a couple of days.  And honestly, I don't want to be left behind shoveling snow ALL WINTER LONG  
We'll see how things go, wish us luck!

Hi,
Welcome to the forum!
I just wanted to add my experience to all of the others, it took my husband about 2 months to get his iqama because everytime he submitted his documentation from the UK they told him he needed something else! After that I travelled from London with our two kids about 3 weeks later.

It usually depends on how good your husband's employers contacts are with people in high places, but hopefully you will have a good experience!

Welcome again, hope to meet you in the flesh at our next gathering

zara777 wrote:

Hi,
Welcome to the forum!
I just wanted to add my experience to all of the others, it took my husband about 2 months to get his iqama because everytime he submitted his documentation from the UK they told him he needed something else! After that I travelled from London with our two kids about 3 weeks later.

It usually depends on how good your husband's employers contacts are with people in high places, but hopefully you will have a good experience!

Welcome again, hope to meet you in the flesh at our next gathering

Zara,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience.  I'm just hoping that if we don't get to travel together, we wouldn't be apart longer than a couple of months.

Hope to meet you and the family real soon!

welcome amegy...as u have already read above, it all depends on the company ur husband is joining.
i know of someone whos company  got everything done within a month itself.

Where theres a Till theres a Way

Hi Amegy

Welcome to exaptblog!
Our family is currently going through the 'separation phase'. My husband arrived in Riyadh just over two weeks ago, and his iqama took about 10 days to come through. He is lecturing at Alfaisal University. No one seems able to tell us how long the visas for myself and the boys will take, though originally we were told 6 - 10 weeks. I feel a bit stunned after reading that it was only 3 weeks for Zara.    My house is total chaos at present, with packing boxes everywhere but I've been thinking it will be later rather than sooner, so the sorting and packing has been fairly leisurely so far.

I know just what you mean about kids missing their Dad. We talk on Skype almost every day and my 4yo's first question is always: Dad, is it time for us to go to Saudi Arabia now?

All the best with your preparations over the next few months.

Jill and I married in July this year because we want to be together now that I'm out here.
I took the documents to my company and they put it through on August 1st. I was told 6 -8 weeks initially. But . . . . .
because Ramadan was coming up I was told to expect it to be longer.
That was nearly nearly 13 weeks ago, I checked the other day and was told that I was one of 8 applications that had not been returned from immigration.

Jill and I look at the bright side, it's given her time to sort her house out.

Its always good to look at the bright side. But you still need sorting your house out at this end, mate?

Thats quite a long time for a family visa to be processed, especially with a legal marriage certificate in place.

Maybe he's an Alien?  Where is your spacecraft!

Always takes longer to sort out your house than you anticipate (speaking from experience!).

Hi Amegy, I recently arrived in Saudi (2 weeks ago!) so here's a rundown of the timings for the paperwork...

It took my husband 4 months to get his iqama (Ramadan slowed the process down), and then from that moment I had to submit my and my daughter's papers to his company in Paris. It took 3 days to get our visas and here we are.

Hope everything goes smoothly for you - but once the iqama arrives, depending on the company, things can move pretty quickly. Good luck!

WOW!  I'm surprised of the variation, but not so surprised now that no one we asked has been able to give us an exact timeframe.
Thanks again for all the input!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone

everything is a variable in the desert

Musicman wrote
"Its always good to look at the bright side. But you still need sorting your house out at this end, mate?"

Actually, I've not to do anything to this 'house' and to wait for the boss. Just have to keep it clean. Then we'll go 'house' shopping together.

The length of time it takes to get things sorted depends on how much 'Wasta' the company have and if the paperwork is being done by expats or not. Some people do not a high priority getting their work done. But don't quote me.

Though I do feel miffed that, in some cases it has just taken days to get it all done.

jillndave wrote:

Though I do feel miffed that, in some cases it has just taken days to get it all done.

I do feel a little bit guilty now after reading all the posts at how quickly ours went through!
My husband found though that it all depends on what day you go to the ministry to file the paperwork, who you go with, who is in the office at the time, the fates, the alignment of the stars.... !! It's all a bit random and unpredictable really, I hope that your wife's paperwork is sorted out soon though for both your sakes