lowfatexpat

I am from the UK and visited Saudi a few years back. I went on a visit visa I obtained after a year and a half of hassling certain contacts I had in the country.

I took my degree/qualifications in IT with me - the aim at the time was to find a job there so I could be provided with an iqama. Wishful thinking. No employer wanted to know - I had only two interviews in the entire time, and in both cases they became very uncertain once they realised visa arrangements had to be made. It was a case of "I'll have to check with my superiors..." and then I'd never hear back. Incidentally both interviews were with a major bank, so I knew they were in a position to apply for visas without too much hassle.

In one of the two cases the interview was purely an ego game. The guy was very condescending, made me work for a day for free, and left the office before the day was up so he didn't have to say anything (and seemed to really revel in what he was doing - when I got there, he even tried to act like he'd forgotten who I was, despite the fact that I'd talked to him in person only two days earlier to arrange the interview). He then ignored my calls before telling a contact of mine a week later that he didn't want to employ me.

All bitterness aside...I have to admit that at the time my work experience was a little lacking. Even in the UK before I left, I wasn't getting all that many calls from job agencies. I was told in several cases that the "best thing to do" would be to go back to the UK and apply for jobs from there. It seemed a bit of a strange thing to say considering the effort it took just to get there in the first place, but I figured maybe people were right.

So I came back, having decided Saudi was the country for me (yes I know, I'm crazy). Since then, I've been making every effort to go back. I tried getting an iqama through the same contacts, but that ended in over a year's wait before I was told it wouldn't happen. During that time, I built up some decent enough experience as a programmer and web designer (web development/design is pretty much my primary IT field now). I get calls/e-mails regularly from agencies about jobs in London, mostly paying 40-50k+, which is far more than any company would ever consider me for before now.

I don't want to abandon my dream though, so I'm still trying for a job in Saudi. I've spent months trying to find every possible job site online, and I've gone through most of the major ones like Bayt.com, through to all the minor ones and the may-be-a-scam ones. I've also sent my CV to every agency I could find that catered to the KSA, and I even went through all the saudi companies listed on Wikipedia sending them speculative letters with my CV.

In total i've sent out over 140 e-mails/applications in the last couple of months. And out of them, I've received a grand total of two replies, both to say I had not been accepted. To the credit of the National Technology Group, their reply came within 20 minutes. I didn't know it was even possible for things to happen in 20 minutes in Saudi. The other rejection e-mail was from the new KAUST university, who seem to be fairly professional and replied within a week.

The most frustrating thing is, I'm now being told by people that I should be trying to get in on a visit visa and apply from within Saudi. In other words, the exact opposite of what I was told while I was there.

I know about the whole Saudiisation thing, but surely out of that many applications, someone has to be able to employ a foreigner?

In the last 6 months I've also looked at every option available to me for a visa/iqama, legal or otherwise, including a couple of cases where people have tried (and failed) to take all the money I had in exchange for not very much.

With the other options I tried, I got all sorts of excuses, and filtering out the truth was quite difficult. I was told one application was rejected, but in the end it turned out the wrong type of visa was applied for, because the guy didn't actually have the power to get a visa for someone from the UK.

I was also told everything from stories about changes in application procedures, to the UK being on a visa blacklist. A little research on the embassy site and forums like this showed me that wasn't the case, since other people seemed to be getting visas just fine. I keep getting told to come through Pakistan (since I'm a british-born Pakistani), but I'm wary of that because I don't want to wind up getting stuck with a labour visa (and even if that's not the case, my last visit taught me that my UK passport is worth its weight in gold).

I'd also be happy to set up my own business in Saudi, but that doesn't seem to be an option. From what I can find, the requirements for foreign investors include a two-year financial history for the business abroad (seems very strange, how exactly do foreigners start brand new companies in the KSA )

I've very, very frustrated at this point, and despite being told by the few contacts left that there's still a (slow) chance of a visa, I'm very close to giving up on the idea. I'm getting a little tired of having to translate "Saudi speak" into truth.

So I'm here to ask for slightly less biased information than the stuff I've been getting. Every few weeks there's a new "I got a job offer" post on here. So I want to ask...how??? How do you guys manage it? Some of the people on here don't even seem to be specifically looking for jobs in the KSA and end up with one!!

Also, if anyone has any specific links to places where I could find IT jobs, or even better if someone is in the KSA and knows of an IT company/department they could pass my CV on to, that would be fantastic. Especially if it's a company that's looking for a web developer.

If not, then if anyone could maybe try and guess/figure out what I'm doing wrong, that might be good (well, about as good as a firm kick in the nads after this many years, but it'd at least put my mind at ease).

Sorry, I know this is quite long and rant-like for a first post, but I'm feeling quite wound up by all of this.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

norsk

Man that is one long post!

I work in IT (ecommerce development/management) in Saudi and I was headhunted from the UK. To be honest I think that happens a lot. Especially for jobs that are quite specialised.

However your obsession with getting to Saudi makes me smile. Why would anyone want that badly to come here? Yes, the money is good but not for everyone. And Saudi is by no means an easy country to work in, but you've already got a taste of that through what you're saying about your visa experiences.

You, as a bog standard programmer/web designer would compete with Indians, Pakistanis and other Arabs for developer jobs. Trust me these jobs are not that well paid in Saudi compared to the UK. As an example I could easily hire a ASP.NET developer with 3-5 years experience for less than SR10,000 basic a month. Hell, I could get an experienced consultant from one of the outsourcing companies for about SR13,000-15,000 all inclusive per month.

If you're still keen after knowing about the money you should start by registering with some of the agencies that cover the whole Gulf, and upload your CV on Gulftalent.com, Bayt.com and Monstergulf.com...

sufyan_victoria

as far as applying from Pakistan for KSA jobs will give an edge is quite wrong.I have uploaded my CV at Gulftalent.com, Bayt.com ,Monstergulf.com,naukrigulf.com and as well was applying for my own category job as DBA / Developer for last 3 years but in vane . I did not get even a single interview call , now i have been grossed up why it is like that what exactly am i doing wrong?

msrt

Hi every one

I m Pakistan too and still in a search to find job in KSA related to IT by having 5 years handon experience in Network and system administration, OFC planning and deployment including it O&M.

I was interviewed in Pakistan via detacon Saudi for Mobily about 3 months before but didn't got any response from them. Although they also have signed agreement during their visit in Pakistan.

Can any one help me in this regard ????

Tockalosh

Guys I am here to help all you IT professionals get jobs in the dreamiest of dream locations Saudi Arabia

I have many employers looking for English born IT professionals right now and willing to pay dream salaries. I can guarantee you visas but will need up front payment of USD 10,000 into my isle of man account to cover expenses

Qualifications are not required if you have UK passport and you will walk on streets paved with Gold very soon

kittycat1

need upfront payment- that sounds as dodgy as a 9 bob note!