creative79

I am sure that most of you, if not all, have gone through this, but I am kind of confused as to how I am supposed to have my degrees attested by the Saudi Embassy in London. I have already had them verified/legalised by the FCO in Milton Keynes. I went to the Saudi Embassy for further attestations, as required by my employer, but they asked for about six to seven documents, such as a letter from the employer, a copy of my iqamah (shocking) and a letter from the Labour Ministry, KSA etc, in order to attest my degrees. Moreover, they said that the process will take 4 to 5 weeks.

I am wondering if this is the normal procedure.

saeed409

All I had to do was to have them attested with the FCO and then hand them with my visa application.

Did not need them attested by the Saudi Embassy!

I would suggest you ask an visa agent, I used Ablecan, they know exactly whats required and how to get it done.

My recommendation is to use an agent for the visa application, its much easier than going to the emabssy in person.

Employers in Saudi normally reimburse all costs associated with the visa application

creative79

Thank you Saeed for the information. I will contact them tomorrow. May I ask you how long it took them to complete all the formalities.

saeed409

What I had to do was:-
Certificate attestation
Medical Test

this with a completed visa form along with the employers visa letter/form/block was passed onto Ablecan (Visa agents). They returned my passport with visa within 48 hours.

Ablecan did guide me through all the process.

Employer reimbursed me for all costs involved.

Hope that helps

Hi Five

Hi Creative79,

I was in the same 'very (very) confused' situation as you, several weeks ago (I have a thread on this forum asking the same question). I got many answers to this question........

....And I got my KSA visa last week.... so here is my feedback (incl the valid points Saeed makes).... :

1. The Embassy told me to get my certificates 'attested' by the Saudi Cultural Bureau/Wing/Attache (SCB) in London. This process WILL take 4-5 weeks (or longer) as they write to the body who issued the certs for validation.

2. Feedback from other people was to just the the certs FCO'd from Milton Keynes - 48 hour turn around in the post. If you send photocopies, you need a solicitor to verify them first as they are true copies (cost £10/£20 per cert) - see FCO website for full details.

3. I finally used Ablecan (used previously), who told me to simply send them photocopies of certs (not attested, not FCO'd). Plus sent medical form (MUST be FCO certified as per Saeed), but NO x-ray done (some folk say it is needed), plus send applic form, photo's etc.

4. See Alblecan or Gulfvisa webite, they have a good checklist of what doc's are needed.

And I got my Works Visa stamped on my passport, without attestation, without FCO'd certs, and without an x-ray !! ... this may have been successful for the fact that an Agent was involved (Ablecan), and I got sound visa documents from my Saudi employer who chased my application directly with the london embassy, less chance of rejection by embassy who dont know themselves what is needed, other than quote of their website !!!!!

For peace of mind, I got my cert's FCO'd retrospectively (photocopy, signed by solictor), incase they were required for my iqama in KSA.

Leadtime :

* Medical - 3-5 days for bloods results plus booking appt for organising tests, results and form completion (form confused my GP).
*Solicitor - call in advance to make appointment, 15 minutes (if you have several cert's, negotiate a price for quantity, espc. if your emlployer is not paying !) :
*FCO - 48 hours plus postage time,
*Saudi Embassy - 2-3 days plus postage time to agent, to Embassy, and back (agents can usually submit applic to embassy same/next day, and post back same day).


ps. my saudi employer sent me a form for attestation of cert's at SCB incase I had to go down that route my my saudi employer not to submit this form unless specifically requested, to bypass the 4-5 weeks... and it wasn't requested.


So it's not a clear process, but that's how I got my visa with photocopy certs !!

creative79

Dear Hi Five,

Thank you very much. It was really helpful. I am glad I posted my query here. I am going to contact Ablecan first thing in the morning.