Tahir84

The process of getting Iqama is not going smooth (not that i was expecting it within 4 weeks) but now its past week 6 and it appears that there will be yet more wait due to Eid holidays. Not having Iqama means no Saudi bank account and hence i have not being paid so far (except for 5K SAR cash advance).
I have asked the company to look at other options to pay me as i need money to go in UK account rather soon. They have said that they could make the transfer into a UK bank account however there may be 'charges' or 'Tax' involved so i may lose a bit of money.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me what those charges might be (i.e. are they fixed charges, or a percentage of amount being transferred). I would sure like to know before i ask them to make the transfer. Any advice/suggestions on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

nottmbantam

From my limited knowledge, it can get complicated. Firstly, Labour Law states that you must be paid in local currency. Previously, large MNC's found a way around this, but in recent years, they had to fall into line. The Wage Protection Scheme (WPS) requires each employer to submit to the MoL, a full list of who is receiving how much. This in effect is a counter-terrorism and Anto Money Laundering process.

Secondly, your employer may well send the money in SR. Meaning that the receiving bank will need to convert into Sterling, and you'll probably not receive the best exchange rate. Thirdly, the employer *may* have to pay VAT on the money sent. It cannot be a wage ( for Reason No. 1) so it would be classed as payment for service, hence incurring a VAT fee ( 5%) . Alternatively, the funds may incur a Witholding Tax payment - this is for funds sent to overseas consultants, and again, it around the 5% mark.

My best advice is to wait for the Iqama - and pursue this vigourously. Once you have this, everything else will fall into place.

Johnnyboy11

As an example, Santander UK charge a fixed £10 to receive international transfers. The sending bank will also charge a fee, and will skim a bit from the headline exchange rate published on Google Finance. All in all, usually less than 1%, which is not bad for the convenience and security offered. You will need the IBAN and maybe SWIFT codes for your UK account, but do make sure these are correct, otherwise some random person out there might receive your hard earned cash. You could send a small amount of cash first, which will arrive in a business day or two, to check things are working properly, then send the rest.
Having just read the above post, best wait for your Iqama, in case of other complications.

Tahir84

thanks both,
is there a law that stops them paying me the salary in cash? For some reason, they don't seem to like it when i asked about this.
I know a few UK guys who be happy to make the transfer from their UK bank to mine after i pay them SR cash here.

nottmbantam

Saudi Labour Law - The Wage Protection Scheme. By paying through a bank account, the authorities can monitor movement of money. Salaries paid in cash can't. Some employers will do this maybe for the first month as an exception, but pretty soon, it will HAVE to go through a bank account.

Tahir84

aah, i see. Well i am going to ask for it anyway. No harm in asking i guess.

Tahir84

I have been informed that the Iqama has been issued and should be with me in around 2 weeks. They sent me a PDF of 'Muqeem', which has all the information that is meant to be on iqama like profession, iqama expiry, nationality etc. Few questions:
* Can i use this PDF to open a bank account here in Saudi or do i need the actual Iqama itself?
* On the pdf, they have stated incorrect place (country) of birth, can this be corrected?

nottmbantam

In my experience, most banks will want to see the actual Iqama, even though the Muqeem is basically as good. In previous years, when my Iqama was due for renewal, the Bank froze my bank account until I could produce a new updated Iqama. I , like you, showed them the Muqeem certificate indicating it had been renewed, but they just want edto see the actual card, of which they will take a copy.

They got my country of birth wrong too, but haven't bothered to correct it. Apparently I was born in the USA . FFS.

Tahir84

Thanks for this info. i actually can see most of these banks are offering 'Online Bank Account opening' which would be interesting indeed. I am desperate for an account so i can get paid (which is long overdue), so might force myself to try the online application.