wonderer123

Land routes opened for Saudi citizens, slowly getting there...agree on not having an end date to plan/work towards

https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saud....1595468422753

scot47

Pilgrimage this week may usher in a new wave of Covid-19, even though numbers are restricted this year.

HB89

My application to work in Financial Services has just been approved by SAMA. Next step waiting for embassy to open and issue visas again. Not all the way there but it's progress!

HB89

UK to Saudi flights resuming on the 22nd of August.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1720966/saudi-arabia

wonderer123

moving slowly... reads more like one way exit country flights

HB89

Gotta get them out before more can come in...being overly optimistic!

Trailing_Hubby

We are flying out a week on Sunday!! Good grief!

scot47

Can foreigners fly into KSA now ? i have friends who are teaching staff at saudi unis, many are on summer holiday O.O.K. (Aramco-speak for "Out Of Kingdom !) Can they get back in ?

HB89

Congratulations! When was the Visa issued? I thought they weren't issuing them just yet?

Trailing_Hubby

I don’t think they are but we have some kind of special ones. We are out earlier than expected, we thought it would be the middle of September.

We have to have a COVID PCR test done to fly, which was a bit of a stress to find somewhere with availability but we managed to get it sorted.

HB89

I see. Well it's worked out nicely for you. Hope you have a safe journey

Trailing_Hubby

So, we are in Al Nakhla currently. I’ve got no frame of reference, but it seems fairly quiet. Plenty of cars here, but the communal areas are not crowded at all. We won’t be staying here long term, but a guy who came out with us has two kids and has been doing a lot of research and visits. A 3 bed villa here is about 230k SAR, and they are almost fully occupied so not much scope for negotiation. They are leaning towards Arizona next door as they prefer the layout and things like the golf course and farm are plus points.

HB89

Glad you made it there safe and sound.

I will have to check Arizona again. I heard it was a very "American" compound. Is that true or like most is it really mixed?

Do you mind telling me which agency you got your visa with and how long that process was? I am no going through this myself. And which Visa did you apply for. I am going for work but taking family with me. Do I need to apply twice? Or does the work visa have a section for family members?

Trailing_Hubby

I think it’s pretty mixed. Of the guys I know that are going two are German and one American.. The thing that sold it was the golf course and the farm animals, which are great for their kids.

We used Gulf Visa, but we got some special evisa which I don’t think they are doing any more. They had no idea what it was when we arrived, which was fun at 3 in the morning. I’m not working and I’m just on the wife’s application, although I didn’t see what the application was like. It was certainly all done together. We should be transferring to an Iqama soon I hope - can’t get a bank account until we do.

HB89

That was a rapid reply!
The farm at Arizona does look good and my drive could use some work - may have sold it to me.

So does that mean you and the kids didn't need to do the medical?
We are targeting an end of Nov, early Dec date. Got so many forms and documents to have attested! Such a pain.

I got a HSBC account in the UK as I saw they are in Saudi under the SABB name, if that's any help.