I suppose I can cope with waiting in the rain for a month until I can get out to join him ! also, his contract states that we get a two bed apartment on a compound, when I asked them where it was exactly they just sent a list of web pages with descriptions of compounds in riyhad and jeddah, is it normal to not be allocated an exact compound until you get over there, I was hoping to know exactly where we would be living, sorry for yet another question !

Please make sure he gets into a compound from day one. There are lots of other people that come out here and are promised any thing and every thing, most of the compounds here are full and have long waiting lists.
I have seen it tooo many times companies or these agents back in the uk promise you it all and you end up with nothing.
Please do some research on the compound before he flies out, More so for you do they have a bus service to the shops what activies are there on the compound for you.
Children the schools here can be expensive and places are limited.

Please dont get me wrong here i am just try to help out,

a month to get his - minimum! Add a couple of weeks then to get yours! Plus, you might want to cross all fingers and toes and find a lucky rabbit foot and 4 leaf clover - It took my husband 6 weeks to get iquama - with 2wks of Eid in there - but for others it has taken MUCH longer.... 6-9 months and they all work for the same company!

I would do as coffindodger says and confirm whether they have secured an apartment or whether you are supposed to find one. The waiting lists are LONG everywhere (minimum of 3mth wait in Jeddah) and it is usually only through company wasta that you get one immediately. If you are being left to sort it out yourselves it may be a serious problem for you. This is also another reason that most guys go out ahead of the families - they can move around much easier and so if they have to stay elsewhere while an apartment is refurbed then it isn't an issue - but it is with a family - particularly in Riyadh.

The advice above is good. Your quality of iife in Riyadh will very much depend on where you live. Time spent over the first few months researching options could make all the difference. An offer of two bed room apartment on a compound can mean anything, note not all compounds are western expat compounds. You need to find out the budget. waiting lists are typically quoted at 6 months, but the lists don't move. i have been on some waiting lists for 4 years!

It would just be me and the dogs coming over, the agent we are dealing with is in Saudi and works for the company employing my husband. I will try press them for the exact compound we are on before we come over. Just got my husbands documents for visa to be stamped in London. does he need to go in person or send them? still not 100 per cent what to do. We really dont want to be apart over Christmas time really that's the worry.

You need an agent in UK to get the visa issued from the Saudi embassy. The Saudi embassy will give yo a list of approved agents. We use Harley street medical and visa services; they have a good reputation, but they are not the cheapest. [email protected]

Your husband needs to come by himself to process his work visa. He can't come on a business visit visa and then get a work visa and get residency. A business visit visa is just for a short term (up to 30 day) visit. If you entered by such a visa you'd need to go out and come back on a work visa.

Before leaving the home country you will send the passport (along with medical report and educational certificates) to the Saudi Embassy via an approved agent who will put a work visa in his passport. The list of agents is on the Embassy website.

When he arrives here then he take a medical here in KSA and then the company will submit his papers to the Passports Department. Once this is done your husband will receive his residency permit (iqama) which acts as your ID card and should be carried at all times.

Once this iqama is made then the company should apply for the family visas. When ready you will submit your passport to the Saudi Embassy in your country and then the same process will happen. Family visas don't come out of the allocation of visas that companies have.

Most companies will apply for batches of visas in advance for different nationalities and professions. Any applicant must be the same nationality and profession as the visa. The Saudi embassy in the home country will validate this by checking the professional qualifications. Not all professions are allowed to apply to add their families (low level laborers).

There is absolutely no reason for the work visa to take more than a few days to process. In fact the Passport office can finish their work within a day. It's the dis-organised, slow work from the company in submitting all the relevant details that's to blame. I've gone into the Government Passport Department and processed an iqama in 5 minutes - I literally had it in my hand.

The iqama is very important as you use it as ID for everything. Would be good to check with other expats in the same company how efficient they are getting their work done.

Driving licence can be done easily after the iqama is completed. Be sure for him to take his UK driving licence.

Dogs I dont know about!

Thanks for reply, so if all goes to plan and smooth is it a possibility that I could join him within the month? Its so strange all these different waiting times for visas etc. Can I get my medical done at my own doctors ? The employment contract sent with the visa application is different to the original one sent is this also the norm also ?? Head in bits with it all ha

Thanks for that address. So I can't just pop to my own doctors and get medical ! Lots of things to organise I really don't know where to start , least the weather is guaranteed !!!!!!

Hi - just contact one of the agents who makes the visa with the Saudi Embassy and they will let you know exactly whats needed. Let them worry about the formalities for you. As for the work contract then please let me know what the differences are.

As for when your husband arrives then if the company are very efficient then within 7-10 days they can complete his medical, submit his papers and get the iqama back (its basically looks like credit card sized ID). The reason you hear so many different timelines is due to the company just being plain slow at processing. That said, there is a bit of a backlog in some Passport Dept offices due the busy summer etc.

Once the iqama is made the company can then start work on getting the family visas. Again it shouldn't take more than 7-10 days for the family visas to be ready. To apply for the family visa then your husband will need to have a profession which can bring their family (this the company has to be sure of and assign him the relevant visa). The profession should also match his educational / professional certificates. Also, please make that the certificates have been attested by whoever they were issued by (this has been done due to people providing false documentation). These are the same documents that your husband will have submitted to the agent when getting the work visa processed in the UK.

I know it all seems a bit much but try to let a good agent take care of the formalities in the UK and then hope that the company are good at processing government related work. Yes, in theory it could all be done within 1 month but I wouldn't count on it. Also, as others have stated, a lot of companies will wait until the employee has completed his 3 month probation period before going to the time and expense of making the family visa. This is something that your husband should clarify with the hiring company now.

Good luck and keep asking questions. Moving country can get stressful - so we're to help