Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

Just got my fifth Saudi Visa (joy of joys): 90 days as the others, but bloody single entry, all the others were multiple. One colleague much the same, another (applying through London) had his refused twice.

We're all Brits. Is there something going on?

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

and is the max stay 30 days?

I've been having all sorts of problems over the past few months. Single visit visas given when multiple applied for an paid for!! (i.e. give you a 200 SR stamp after taking 500 SR). There will come a time when I say fine and call it a day with our Saudi friends.

are you applying for 'work' or 'commercial' visa? The latter is much easier to get apparently.

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

Yeah, 30 days. Don't know what was applied for (but same as before); states on visa "Not Permitted to Work", which means I can put my feet on the desk and drink sweet hot tea all day. I'll investigate further (but must have a cuppa first).

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

I got a 180-day multiple entry in August. Yay lucky me.

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

I got a 90-day multiple in July, but this last month the tide seems to have turned. Could just be randomness playing itself out...

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

Are you applying via London or local embassy? That might also make a difference too.

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

The 2 of us who've got single entries have both applied in the UAE, as before. As far as we're aware we're not doing anything differently.

The guy whose having difficulty getting anything is applying in London.

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

no change to the visa rules that i'm aware of, but hajj normally puts a spanner in the works so maybe it's just a timing issue.

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

I think this might be down to the Hajj season, where the Embassy maybe in a rush to process as much visas as possible. Hence overlooking the multiple entry stamps etc...

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

I was having issues well before Hajj season. Maybe there's a threshold for no. of multiples you can get before their suspicions raised

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

to be fair it should be you (as the person who has to endure the place) who sets that limit rather than them but hey ho..:p

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

Not sure if it's relevant in your cases, but there's a new (and rather confusing) rule about your profession and who is sponsoring you (or what sort of firm you are visiting).

As my Riyadh-based mate put it: "A toilet roll salesman cannot visit a bank to sell toilet rolls to them, because they are a bank but HE isn't a banker".

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

This follows on from the xxx amount of brain dead yokel muppets you need withi your company rule.
Now companies must have an xxx % of yokels to expats,
If they the company fail to meet this requirement then they do not get any exit / re entry visa for that company.

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

hmmmm, not only do Brit`s encounter this kind of visas processing but also all other foreigners equally. I read all the contributions uphere so every given example has a match in my mind. Anyhow, all embassies all around the world without any exception do follow bizzard uncomprehendable guidelines when processing for foreigners entries to their homeland, usually attributted to (current discretions ) which are not to be revealed..nor to be questioned

Do not lament though ...all is normal taking into account what is going on in the arena.............

Re: Saudi visa: has something changed?
 

I've had nine so far.

My wife has had far more. Fnarr.