Evilbungle

Hi all, Not sure if anyone would know this or would have been in a similar position.

I have just looked to kick off my Degree Attestation for my Saudi Visa and the agency sent me a message saying that they could not get a "Distance Learning" degree attested. Does anyone know if this is a blanket thing or are some distance degree's still allowed?
I recieved my degree from Open University so it was obviously a distance learning degree but with in person tutorials (on some courses) and in person exams.
I've asked the agency if this means I will be unable to get my Visa but they haven't come back and I am impatient and anxious so wanted to know if anyone else has managed to use an OU degree to obtain their visa?

Thanks for any help.

psychopomp1

Will apply to all distance based learning courses/degrees even if you attended some classes in person. Some (or all?) GCC countries incl KSA and Qatar no longer accept non-classroom based courses purely because of the huge number of people caught with fake distance based degrees in recent years. Sadly this means genuine courses from the likes of OU are no longer considered valid in some GCC states. But wait and see what the agency says.

Evilbungle

thanks for your reply, unfortunately the agency have been little help, they just asked me to send another degree and they will help me.
so I guess the question now is "is that it?" No degree, no visa? Afterall the degree has no bearing on my job offer (my degree is in politics and I work in marketing) and I haven't ever pretended my degree was anything else, it is clearly written on my CV and I have sent them the certificate on at least two occasions. Perhaps they didn't know that The Open University was distance learning but surely if it is an essential blocker they should mention it earlier in the process. Yesterday they were encouraging me to hand in my notice, luckily I wanted to kick off the visa process first.

psychopomp1

In that case you need to get in touch with the HR Dept of your Saudi employer and ask them for further guidance.

Evilbungle

Yes, thanks. I have sent my onboarder a message to ask what to do. (Unfortunately hearing back often takes quite a while)

Hopefully they will come back with some good news, will be very frustrating after 3 months of going through the process to find out I was never eligible in the first place because my degree that is irrelevant to my profession is from the wrong institution.

ZeroCool_HTP

If it is NEOM, they can issue a degree exemption letter to the visa agency to be provided along with your visa application at the saudi embassy.

Notsosure1

Hi Evilbungle

I am in the same situation, did you get an exemption letter from Neom and was that ok for your visa?

oscarbravo

Im in the same boat, any idea if a degree exemption was offered?

christmasoompa

This is quite an old thread now and the OP hasn't been on the forum since last year, so is unlikely to see your question. I'd suggest starting your own new thread where you may get more response.

HTH.