Chiefsahib

Hi All,

I am new to this forum, Searched for the answer to my specific question but couldn't find one.

I am an Asian national living and working in Europe for over 10 years.I had been offered an attractive job in one of the big IT Company in Riyadh,I signed up the Contract 2 months ago. It's direct hire from the employer so no recruitment company interference. I had visited the Company on business visa before signing the contract which was organized by the same company.

Its around 2 months since company had applied for my employment visa to the Ministry.

Question: I would like to ask how much time does it take to get this approval?

After approval I have to fly down to my own country to get the visa stamped onto my passport.

Question: how long does it take to get visa stamped onto the passport?
Question: I am married so how many days does it take to organize wife visa from Riyadh?

I already had turned down few offers just to join this one. Hope I am not doing some mistake?

Thanks very much

Bob

Welcome to BE

I can't really answer your questions, but surely those would depend on which embassy you go through and most people here would be going through London, so their perspective might not be that helpful.

Chiefsahib

Thanks Bob for your reply, Can i even know the time duration for the London Embassy or any other embassy if some one experienced?

saeed409

Came from the UK
Used a visa agent. After completing the paperwork and obtaining the relevant visa forms from my employer in Riyadh and medical test etc...the actual visa by saudi embassy in London was completed in 24 hours.

Chiefsahib

Thanks Saeed for your reply. Can i check out how many days it took to get the visa approved from ministry by your employer after you signed up the contract? And was it the same visa matching your job description?

saeed409

Hi,

From the time I signed the contract to the day I received the visa papers from employers in Riyadh, it was about 6 weeks. My employers were in touch with me throughout this period. So I was not too worried.

The visa details were exactly as per my job description.

During the waiting period they did advice to get the remaining paperwork ready for Saudi Embassy eg medical test, certificate legislation etc..

It was a smooth process no hitches.

Hope this helps

Chiefsahib

Thanks Saeed, It helped.

samSG

it really depends. i have been working on a biz visa for nearly 3 months already. my co says that they have applied for an iqama visa for me but they haven't gotten a reply yet so i'm still waiting.

it's not such a big deal since i get paid holidays back all the time. the only pain in the ass is not having my wife with me and the insecurity of having to carry wads of cash with me when i go home.

Chiefsahib

Thanks SamSG for your reply, I visited the company on Business Visa and i was asked to start the work in company the next working day which i refused as I want to bring my wife with me as well as I am bit concious about things in KSA. I know there are very strict rules about every thing and i didn't want to take risk working on business visa. Anyway good luck for your employment visa, hope to hear good news soon about my visa or have to take decision.

samSG

my previous co offered to bring my wife up on a biz visa as well in the interim. their policy was for newcomers to be on a biz visa for the 3 month probation period before converting to an iqama but i left the co before i completed the probation.

what i have noticed about biz visas so far is that there are a few different kinds with permutations from the following:

30/60/180 days, single/double/multiple entry, 14/28/30 day validity per entry

regardless of what your company has applied for, what u really get depends on the mood of the Saudi guy behind the computer that day!

Chiefsahib

Hi samSG,
I never worked in KSA before so unfortunately is not aware of these all things, May be you are right and it was better for me to start working on Biz visa.
Now lets see how long does it take to get this employment visa thingy sorted? I don't understand why does it take this much long to organize a simple working visa? any way its the rules and policies of the country so have to live with it !!

samSG

there's something about quotas of employment visa according to nationality/profession. my co once applied for 10 Indian visas but ended up with 10 visas from European countries which sort of defeated the purpose since we can't afford to employ 10 European laborers!

just remember to leave your common logic at the airport before u step into the country. manage your expectations and u won't get mad from the start!

cool dude

hello, just wanted some information on compounds in riyadh.Being a muslim we would like to live in a compound where there is masjid,as well as islamic education for adults and children. Would any 1 with info please reply a.s.a.p. Thankyou.

Chiefsahib

May be you are right i need to set my expectation on the different scale. It will take a while to digest these things.

271277

hi, my husband and i with my son will be moving to riyadh in 3 months time. I am seeking a compound where there are muslims living, with local masjid and classes for women to attend. Can anyone help?