Tigger99

Hi All,

I am new to Riyadh and the Forums.... I have been here two weeks and will be working here for about 9 months but I am currently on a Business Visa with the 30 day max stay.

Was thinking of hiring a car for the Bahrain visa renewal run and wondered:-

1/ Anyone done this and could give advice?
2/ Is it allowed?
3/ Is it allowed if you have the correct paper work / permissions etc.

Many thanks for advice in advance.
Tigger99

norsk

I did it plenty of times when I first arrived in KSA. All you need to do is ask the rental place to provide you with the paperwork (from the police) which authorises you to take the car out of the country. They may charge you for it , but not sure. At the first gate on the border crossing you'll be asked for this paper. If you don't have it you'll be asked to turn around so unless you love driving 800 kilometers for no reason (ie back and forth to Riyadh) I recommend making sure this is sorted.

As mentioned in numerous posts try to avoid the rush hours for crossing the causeway. Also Wednesday evening and Thursday mornings until late afternoon is very busy..

Tigger99

Thanks Norsk,
Excellent reply and very informative.... I will take your advice and pick a none "weekend" day.
Tigger99

gottheTshirt

For the visa run you do not need to enter Bahrain - you can take a taxi on the KSA side who will simply drive you out and U turn straight back into KSA and you have another 30 days. The taxi drivers are part of the system known to immigration and customs so there is no stopping for searches.

Tigger99

Hey gottheTshirt,

OK... That sounds an interesting way to renew my Visa but..... it sounds too easy for a KSA procedure..... I dont want to question the contents above but I dont want to take a taxi or hotel car and driver all the way from Riyadh to the causeway then find it doesn't work...

So you are saying that I can get a taxi from Riyadh onto the causeway, go through the KSA exit post (in taxi with taxi driver) go a few more meters and before the Bahrain entry post do a U turn, re-enter KSA with a new passport stamp and drive back to Riyadh for another 30 days.......

I was told by a taxi driver that Riyadh taxis are not permitted to leave the country (or he may have meant enter Bahrain)......

Have you done this or know anyone who has?

Thanks, Tigger99

norsk

You'll have to get a taxi from Khobar or Dammam for this kind of exercise, and yes you can turn around between Saudi and Bahraini passport control.

The question isn't whether you can do this or not, it is rather why would you want to travel all that way (to 'paradise' if you will) and then turn around and leave again as soon as you're halfway through the gate?????

Tigger99

Hi Norsk, I am confused now.... my employment agent told me that KSA was paradise.... are there two of them???????

Your advice makes sense, cheers mate, anyone know how much a taxi from say Damman to the boarder and back to Damman would cost..... Will have my wife here soon so flyng for the Visa run would be twice the cost.....

norsk

Mine told me it was a crater, but that the money was good...

Don't know exact price, but you could try one of the following companies:

Al Gosaibi 3857 7711
Hala Limousine 3858 1100
Hanco Limousine 3894 8441
Majestic – Aramco 3876 8881
Samara Limousine 3891 1500

(I found this list online so I make no guarantees that the numbers actually work or that the person answering the phone speaks English)

Tigger99

Hi Norsk, Cheers for the info, will try a few and add to the post..... My agent told me it was Paradise AND the money was good...... I knew they all had to be excellent liars to get a job in recruitment (apologies to the honest ONE).

I have been a self employed capitalist scum bag (Freelancer) for so long now I cant even remember an agent giving me an acurate job description.....

Living in hope.... Tigger99