Eadles

Was wondering what would be the best Bank to use once I get to Saudi? (next month)
Are Saudi banks as up to date as British Banks i.e. Internet Banking??

Cheers

Eadles

DubInRiyadh

I use SABB (Saudi Arabia British Bank) which is HSBC and so far so good...
Welcome to SABB - SABB - The Saudi British Bank - Saudi Arabia

Eadles

Thanks for that DubinRiyadh!!
Had a look there, is it a hassle transfering money back to a UK account ?

DubInRiyadh

No hassle...you have the usual online banking so you can send it anywhere in the world.
Once you get your Iqama you can open an account.

nonthaburi

I also use SABB. I would add though that the branch you go to can make a big difference. Be prepared to wait a long time at some branches. My record is 2 1/2 hours. I know people who have waited longer. Always try to go in the morning if you can and in the middle of the month is better than the end. You will quite often find 40 people waiting and only one counter open. A trick I have learned to jump the queue, is that, when taking you ticket number, don't press the button for teller but rather the one for the premium service. This will immediately jump you. I've never been questioned on this yet.
The more you can set yourself up so that you don't actually have to go in there the better. There will be times when it is unavoidable though....

Eadles

thats great guys thanks for your help!!
Are any of you's familiar with sponsoring your family to come over??
I would be looking at bringing over my wife and daughter once I am settled and was wondering where would the best place to be to keep my marriage cert and daughters birth cert i.e. with me or back in britain with my wife??

nonthaburi

Are you looking to bring them over permanently or just for a visit. If it's just for a visit it's fairly straightforward and your company should do it all for you. They would get a three month visit visa I think, which is extendable for one month two or three times.

If it is to bring them over permanently then it is a bit more complicated. You will have to wait until you get your Iqama before you apply. You then take all your documents to the ministry of the interior I think, be prepared to wait a few hours, pay 2000 Riyal and you get a yellow slip of paper. You then DHL this back to the Mrs and she can then apply for her visa and visa for the kids. She will still have to do a medical in her home country. Kids will have to show vaccination records.

It's been a while since I did it so I can't remember if I had the originals of my wife did. We have two halves of our marriage paper so that wasn't an issue. I think I might have had the kids birth certificates as well and maybe I sent them back with the yellow slip. You will need your original degree when you go for the yellow slip.

I remember one guy telling me he had to get it attested and all this but I never did and it was fine. Different people will tell you different things, both expats and officials.

Once your wife has the yellow paper and has done the medical then the visa should be done in a couple of days. In my case, my wife and kids got their Iqamas two days after arrival too. Because you will already have your Iqama, it is a lot quicker for those people you are sponsoring; more of a formality really. I would add though that an awful lot of this depends on your admin department and how much they know, care, or how inept they are.

Hope that helps.

super_hans

I'm with SABB, all things considered they are pretty good. I'm fortunate to have a premier account so usually get to the front of the queue.
One word of advice don't send money home through their online banking, rate is always shite and fees are high. Here in Jeddah I always use Almoudi, once registered you can make the payment by card and usually the money is back in the UK same day and what you save on rates and fees it is well worth the effort of finding a branch.

Eadles

Nonthaburi
thanks for that I would be looking at bringing them out to start with just on a visit visa as they would initailly only be out for a month!! Do you know how often a visit visa can be applied for by 1 person?? After having a visit visa could you apply for another one say 6 weeks after leaving??


Cheers Super_hans I will keep that in mind when looking to transfer doh over!!

nonthaburi

I think you can apply again straight away. A guy I know had his wife and two kids here permanently like that for ages. The kids went to school here and everything so they were here all the time. The only factor is that you have an Iqama, so you would have to wait until you got that before you could apply.

nonthaburi

Took me an hour and a half to get a new card yesterday in the branch.

coffindodger

For 6 years I used the NCB in Taif and Riyadh and finally in Khobar. I found them very good no problems at all.