Saudi Arabia

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There are a lot of expatriates in the kingdom who are currently without their families, but would like to bring them on a visit visa. This post is meant to guide those.

The most important factor which decides whether you can bring your family or not, is the profession mentioned in your iqama or residence permit. Note that this may not be your actual job title. For example, it is quite common for an engineer to be hired on a labor visa.This has already been covered here earlier. But for all government transactions, it is the profession mentioned in your iqama which matters, not your job title Unfortunately, you are eligible to bring your family only for certain types of visas (like engineer, doctor, technician, etc) If your have arrived on a labor visa, you have absolutely no chance of bringing your family, and it is better to get the profession changed to some other category - this is not an easy task though.

Coming back to the visit visa procedure for bringing your family into the kingdom, I would like to clarify at the outset that the procedure itself is quite simple. The only difficult part is the profession mentioned in your iqama, as already mentioned above.

Before you proceed to fill in the online form, you must have with you the following documents ready.

1. Your original iqama (keep a copy with yourself for records)

2. Your passport photocopy

3. Introduction letter in Arabic from your employer giving details about your salary

4. Passport copy of the visiting member (parents / children / in-laws) (Note that a separate application has to be made for each individual family member whom you are going to sponsor)

For sponsoring your in-laws, the following additional documents are required


Certificate from a hospital in case your wife needs support for any reason, e g., pregnancy
* Wife's passport copy - this is to prove the relationship between your wife and her father / mother
* Copy of your Marriage Certificate, translated in Arabic and attested by the Saudi consulate / embassy in your home country


Once you are ready with all of the above, proceed to the next step as below. Have a person who can read Arabic next to you. Then click on this link https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/VisaFamilyApp/FamilyApp.asp. The name of your family member AND the name of the sponsor (i.e., YOU) should be filled ONLY in English. All the remaining data are to be filled in Arabic. Remember, YOU are the sponsor for your family, and NOT your employer. In case more than one family member is visiting you and are coming by the same flight, enter their names in the same form, otherwise use separate forms.

In the column asking for the number of days of visa required, type "90". If you are lucky, you will get a 3-month visit visa, otherwise it will be only a 1-month visa. There is no hard and fast rule. Everything depends on the mood of the officer who decides the visa validity. However, you can always renew the visit visa twice, and each extension is for one month only. In the column asking for the purpose of the visit, type as "family visit" in Arabic.

Once you fill in this form and submit, you will get an acknowledgment number on the screen. Print two copies of this. Keep one copy with yourself as a reference. You will be needing this soon. Take a printout of your filled-in application form, sign it in the place mentioned in the bottom along with the date. Don't forget to take the signature and stamp of your company sponsor. Once this is done, attach this along with the remaining documents mentioned above and submit it to your nearest Ministry of Foreign Affairs office (not to be confused with the passport office (Jawasat, as it is known locally). Renewal can be done in the Jawasat, but for the first time, you must submit it in the MOFA office.

Most important point: You must submit the above documents within 3 working days of filling in the on-line form, or else all your effort is a waste. Remember, Thursdays and Fridays are weekly offs for Government departments in the kingdom, so keep this in mind before filling in the form

Wait for about a week and the visit the above mentioned link once again. Type in your iqama number and the acknowledgment number which is mentioned in the printout you took earlier. If you get the same page after hitting the 'Enter' button on your keyboard, it means that your visa is still under processing. Otherwise, you should get a so-called 'Yellow slip'. Take two 'COLOR' printouts of this, and keep one for your reference, and note down the URL address.

You have now crossed half the journey. The next step is to send the following documents to your home country

1.
The 'Yellow slip' color printout mentioned above
2.
Copy of your Iqama
3.
Copy of your passport (remember, you are the sponsor)
4.
Copy of your marriage certificate (required only when you plan to bring your in-laws to prove the relationship between your wife and her parent(s) - this is to ensure that the visitor is really your in-law
5.
Printout of your last 3 months' bank statement
6.
A letter in English addressed to the Saudi Embassy / Consulate of your home country stating that you will be present to receive your guest
7.
Introduction letter in Arabic from your employer giving details about your salary

Send all of the above by courier to your home country. Along with the above documents, the following should be attached by your family member and submitted to the Saudi Embassy / Consulate in your home country:

1.
Original passport of each family member who plans to visit
2.
Passport copy of your wife (incase your in-laws are visiting - this is to prove that the visitor is indeed your in-law)

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Hi,
i got more then 30 e-mail to ask for some Saudi Arabian ministry contact numbers, so today me collect those numbers and post them here for you

i hope this will be useful for you




1= Ministry of Transport

2= Ministry of Civil Service

3= Ministry of Justice

4= Ministry of Education

5= Ministry of Higher Education

6= Ministry of Health

7= Ministry of Foreign Affairs

8= Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs

9= Ministry of Labor

10= Saudi Press Agency (SPA)

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Those of you who have missed the earlier post on this topic can click here to read the same.
Life is not easy for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia. The paper work starts the moment a child is born! Fortunately, the vaccination for the child is not part of the paperwork, unlike for children born in your home country and brought into the kingdom. The All-Important document is, of course, the child's birth certificate. To be precise, there are two versions of birth certificates - one in Arabic for local use, and one in English which is going to be with you lifelong even in your home country.
Now for the brass-tacks. It is the responsibility of every hospital in Saudi Arabia to issue a document called "Birth notification". This is issued either immediately after birth of the baby or definitely before the mother is discharged from the hospital. The first thing to be done is get the original passports of both the father and the mother translated into Arabic. I would strongly advise you to take the services of a professional agent for this. They know their job and will do quite a good one out of this. To this translation, you have to attach the photocopies of your original passports , your iqama and of course, the birth notification issued by the hospital.
Next, you will have to go to the Ministry of Interior in your town or the office of MOI nearest to your town and get the relevant birth certificate application form from their office. Everything will be in Arabic in this form, so it will be best to bring the blank form from the Ministry and give it to the agent who did your translation. Usually these agents do have a photocopy of this form, this is just in case your agent does not have one of these. Get the form filled in properly and attach photographs where required.
This whole set must be submitted to the Ministry of Interior. Again, get the agent to do this work for you. Believe me, it would save you a lot of trouble rather going and trying to do it yourself.
In a few days, you would have got a birth certificate issued by the Ministry. Everything would be in Arabic in this certificate. Note that this certificate is of no use in your home country, so the paper work hasn't finished yet!
You will have to get this re-translated back into English. Again, the agent is your savior! Next, take a digital photograph of your baby while he or she is awake. The reason why I insist on a digital photo is that when you give it to a studio, they will accordingly change the background, size, etc., of the baby's photograph and will give it to you in a format required by your embassy.
Now, you will have to attach your original passport of the mother, photocopy of your iqama, photocopy of the Arabic birth certificate along with photographs of the baby. Fill in the relevant form of your country's embassy and give the whole set to your agent. You should be getting a new passport for your baby plus a document having a fancy name called "Certificate of Entry of Birth" by your embassy. This is nothing but the birth certificate issued by your embassy which you will have to retain throughout your life!

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My earlier post on death case formalities (click here to read it) evoked such a huge emotional response from the expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, that the logical corollary is a post on - what else - child birth formalities in the kingdom. The subject is quite extensive, so I decided to write it in two or more parts. This is the first part of the series and depending upon your support, I may continue to write more on the subject or just stop.


The first and foremost thing to remember if you are planning to have your child's delivery in Saudi Arabia, is that you must definitely have an insurance. Medical care in the kingdom is extremely expensive and without an insurance, you are really doomed. But before this, you must ask yourself a fundamental question:Do you really want to have the delivery in Saudi or not ,


Answering this question is quite difficult and you must most certainly consider all the pros and cons before making this all-important decision. Most bigger cities in Saudi Arabia have hospitals with good facilities. Most of the medicines are imported and all of them carry a mandatory pamphlet mentioning the dosage, indications, contra indications, precautions and side effects. All the medicines in the kingdom are strictly monitored by the Ministry of Health. Some of the best equipments which money can buy, are available in the hospitals. Hospitals are quite clean and patient care by the nurses is also good.


Now for the downside. Until a few years back, delivery for expatriate mothers was free of cost in Government hospitals. However, the rule has changed in recent years with health insurance becoming mandatory. Do note, however, that there are several insurance companies operating in the kingdom. The coverage of each company depends completely on the premium paid by the sponsor. As an example, treatment and child birth in a five-star hospital like Saad hospital in Al Khobar, is not covered by most of the standard insurance companies. Hence, you must be absolutely sure whether maternity treatment is covered by your insurance policy or not.


Next, the sensitive issue about the quality of doctors. Opinion is divided on this. There are excellent doctors, good doctors and not-so-good ones in all the hospitals. It goes without saying that a good gynecologist is paramount to having a safe delivery. After all, nothing is more important to an individual than personal health and safety. I have seen some really excellent doctors in a few hospitals. I have also seen some doctors who are just terrible! To give a fair assessment, it is impossible to generalize all the doctors or hospitals as either good or bad. The best way is to ask fellow expatriates their experiences about a particular hospital or doctor and then take a decision accordingly.


Child birth and maternity care in Saudi Arabia does not simply stop at the hospital. It has to continue beyond delivery. I have seen fellow-expatriates looking desperately for some domestic help for their wives for a few months after delivery.Of particular concern are those mothers who have undergone caesarian surgeries. Most companies in the kingdom give only upto 3 days leave for the husbands to take care of their wives. If there is no one else to take care of the wife and the new-born, the couple are really in for some trouble. Usually, expatriate husbands prefer to bring their mothers-in-law for assisting their respective wives, but it is not always practically possible to do so. Domestic nurses are in extremely high demand and being a rarity, they charge quite heavily when available.


So how does one decide whether to have the delivery in the kingdom or not? Again, it is quite a difficult decision and has to be made after analyzing the various options, pros and cons, and is purely a personal decision. My own opinion on this is that, if possible try to have the delivery in your own home country. This would save a lot of trouble for both the husband as well as the wife, particularly after the delivery. After all, no place is as good as home! Of course, deliveries for expatriate mothers do happen in the kingdom. There are quite some formalities and paperwork dealing with child birth for expatriates in Saudi Arabia More on this in future posts.

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I have been repeatedly mentioning in this blog about the importance of reading and understanding your contract before planning to work in Saudi Arabia. Your contract IS the final document which would stand by you in case of a dispute between you and your employer.

I would now like to mention something about your entitlements for annual vacation. There are a few contracting companies in Saudi Arabia, which take the expatriates' ignorance of law as granted. Not all of them are this way, but as in any place, there are bad apples in every basket.

Specifically talking about your vacation entitlements, you must know that you are entitled for an annual vacation of minimum of 21 days each year for the first five years. Some of the contracting companies allow the employees to go on vacation only once in 2 years. But this does not relieve them of their obligation towards the law. If you are planning to sign such a contract, ensure that your entitlement is a minimum of 21 days each year.

If you continue to stay in this company for more than 5 years, your entitlement becomes 30 days for each year, from the 6th year onwards. An interesting thing to note here is that, even if your employer has forced you to sign a contract of 21 days vacation after the first 5 years, the law clearly states that your entitlement is 30 days, so this will supersede what you have signed in your contract. In other words, when you go on final exit from the kingdom, your employer is supposed to pay you for the remaining 9 days per year for each year of service after the first 5 years.

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge as well as a rewarding experience, but you must know your rights and obligations clearly before signing any contract.

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Expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia will find it convenient to have a driving license. Public transport in the kingdom is not that well developed, and if you are with your family, I would strongly advise you to have a car, as mentioned earlier .

Having a driving license is an absolute must, before you drive a car in the kingdom. Note that this is also used as an authentic proof of identity while entering some of the compounds and it has the added benefit of validity in other GCC countries. Let me now brief you about the latest procedure to have a driving license.

It is not necessary for you to go to a driving school to obtain a license, but I would strongly urge you to do so, even if you know driving. The chances of you being failed if you bypass the school, is quite high, going by experiences of several expatriates .

The first step is to fill in the application form (usually the driving school or your sponsor will have this), affix the required photographs, take an introduction letter from your sponsor in Arabic and submit it to the police. The police would verify your application and give their approval for the next step.

Now, you will have to take this form to any of the hospitals and get your blood test and eye test done. Remember that without the police approval mentioned above, the hospital would not do these tests, so do not bypass any of the procedures mentioned here .

Once you complete your medical tests, you will have to submit the same to the police once again, who will then give approval for you to proceed to the driving school. Take this approved form to the driving school, pay SR435 along with your iqama copy and register your name. You are now officially a student of the driving school .

From the date of registration with the school, you will have to give the driving test within 6 months. It is up to you whether you attend the classes every day or every other day, but most expatriates would like to complete this procedure quickly, and so do it at a stretch of about 10-15 days.

When you feel comfortable driving the car, you will have to tell your driving instructor of the same. He will make you undergo a short test and if convinced, he would sign on a form and ask you to proceed to the real test the following day.

Now, you will have to just give your driving test. It is mainly reverse parking, which is tested. You will have to drive your car in reverse and park it within a rectangular box marked on the ground. If all the four tires of your car are within the box and if you have followed all the rules (wearing seat belts, giving appropriate indications, locking the hand brake, etc), then you are through with the first part of the driving test.

The next part is the computer test. There are 20 multiple choice questions which you will have to answer. If you answer even one of the first 10 questions wrong, then you are disqualified and the computer will lock, not allowing you to answer the remaining questions. If you have answered the first ten questions correctly, you will have to answer at least 5 out of the remaining 10 questions correctly. If you have answered these, the results would be announced immediately and the file would be given to you.

Take this file, go to either Riyad Bank or Al Rajhi Bank - unfortunately, you have a choice of only any of these two banks at the moment and pay SR400 . Attach the receipt along with your file and submit it to the police through your sponsor. You should be getting your driving license within a week.

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Before you move into Saudi Arabia, I would advise you to first do some research on the type of housing. Typically, western expatriates stay in housing compounds. The rents are quite high, but in almost all cases, the employer takes care of it. Inside these compounds, life is quite free in the sense that there are no dress restrictions, particularly for women. Usually these compounds have luxurious villas and are quite secure.

Non-western expatriates, on the other hand, are usually paid a House Rent Allowance instead of accommodation. Again, this depends on your job title. For junior and lower level positions, you would be provided shared company accommodation, but this again depends on your sponsor.

Big companies usually provide good accommodation, but if your sponsor is one of those small contracting companies and you are single, then rest assured that your accommodation is going to be quite uncomfortable and will probably be a shack where you have to share with 10 other people in the same room. This is why you must specifically find out about your housing from your sponsor and do quite a bit of research on his credentials before signing a contract and entering the kingdom.

If you are a non-western expatriate and are entitled for family status, the general standard is to provide 25% of your basic salary as monthly housing allowance. Remember, house rents have shot up exponentially in the kingdom in the past 6 months, so you must bargain well before entering into a contract with your sponsor.

Also, remember that house rents are paid in 2 installments of 6-months each or in one annual lump-some amount to the house owner, not monthly. House owners usually enter into a written contract with the tenants and collect the rent in advance.

If you are a non-western expatriate and are planning to stay with your family, please do some research on your locality. Some areas are quite notorious, so you must do some talking with people of your own nationality or colleagues before booking a flat. If you are not given a company-paid accommodation, I would advise you not to bring your family for at least 3 months after you first arrive in the kingdom, because typically this is the time you would need to settle down and also to save some money.

Beware, that if you plan to move to another house within the 1-year period, you will have to pay the remaining rent for the whole year, otherwise you may be thrown into jail if you don't pay up. But if the house owner wants you to vacate, he may ask you to do so within the 1-year period. The contract with your house owner is supposed to be mutually binding, but in practice it is one-sided and a rather meaningless piece of paper, as most of the time you are left with no option but to comply with your house owner's demands.

Do not bring with you any electronic or house hold goods. You get almost everything here, probably at a price which is even cheaper than your home country. Certain ethnic food-stuffs from your home country may not be available, so try to do some research / ask friends. Also remember that certain items like khas-khas which are quite commonly used as an ingredient for sweets in Asian countries, is strictly banned here. Of course, it goes without saying that you should also not bring with you pictures of non-Muslim Gods, crucifixes and the like. Most of them are anyway available in the internet, so you can always download those pictures for your personal use at home (don't take them out of your house!). Avoid bringing video CDs - they may be harmless but again, it depends on the mood of the guy at the customs who may simply allow you to pass or may ransack your entire luggage looking for something suspicious, so why take the hassle?

Finally, try to avoid mixing with strangers and keep a low profile. Do not carry much cash with you and avoid walking alone in deserted places.

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Vehicle ownership by expats in Saudi
Bringing pets into Saudi Arabia
touts-for-family-visa-in-saudi-arabia
Moving & Relocating to Saudi Arabia
Driving Liccnse In KSA
Vacation entitlements

Working in Saudi Arabia could be psychologically extremely stressful for those who are without their families,( My earlier post and the tremendous response it has received just proves this point over and over again, which has prompted me to write this particular post. This is quite understandable, because at the end of the day, no amount of money can equal the happiness when you are with your family .

Desparation drives people to extreme steps. I have got e-mails from people saying that they have been contacted by touts to help them get a family visa. Let me make it clear. The rules are very straight forward and simple. If the job title in your iqama states that you are a laborer, you have no chance of bringing your family. The logic behind this is simple - if you are a laborer, you wouldn't be able to sustain your family with your income levels.

However, if you are a qualified person and you still have this job title in your iqama, the best option is to change your profession in the iqama. For this you need to get your degree or diploma certificate attested by the Saudi Embassy in your country. For Indian citizens, I have covered the procedure for this here. Once this is done, take your sponsor into confidence and through the Government Relations Officer of your company, fill up the required form in the Passport Office and get your job title changed in your iqama. .

The process is not complicated, trust me Never, ever, ever depend on any tout of middle man to get your family visa papers done. It is illegal and if you are caught, you may be deported or worse still, be jailed. It is also likely that by some hook or crook you do manage to get your job title changed through a tout or broker, but when you try to bring your family (which was why you did this in the first place), you would end up in trouble. Never do anything which is against the law of the land. Remember, you have come to work in Saudi Arabia, not to indulge in such activities .

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Some of the western expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia may be thinking of bringing their pets along with them. Here is the procedure to be followed.

The fundamental and most important document you need for importing any pet animal into Saudi Arabia is an Import Permit. Note that without this all-important document, your pet would never be allowed into the kingdom.You can get this form from the Agricultural Directorate in Riyadh (not to be confused with Ministry of Agriculture). Fill in the details (in Arabic) and submit the same. Once you get the Import Permit, the rest of the documentation has to be done in your home country.

Get a Veterinary Health Certificate from your home country. This certificate must be accompanied by a covering letter from your veterinarian listing out all the vaccinations given to your pet. There must also be a declaration in the letter that the pet is free from any kind of disease, most importantly rabies. This letter must be addressed to the Director of Customs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Get these documents translated in Arabic and attested by the Saudi Embassy in your home country. Now you are all set to transport your pet into the kingdom.

I would advise you to take the services of a professional animal transporter. You must collect your pet from the Cargo Depot in Saudi Arabia. You would be required to fill in a form at the depot, so it would be helpful if you take a Saudi along with you as the form would be in Arabic.
You may also bring the pet along with you if you prefer, provided you have all the required documentation ready. Hope the information given here was helpful.

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Hi,

Public transport is almost negligible in Saudi Arabia. As an expatriate, it is really convenient if you have a car of your own.

For those of you with your families, it is almost impossible to survive without a vehicle. The reason is not too far to seek. Women aren't allowed to drive and hence are dependent on their husbands to take them out for shopping, because it is rather not advisable for them to go alone for shopping. This could sometimes be quite a pain, because if your kid is sick or something urgent is required at home, you have to take time off from your work to attend your family. Having a vehicle would come in handy for that rainy day.

If you already have an international driving license before coming to Saudi Arabia, you can skip the first level of driving test. But in any case, it is advisable to go through a driving school in the kingdom before the test rather than giving the test directly, because the chances of your failure are quite high if you give the test without undergoing the driving school lessons. Not that you do not know driving, but that's how the system works here.

Once you have obtained your driving license, the next step is to get a document called 'Istemara', which literally means vehicle registration. You will be given two cards - one which proves that you have registered your vehicle and the other to prove that you are the owner of the vehicle. You must always carry these two cards in your wallet, along with your iqama (residence permit) , vehicle insurance (called 'Ruksa') and driving license. You may be quite surprised that your wallet contains more paper than money!

Never ever, ever drive your car without a vehicle insurance. Usually, if you take your vehicle insurance from a reputed company, you would be given a letter in Arabic which is addressed to the police. The letter simply states that your vehicle is insured and if you show this to the police, you would not be jailed. Hence, you must atleast carry a photocopy of this letter in your vehicle all the time along with a copy of your iqama.

You must keep renewing your istemara once every thre years. However, a pre-requisite for istemara renewal is that you must get your vehicle certified by what is commonly called as 'Computer test' or MVPI (Acronym for Motor Vehicle Periodic Inspection). Your vehicle would be subjected to a series of tests. In 9 out of 10 cases, it would fail the first attempt, so you would have to go back, get the 'fault' corrected and give a re-test. Of course, you have to pay every time you give the test!

By the way, expatriates are not allowed to own pickup vehicles. I would also strongly advice you not to offer lift to unknown people. Also, if you ever travel with your friend's wife, even if it is for dropping the lady nearby, make sure that your friend is also in that car. Despite all your good intentions, it is a crime to do this here. It's no joke, you may be in serious trouble if you do that, because according to the law, it is an offense for an unrelated man and woman to be talking or travelling together.

Be Safe Drive Safe

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Contrary to popular belief, expatriates working in Saudi Arabia are protected by Saudi law and they do have certain rights. This post is meant to throw light on some of those rights and what to do in case any of the expatriates has a problem with his sponsor. Before explaining the rights of expats, I would also like to caution that under no circumstances must expatriates violate the local law. As mentioned earlier (click this link), you have come for money, nothing more, nothing less, so do not break any law if you want protection under the same law.

It is not a bed or roses for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia. The majority of the expat population falls under non-supervisory category. Most of them are quite lowly-paid and there are certainly instances where the sponsor plays foul. Most of these cases pertain to non-payment or delayed payment of salaries, asking expats to pay for their residence visas (iqama), their exit/re-entry visas, etc. Coming from poor backgrounds, most of these men simply do not know where or whom to approach when they are in trouble. Sadly, some of them simply abscond and work illegally elsewhere till they are either caught by the police or till they voluntarily surrender themselves for being deported.

During a these days we saw many people were deported after serving a brief term in jail. Their crime was working illegally and overstaying in the kingdom. All of them had the same story to tell - non payment of salaries and ill-treatment by their sponsors. Not one of them had a clue of what was to be done, so they took the easy route of absconding and working illegally elsewhere, till they were caught. As their passports were with their original sponsor, they had no documentary proof and all of them were jailed and later deported.

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must definitely be aware of the following rights:


(1) Timely and monthly payment of salaries as agreed upon and signed in the employment contract in the home country (Note: some of the expatriates are paid far less than what was agreed in their home countries and are forced to sign fresh contracts contrary to what was signed in their original ones once they arrive in the kingdom. This is clearly illegal).


(2) The cost of the residence permit (iqama) issued soon after arrival, the cost of its renewal as well as the cost of renewing exit/re-entry visas as well as final exit visa are all the sponsor's responsibility. No expatriate should be forced to pay in either full or part of any of the above.


(3) Fully paid vacation (unless otherwise agreed in the contract).


(4) Free accommodation or equivalent amount as agreed in the contract.


(5) Free transportation from residence to place of work and back, or its equivalent amount as agreed in the contract


(6) Free health care. Note that health insurance for every expatriate is compulsory and the cost of the same is to be borne by the sponsor.


(7) Payment of End of Service benefits at the end of the contract


If any expatriate has genuine grievances on any of the above, he should contact what is known as "Expatriate Grievance Cell". This is a facility run by the Ministry of Labor, Government of Saudi Arabia. A letter in Arabic, detailing the nature of grievance and including the full name and address of the sponsor, must be faxed to 012104565. The letter must also have the full details of the complainants, including passport / iqama numbers and contact details.


I would also strongly advise such expatriates to get in touch with their respective embassies with a copy of the above fax. Usually, all embassies have a legal cell who would help them with an Arabic speaking lawyer in a labor court. Remember, all transactions in courts and all government departments are in Arabic, so getting professional help is a must. Also, do not wait for months together before deciding to make a complaint.


I really wish none of our expatriate brothers and sisters ever use the information above. But it helps to be informed.

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Working in Saudi Arabia could be a challenge, particularly for women. Unfortunately, only a few professions are open for working women. Teachers, Doctors, Nurses and house maids are a few of those jobs which women are allowed to work. Usually, working women find it easier if their husbands also work in the same city. For those who are not accompanied by their husbands, life could be quite uncomfortable.

Driving by women is prohibited in the kingdom. Hence, commutation could be a problem because you are dependent on some one else to drive you around. Usually, single working women stay together in the same apartment. They enter into a private arrangement with some transporter or their sponsor takes care of their transport to work.
Many teachers do part-time jobs at home taking tuition's. Qualified teachers are in great demand in the kingdom and private tuition's for the kids is big business. Some women also do translation work sitting from the comfort of their homes. There are also painting classes, music classes, etc., by women but all of these are strictly on one to one basis as a private arrangement.
House maids have a tough work cut out for themselves. Some countries have prohibited their nationals from working as maids in Saudi Arabia due to fleecing and physical abuse by their sponsors. Of course, there are good sponsors who treat their maids properly, but in majority of the cases they are not.
There is almost no social life for single working women in Saudi Arabia. Those with their husbands also visit other families for social interaction as there is not much by way of entertainment. However, on a short-term perspective, particularly for doctors and nurses, expatriate working women can save quite some money as they are paid reasonably well.

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Welcome to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia Population
Saudi Arabia Language
Mecca
Banking in Saudi Arabia
Lifestyle Saudi Arabia

There are many exchanges and banks from where you can send your hard-earned money home. There are no restrictions on remittances from Saudi Arabia in the sense that 100% of your earnings can be repatriated back home.

However, not all the banks are popular. The exchange rates, particularly in some of the banks, are extremely unfavorable. To top it all, there is no such thing called a customer service or an ombudsman in these banks. Some of the staff in such banks have nothing but utter contempt for the expatriates, as though they are here as bonded slaves, going by the way they treat them. Naturally, these banks are the ones having the least expat crowd. An absolute textbook case of how not to run a business!

On the contrary, some of the exchange houses work 12 hours a day, Saturday through Friday, except for prayer times and on Friday mornings. There are several counters and the staff are manned by expatriates too, who are courteous and understand the problems of fellow-expats. The exchange houses have, what is known as 'Correspondent Bank' arrangement. What it means is that when you send money through these exchanges and you have a bank account back home in one of these correspondent banks, money transfer is immediate.

Usually there are two ways of sending money home. The first one is the traditional Demand Draft whereby you pay the money plus the commission of the exchange house and get a Draft. Make sure that the draft is signed by atleast two authorized officers of the bank for amounts greater than SR10000 (this is usually the norm unless confirmed by the bank that it is not required). I have personally seen people walking off with drafts, without having even one signature. People simply assume that they are signed when they are issued, so do make sure to double check before you leave the counter, because without a signature these drafts will not be honored back home.

The other method, and more convenient one, is money transfer direct into your account. The commission for MT is a bit higher, but is very safe and almost instantaneous. My personal favorite is the MT.

A word of caution is not out of place. Some of the expats have a habit of accumulating their savings over a couple of months or more and send them as a lumpsum amount. When the amount becomes big (typically amounts above SR20000), questions are raised. You will have to take the printout of your bank statement with the rubber stamp of the bank and also the mini statement from the ATM machine of your bank. As per the new rules of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), these will be verified by all banks and exchanges as a measure of safety against money laundering, so it is better to go prepared with these documents to save your time. Also, SAMA has now made it mandatory for all banks and exchanges to have the iqamas and the passport copies verified for everyone, particularly when any of these documents are renewed.

The exchange houses are not complaint-free, though. The most common problem with these exchanges happens in case of Demand Drafts. As long as things go smooth, there is no problem. The moment a Draft is struck up somewhere, then there is a long-drawn process before you can get your money back. This is why it is so important to keep the counterfoil of the form which you have filled in, till you are sure that the money has indeed reached your account back home.

You must take care to fill in all the details correctly in the form. Afterall, it is your own money and you do not want to throw it away. You must know the email address / phone number of your bank back home. This is to ensure that in case of a delay or non-delivery of your money, you can immediately mail them and sort things out.

Finally, as most expats do, it is advisable to keep multiple accounts in the various exchanges. All it needs is a photocopy of your iqama and that of your passport with your company's stamp to open an account. This is just to ensure that you get the best exchange rate available. Remember, the exchange rate you see in the newspapers is not what is offered by the banks / exchange houses.

You will find different rates in different exchange houses, all in the same road, so you have to be alert, keep your eyes and ears open and strike the best bargain. After all, the happiest day in the life of an expatriate is the day his hard-earned money goes into his bank account.

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Welcome to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia Population
Saudi Arabia Language
Mecca
Banking in Saudi Arabia
Lifestyle Saudi Arabia

If you are a potential expatriate planning to work in Saudi Arabia, the first thing you should remember is to forget your job title / designation you were holding in your current company in your home country. There are several instances of people who had occupied senior positions in their own countries who had been total failures after coming to the kingdom. The reason is not far to seek.

Human tendency is to resist change. People who have worked in good positions in their countries should never ever come to Saudi Arabia and expect the same level of perks / respect. Remember, you are coming to work here only for money - nothing more, nothing less! If you have contracted to work in a senior position, particularly in a government organization, then good luck to you because sooner or later, your position will be Saudized - i.e., you will be replaced by a Saudi national. If you have contracted to work in a very junior position, then you better be careful about the reputation of the company to escape being ill-treated. The bottom line is that if you are going to get paid fairly well and that your company is taking care of most of your expenses (for example, round trip tickets for you and your family, medical/dental and education expenses for your family, etc.), then there is a fairly high chance that you have landed in the right job.

In any case, your intention to come to Saudi Arabia for work should be only money. Do not expect people to treat you like a General Manager, just because you were a General Manager in your home country! It doesn't work here that way. The sooner you realize this, the longer is your stay in the kingdom. Every day you are here is a bonus, because you have come here to make tax-free money which was not there in your home country.

Of course, it doesn't mean that you have to crawl, but if you feel you can't take it any more, it is better to quitely move out rather than trying to fight for your rights - you dont have them anyway! Make your money and be ready to call it quits any day, because as the saying goes, the only thing certain in the Gulf is uncertainty!

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Child birth in ksa 1
Child birth in Saudi Arabia-2
Some Important Links
Family visit visa
Relief for expatriates in Saudi Arabia
5 Cities
If You In Labour Class In Saudi

Hi,

The most important document for any expatriate planning to work in Saudi Arabia is the job contract with his employer. Please be aware that this contract has to be in Arabic for it to be an official document. Usually, the contract is in both Arabia as well as English, but the text contained in Arabic is what is considered legally as final and binding .

In some cases, the employer will make you sign an English contract in your home country and follow it up with an Arabic contract as soon as you arrive in the kingdom. This could be a bit tricky, so please ensure that your sponsor is a reputed employer. Also, as I have been repeatedly stressing earlier too, do not go by any verbal assurances. There are scores of instances when people have been promised a salary back home and are paid far lower than what they where promised after they arrived in the kingdom . There is nothing which you can do about it in such cases, because your passport will be with your sponsor and you will not even be able to get out of the country without his knowledge. In short, you virtually become his slave. Of course, this is not to generalize all Saudi sponsors under the same category - there are good employers too and some of them even go out of their way to help their employees.

The contract for an expatriate worker in Saudi Arabia has to be necessarily for a fixed period of time. Make sure that your probation period mentioned in the contract does not exceed 90 days, as required by Saudi labor law. Please note that sick leave and the public holidays for Eid (just after Ramadan) and Hajj holidays are excluded

If you are looking for working in Saudi Arabia, you must be aware of your rights as a worker. The entire cost of bringing you from the home country, visa processing fees, renewal of work visa and the cost of air tickets back to the home country is the responsibility of the sponsor. Do not sign any contract in which you have to pay for these, because it is your sponsor's responsibility to bear these expenses.

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Bringing pets into Saudi Arabia
touts-for-family-visa-in-saudi-arabia
Moving & Relocating to Saudi Arabia
Driving Liccnse In KSA
Vacation entitlements


One of the sad facets of expatriates working in Saudi Arabia is the problem faced by literally thousands of underpaid and fleeced people, most of them from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is not clear whether it is poverty or ignorance or both, which drives people to work in Saudi Arabia for a pittance.
I have seen janitors from the Indian subcontinent work for just SR400 a month, when they could have easily got a similar job in their own home countries if only they had tried a bit more. Worse, most of these illiterate poor people have been cheated by unscrupulous recruitment agents. The most common problem is that these agents promise them the moon, take hefty amounts as recruitment charges, and send them bag and baggage in the next available flight to Saudi Arabia. It is only upon landing here that these people come to know the vast difference in the salaries they were promised and are actually paid. With just no money to even buy their return tickets, they simply work as virtual slaves. Some of them, out of sheer desparation, jump sponsors and work elsewhere illegally, and sadly, some of them even go to the extent of suicide.
There are some of them who have borrowed huge sums of money, paid the agents hefty amounts, have purchased their own tickets and landed here only to face despair.
How does one identify whether an agent is genuine or not? Well, to begin with, just see the advertisement. Check whether the license number of the agent is mentioned at the bottom of the advertisement. As an example, if the license number is, say, xxxxx/BOM/PER/1000+/......., then it means that the agent is a reputed one. Instead of the number "1000+", if it is, say, "600+" or "500" or any number other than 1000, then absolute caution must be taken. And if you do not find the license number, then don't even touch it with a barge pole!
If the agent charges a fee for recruiting you, DO NOT TAKE THE OFFER. It just means that the agent is making money out of you.
Reputed companies always ensure that the agent charges nothing from the candidates. If you are going to pay a fee to the agent for getting employed in Saudi Arabia or for your air fare, then rest assured that your stay here is going to be miserable. The reason? Either the company which recruits you doesn't want to bear this cost or the agent is so bad that he wants to make a quick buck out of you. In either case, it is not really worth it. And never ever ever give your qualification certificate to your employer / interviewer for safe keeping as he will use it to browbeat you - this is no joke, it has happened to people! Believe me, no place in the world is paradise as Home Sweet Home. If you really do want to come and work in Saudi Arabia, ensure that you work in a good company and that your

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Employment contract in Saudi Arabia
Job title, salary and position
MoneyTransfer from Saudi Arabia
Working Women in Saudi Arabia
Expatriate Grievance Celll
Vehicle ownership by expats in Saudi



Working in Saudi Arabia for an expatriate could be quite a challenge. One of the common problems faced by expatriates, particularly those who have come to work in Saudi Arabia for the first time, is homesickness. The difference in culture, background, language and the fact that one is away from family all add up to this feeling. Usually, you will find someone from your own country and will quickly make new friends. This is the best way to come out of the shell and gradually the homesickness would fade away over time.

As a thumb rule, if you have survived successfully for the first three months after arrival, then you are more or less certain to do so for quite a long time. However, there are cases of people not settling down and do not find it comfortable enough to continue. Please do note that you have to be prepared to pay your air fare back home yourself. You have made a contract with your company and if you want to go back so soon, no sponsor will be ready to bear your return ticket. On the contrary, it is more likely that the sponsor will not even allow you to even go out of the kingdom as he has spent his time and money to recruit you (remember, you need his approval stamp in the exit visa). But you must really make a decision before coming, whether you want the money or whether you want to enjoy life. The hard reality is that you can't have both at the same time!

There's not much of entertainment activity here other than satellite television, so the best way to keep yourself engaged is to develop a good circle of friends. This will also help you get a good accommodation when your family arrives. Most of the good apartments and household items get sold by word of mouth, so it is essential that you develop a good network of friends. International phone calls still cost a fortune here and broadband internet connection is still not very common, though it is picking up fast. It would be cheaper to talk home through internet chatting (there are quite a few net cafes around) atleast initially, till you settle down.

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Medical insurance in Saudi Arabia
Telecommunication in Saudi Arabia
Attestation formalitites for Indians
Visa Of Exit Re-entry visa
Expatriate problems in Saudi Arabia
Unscrupulous recruitment agents


One needs a visa to enter a foreign country. But in Saudi Arabia, one needs a visa to both enter as well as get out of the country. Once inside the country, an expatriate needs a so-called 'Exit / Re-entry visa' to go out and return to the kingdom. In other words, even if you have your passport and a ticket in your hands, you would not be able to get out of the country without an exit / re-entry visa ~X( This could be quite a pain, particularly in case of a personal emergency when an expatriate wishes to leave the kingdom urgently.
There are 2 types of Exit / Re-entry visas - single and multiple. A single exit / re-entry visa is valid only once, i.e., for going out and returning. Once you return to the kingdom on a single visa, the validity is cancelled and you have to obtain a fresh Exit / Re-entry visa for your next trip out of the kingdom. On the other hand, a multiple exit / re-entry visa is valid for traveling any number of times back and forth out of and into the kingdom, but is valid only for 6 months from the date of first exit out of the country. In both cases, i.e., single as well as multiple visas, the sponsor's consent is required. In other words, your sponsor can actually decide when you can go out and re-enter the kingdom.
A single visa costs SR200. You are supposed to leave the kingdom within 30 days of the date of stamping and return before the date specified on the visa. Again, this is left to the discretion of your sponsor whether to apply for a validity of 1 month or 1 year 8- Usually, exit / re-entry visas are never given for more than a year.
A multiple visa costs SR500. The advantage is that once you have the passport and the ticket in your hands, you are free to go out of the kingdom and return within 6 months from the date of first departure. However, your sponsor's consent is required for this too for applying a multiple visa.
Most expatriates prefer to hold a multiple visa and prefer to pay the difference of their entitlement and requirement. That is, if the contract says that an annual vacation is your entitlement, and if you require a multiple visa, then you pay the balance of SR300 to get it, provided of course your sponsor agrees to the same.

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