Working in Saudi Arabia

Sponsorship transfer in Saudi Arabia

2012-02-24T22:09:00.000+03:00

One of the very frequently asked questions by expatriates working in Saudi Arabia pertains to their End of Service Benefits. I had covered this briefly in my earlier post (click here to view it). Something which is closely related to this topic is the transfer of sponsorship. This has become even more important now due to the recent changes in the Nitaqat program.

As mentioned earlier, the deadline for change of sponsorship from the 'red' and 'yellow' categories to 'green' and 'excellent' categories has already expired. While everyone has been focussing on Saudization and the number of jobs this exercise is supposed to create for unemployed Saudi citizens, the plight of expatriates who have been affected by this has found hardly any mention in the mainstream media in the kingdom. Creating employment for its own citizens is a right of the host country. At the same time, protecting the legal entitlements of its expatriate workers is also equally important. Sadly, the vast majority of workers, particularly from the non-supervisory labor category hardly know their rights.

After February 23, 2012, the red and orange category employers must not officially exist. (The deadline has not been extended at the time of writing this article despite a lot of demands for the same). So, what are they supposed to do? Simply put, they have to just fold up or sell their ownership to a 'green' or 'excellent' sponsor, unless they hire the minimum number of Saudi citizens to stay afloat. What happens to the rights of employees in these companies?

I would like to bring to the attention of expatriates precisely to a very important provision in the Saudi Labor Law. Article 18 specifically states that if an ownership of a firm is transferred through merger, partition or otherwise, the rights of the workers prior to the change shall be protected. In other words, the service is deemed to be continuous. So who has the liability towards workers? The law says that both the predecessor as well as the successor are jointly liable. However, if the predecessor agrees to transfer all his workers' rights to the successor and if the workers agree in writing to this, only then is the predecessor relieved of his liabilities.

Please note an important point here. I had already mentioned in my earlier article (click here) expatriate rights on End of Service Benefits. In case of transfer of ownership due to merger or partition, the new owner would have no right to say that the ESB of his workers accrued from the previous employment is not his responsibility, in case it is not already settled by the previous sponsor. This is guaranteed by Saudi Labor Law under Article 18. In case the employees object to his rights being transferred to the new owner, the previous sponsor has no option but to settle all his dues including ESB. Invariably, almost all sponsors do this. They probably consider it too degrading to ask written permission from their employees regarding transfer of their rights to the new employer, so they take the easier and more 'honorable' way out - simply settle the dues and wash the hands off! Also, the new sponsor doesn't want to have any of the old baggage. How many workers are literate enough to know their rights and how many have the time, energy and money to fight it out in the labor courts in case they do not get their dues? Sadly, this is the reality.

Know your rights. Ignorance is not bliss, it could be dangerous. Because as I always say, the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty.

Nitaqat nightmare

2012-02-06T11:22:00.000+03:00

My earlier post (click here) on changes to Iqama profession for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia evoked such a huge response that I decided to do a follow-up post on the same. Many concerned expats wanted to know about the status of their companies, whether they were in the red or yellow categories.

Before going into the details, a small recap. As already mentioned, companies in Saudi Arabia have been categorized into Green, Yellow and Red depending on the level of Saudization carried out. There is also a so-called "excellent" category above the green category, but this is of not much concern to expatriates in Saudi Arabia, so let's forget it for the moment. Those companies with the least Saudization, i.e., red category are in really big trouble. The iqamas of expatriates working in these companies are not being renewed after 26th November, 2011. Even though officially denied by the Government, most expats in these companies are even afraid to go on vacation in the fear that their exit/reentry visas would be converted into exit visas at the airport by the immigration. There is no smoke without fire, they say, so the suspicion is that there might have indeed been some cases which have happened this way. There is no way to confirm this, though. With a system so opaque, one cannot but sympathize with these people.

Time has been given until 22nd February, 2012 for employees in the red category and yellow category to find themselves jobs in the green or excellent cateogories. Expatriates have been waived from getting clearance from their current sponsors in red category to move over to jobs in the green range. Sadly, companies employing 9 persons or less do not fall under Nitaqat program so people working in these firms still need a release or NOC from their sponsors to move into better jobs. Those employees in the red category who are unfortunate not to find suitable jobs in the green category would be forcibly be given Exit along with their families upon expiry of their iqamas. In other words, they have time to look out for a job in the green category until their iqama expiry.

People in the yellow category are only slightly better off than those in the red category. Until 22nd February, 2012, these companies must convert themselves into green category, i.e., they must improve their Saudization levels substantially. In case of failure to do so, i.e., if they are still in the yellow category, employees working in these companies have the option of finding themselves jobs in green category without any kind of approval from their current sponsors. However, for those who continue with their current sponsors, their iqamas would be renewed only if they have put in less than 6 years stay. If not, it is curtains for these people and Exit would be stamped on their passports.

I would like to caution expatriates who are transferring themselves from the red and yellow to green categories, who have unresolved disputes with their current sponsors. You have to necessarily follow all procedures just as in any normal case with the sole exception that you do not need the consent of your current sponsor (applicable for yellow category from 23rd February, 2012 and for all in the red category). Take a look at my previous post for reference (click here). Note that you MUST definitely file your claim with the Ministry of Labor within 6 months from the date of your transfer to green category. Failure to do so with forfeit any future claims you may have. Also note that you CANNOT go on exit/reentry or be sent on exit within the first 6 months of your transfer to green category, unless and until your new sponsor has a written confirmation from your previous sponsor in red / yellow category that there are no claims against you from the previous contract. Somehow, I get a sick feeling of expats being held like a dog on a long leash!

Now comes the most crucial question on how to find out which category a particular company is in? It is quite pathetic that leave alone moving into green category, expatriates do not even have access to the basic information of their company's 'color'. A saving grace is the website of the Saudi Ministry of Labor. Click on this link, but before that keep someone beside you who can read Arabic because this web page, so important for expatriates, is completely in Arabic. Some customer service!

Type your iqama number in the space provided and click on the 'Submit' button. Your name along with your company's category should appear in Arabic. Again, please note that this is applicable for expatriates whose companies have a minimum of 10 workers or more. I really feel sorry for the large majority of unskilled expatriate workers, who do not even have access to internet. Where is the promised sms service which was supposed to provide instant information about an expatriate's category? I would like to appeal to readers to support these poor guys and pass on information about their company status, lest they are sent on final exit one fine day without even knowing the reason.

The coming days are going to be very crucial and would decide the fate of several expatriates working in Saudi Arabia.

Registration of Engineers in Saudi Arabia

2012-01-23T14:33:00.000+03:00

My earlier post (click here) on changing the job profession evoked such a massive response that I decided to do a follow-up article on a related subject. This one relates to the registration of engineers working in Saudi Arabia.

For the past few years, we keep hearing that unless people holding "Engineer" as a profession in their iqamas register themselves with the Saudi Council of Engineers, their iqamas would not be renewed. In the past, this was never implemented strictly due to a variety of reasons. And those reasons are valid even today.

First is the practicality of this decision. Let's say you have an expatriate engineer with years of experience behind him. There is no question of suspecting his credentials because otherwise his employer would have sacked him immediately. So, is it really worth all the effort in making existing engineers undergo the registration process?

Next is the credibility of the Council itself. The intentions may be good (regulating engineers in the kingdom, blah blah) but how qualified and experienced are the people running this, to accredit other engineers? Professional regulatory authorities such as General Medical Council in the UK, Medical Council of India, Philippine Medical Association, etc., are all highly respected because they follow internationally accepted standards and comprise of individuals who are highly qualified and have several decades of experience behind them. Just take one look at the SCE user manual and you will know what I mean. The very first sentence reads "Saudi Council of Engineers ......without the need of a visit to SCE fro submission of the applications". Give me a break, someone please conduct a crash course in spell check and English to these people before they start accrediting engineers!

You don't need to be a genius to conclude that this is nothing but a money-making exercise. Their accreditation fees is SR 1250 for engineers, SR1700 for associate engineers, SR 2300 for professional engineers and SR 2800 for consultant engineer. And I thought that all engineers were "professionals". So, if you are an unprofessional engineer you get to pay less! Some standard!

What is this whole exercise for? And to prove to whom? Does it mean that those who do not register themselves are not engineers? Then what about the attestation on the original certificate done by the Saudi embassy back home? That attestation is done only after the Education Ministry certifies that the particular certificate is original. So, does the attestation by the Saudi embassy have no value?

It is common knowledge that most expatriates work in Saudi Arabia with iqama professions not exactly matching their actual job titles. This is probably the biggest cause of heartburn, as people are unable to bring their families into the kingdom simply because their iqama has a non-supervisory title. I had written earlier about this in detail (click here). I have been getting several mails from people who are on Engineer visa, but who are in reality not engineers. Not their fault. Their sponsors simply brought them on whichever visa was available and since engineers were entitled to bring their families, they were simply issued those visas and and when they became available. Now what happens if their iqamas do not get renewed because SCE does not accredit these non-engineers?

For those expats who are on an engineer visa, but who really are not engineers, I would suggest the following. Anyway it is your sponsor's responsibility to do the iqama renewal, so at the first shot let him do all the running around in submitting your documents. If your iqama does get renewed, well and good. If not, I would suggest you to submit ALL your qualification certificates and documents to Saudi Council of Engineers. Let SCE do the job of reviewing your documents. If they reject your documents, you will get a message from them to collect the so-called "Non-registration" letter from their office. This letter must be submitted to the passport office to process the profession change in your iqama. The best part is that the rejection letter will be addressed to your sponsor and not to you, so once again the responsibility will shift to your sponsor. The only problem then, would be whether your sponsor has enough supervisory category visas so that you can continue to be with your families. The coming days are going to see quite some activity, so watch out this space for updates.

Changing profession - important developments

2012-01-10T12:03:00.000+03:00

You like it or you don't, but you just can't ignore it. So goes the saying. I guess this is equally applicable to the Kingdom. So much has been happening here and sadly, not so much information about it easily available. It gives me great pleasure to announce that I have resumed writing in your favorite blog! Missed you all these days!

One of the most important issues bugging the minds of expatriates is the visa profession. I had mentioned in my earlier post (click here to view the same) the method for changing your profession in the iqama. For those visiting this blog recently, the logical question would be why would anyone want to do that? Simply put, it is because your actual job title is not the same as what is mentioned in your iqama and if your iqama title falls under the "prohibited" category, then you wouldn't be able to bring your family into the kingdom.

I have had mails from several expatriates mentioning at length their actual job title and how they have salaries comfortable enough to sponsor their families in the kingdom. Unfortunately, working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge if you don't adapt and acclamatize yourself. To top it all, most of the information doesn't come officially and it is only after some one actually goes through the process that he learns by experience. Ask me, I have been a desert camel for over 14 years and still continuing !

After the Saudi Government announced the Nitaqat program (which took effect from November 26, 2011), it is an understatement to say that turmoil has hit several expatriates. To make the long story short, companies are now classified under three different colors - red, yellow and green, depending on the level of Saudization. If a company falls under 'Green' category, it means that there are enough Saudis in that company and there is no restriction on hiring expatriates. If a company is 'Yellow', it still falls under danger zone, but is given time until February 23, 2012 to convert itself to 'Green'. Finally, if a company is in 'Red' category, no expat can be hired by that company nor would visas of existing expats be extended.

The important point question here is, what happens to the expats working in 'Red' and 'Yellow' category companies? The Labor Ministry has announced that expats in these companies can transfer their visas to 'Green' category companies without even requiring an NOC or release from their existing companies. How effective this has been, is another question. I have been flooded with requests from several expatriates on this one singular issue. Many have their iqamas expiring soon and are now in a fix. Their sponsors would not allow them to work elsewhere (despite whatever is written on paper) while the Government would not renew their visas.

There is a new twist to this drama. As soon as the Nitaqat program was announced, the Labor Ministry told that expatriates in the red and yellow category companies could get their iqama professions changed, subject to meeting some conditions. The rush to do so has been tremendous and now the Government has extended the deadline until February 22, 2012. After this date, profession change in the iqama would be allowed only for those employees working in the Green category. So, virtually it is a now-or-never for thousands of those expatriates working in red and yellow category companies.

Some restrictions apply even for specialized professions. For example, if you want to change your profession to "Engineer", you need to personally go to the Labor Ministry with your original (and attested) degree certificate. Similarly, if you are in Medical profession and want to change your profession to a "Doctor" or a "Nurse", you need to go personally and show your official license for personal verification.

What about other professions? Well, at the moment this is a big question. It again depends on what your qualifications are and to which profession you want to change to. I will keep you updated on all developments here. In the meantime, do keep visiting this blog as usual.

Final exit procedure from Saudi Arabia

2010-03-04T18:05:00.010+03:00

I always used to say that the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty. Well, not exactly. For expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, one thing is certain - it is the final exit from the kingdom. The date of final departure may vary, but come what may, you must leave the kingdom one day or the other. With this solemn thought, I thought that it would be a good idea to document the exit procedures from the kingdom and give it as a checklist for the benefit of my beloved fellow expat brothers and sisters.

1. Whether you are going to break your contract or you would not like to renew it, you must give 30 days written notice to your employer. This would legally entitle you to get your End of Service benefits. As far as possible, try to make your exit as smooth as possible, without quarreling with your employer, whatever may be your grievances. Afterall, we have all come for money.

2. Remember that your housing contract is different from your employment contract. You would have to give a written notice to your house owner at least 30 days prior to your departure. You are legally bound to pay up for the remainder rent till the end of your housing contract. Usually, expats find fellow-expats to occupy their houses and get the proportional rent from the newcomers.

3. If you have a landline/DSL connection from STC, I would advise you to surrender your connection at least 10 days prior to your departure. First go to STC and collect a printout of your pending bill. Then go to Arab National Bank, fill in an STC-specific form available there (it would be completely in Arabic, so you would have to take someone's help), pay up the amount, and bring back the receipt to STC. This is the procedure in the eastern province. In places like Riyadh, you can directly pay up the amount in STC. Take a photocopy of the bank receipt and the STC bill and keep them safe till you leave the kingdom. Get your connection cancelled in the STC system. Remember, you would not be given any receipt or proof of cancellation, so make sure that you actually verify yourself in the STC computer screen before leaving the office. The last thing you want to happen is to be sent back from the airport.

4. If you are with your family, I would advise you to send them home a few days prior to your departure. You don't want your family also to suffer in case you land in some kind of trouble, right?

5. Keep your SAWA/Mobily/Zain prepaid card with you with a decent balance. This would be your only mode of communication till you leave the kingdom. There is no need to surrender this. You can always transfer the remaining credit to your friends when you leave.

6. If you have any traffic fines pending, pay them up right away and keep clear.

7. If you have a car, sell it at least a week before you leave. Never EVER make the mistake of driving a car after you have sold it. It is quite tempting that you may ask your friend to use his car till you leave, but remember, in case of an unfortunate incident, you would be in really deep trouble.

8. You must make absolutely sure that the name has been transferred to the person to whom you have sold the car. Remember that you would not be given any proof of transfer, so I would advise you to take a photocopy of the buyer's istemara once you have sold it. Retain it with you till you leave the kingdom. There have been several cases where people have been sent back from the airport, because the name has not been transferred in the system even though you might have actually sold the car.

9. In case you are using VOIP for making internet phone calls, make sure that you have adequate credit balance. This would prove to be a blessing in the last few days.

10. Pay up all your dues and surrender your credit cards well in advance.

11. Try to dispose off your house along with the goods. You may not get the same price as what you purchased, but remember, you cannot save every single riyal.

12. Pay up your electricity bills and keep a copy of the receipt till you leave the kingdom.

13. Do not have any pending dues to anyone. Not only is it ethically wrong, it might even land you in trouble in the airport.

14. Before you submit your resignation, take an introduction letter from your employer with complete salary details. Some employers may not like to give it once you submit your resignation, so this is just in case.

15. A couple of days before your departure, send the most essential things you need back home by cargo. Remember, it costs money, so be sensible and send only those items which you think are badly needed. These days most things are available everywhere.

16. Withdraw almost all money from your account at least 2 weeks before you leave. Never EVER use the ATM in the last 15 days. The last thing you want is trouble with your bank because your ATM card got stuck up in a machine. Have all transactions only by cash.

17. Your ESB will be given only 2 days before you leave. Take a statement from your employer stating that this is your final settlement money and take a photocopy of this letter. If you are going to transfer money home from an exchange other than your regular bank, always make sure that you take a friend along with you. Take a black bag and try to keep a low profile. The time between removing cash from your bank and paying it at an exchange is extremely important. Remember, eyes are always watching you and the last thing you want is some thief to snatch your hard-earned money.

18. Always book your final departure a couple of days AFTER you send money home. Make sure that the amount has actually reached your account back home.

19. Take a statement from your bank that the account is closed and that there are no more dues. Keep this paper till you leave the kingdom.

20. When the final exit is stamped in your passport (which will be on a separate piece of paper stapled to your passport), take a photocopy of it and retain it even after you reach home. You will need this in case you want to return to the kingdom for employment. This is extremely important. The exit paper may or may not have a stamp, this is not so important. Having this paper is very cruicial.

21. There is a column in this exit paper in which you have to sign. It is a declaration that all dues to you have been settled. By signing this, you are giving up your right to sue anyone at a later date. and unless you sign this paper, the guy in the immigration will not allow you to pass.

22. As already mentioned, make sure you collect the exit paper from the airport counter, otherwise you cannot return to the kingdom for employment.

23. In case you are leaving the kingdom along with your family, always make sure that you stand in the queue ahead of your family and not the other way round. In case your family stand before you and they are sent without a problem, but unfortunately you get stuck up due to any reason, you would have to return whereas your family cannot come back. To save yourself from this trauma, let your family always behind you so that if you are sent back, you can still be with your family.

24. Once your passport is stamped, you can relax as you are officially out of Paradise.

I have mixed feelings as I write this last post. Like all other expatriates, my final day in the kingdom has also come. I started this blog only as a hobby, but the tremendous amount of response from all over the world, with over 50 hits an hour, has proved that this blog has become a source of unbiased and accurate source of information for all expatriates working in Saudi Arabia.

12 years is a big chunk of my life. I had unforgettable experiences in the kingdom. Totally unknown people have come forward to help me whenever I was in trouble. How can I forget the Saudi who helped me and my family in the highway, when my car was stuck up? How can I forget the great friends I acquired? I am deeply indebted to my friend and software expert / VA specialist Mrs. Deepa Govind, who was a source of inspiration for me and who helped me develop this blog. And finally, how can I forget you, my beloved readers, who have showered me with love and affection all the way through?

I will not shut down this blog as the information here is too precious to do so. I will however, continue to offer paid consultancy for those who require, on a case to case basis. Parting is always painful, but life has to move on. When one journey ends, another begins. And with this warm wish to each one of you, my beloved readers, for an very bright future, I bid a final goodbye.

You too, Bahrain?

2010-02-13T16:49:00.005+03:00

Looks like some diseases are highly infectious. No, I am not talking of those which strike the human body. This disease is called 'labor-phobia'. Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia have long been used to being 'classified' based on their visa professions. Never mind that you might be the General Manager of a company, but if your iqama says that your profession is "labor", then all hell breaks loose. To begin with, you can't sponsor your family. Since you cant bring your family, you are forced to stay single. Which means that you would be treated differently the moment you step out of your home.

Let's say it's weekend and you want to go to the nearby mall. Nothing wrong in this, isn't it? You got it all wrong, my friend. You are single, without your family and hence would not be allowed into the mall. It doesn't matter that you are going to pay the same as a "family man" would, for whatever you planned to buy. No family, no admission. But why? Don't ask questions, this is the way of life. Okay, how about a walk along the corniche? No, you got it wrong again. You are supposed to restrict yourself only to the "singles" section. You aren't supposed to enter the "family" zone. Fine, now how about a visit to your dentist or the nearby dispensary? Nope! Same story again. You better not go and sit in the "family" section unless you want to be kicked out by the Security. Goodness Gracious! But this is life in Saudi Arabia and there is nothing which you and I can do about it, right?

Until now Bahrain was an outlet for those who wanted to take a break. All you needed was just an exit/re-entry visa. You just had to pay SR20 for crossing over the causeway, and you were given an entry on the Bahraini side. After all, it makes economic sense. Every visitor coming from the kingdom spends money in Bahrain and it helps the economy, right?

Well, looks like some wise guy couldn't take it anymore. All of a sudden since last week, people who were in Saudi "labor" visas couldn't enter Bahrain. And in typical Gulf style, it happened without any notice. Never mind if you had a valid Saudi exit/reentry visa. Now who on earth took this decision and why was it made? No answers. So, what exactly is a "labor" visa according to Bahraini immigration? Well, loosely translated, anything which is not an "engineer" or a "doctor" or any "supervisory" visa is a labor visa. Never mind your actual profession. If your iqama says so, that's it!

Okay, but how does it matter? Afterall, you do not get a discount in any hotel in Bahrain just because you are on a Saudi "labor" visa? You pay the same as what other non-labor Saudi visa holders do. And whatever is the logic behind this move? The grapvine is that there is a "suspicion" that people from Saudi come in the morning, work in Bahrain and return in the evening. What could be farther from truth and what else could be more illogical than this? But if you talk logic, you cannot survive in this region.

Sadly, it is going to affect the Bahraini economy more than anyone else. Why this retrograde step? Every expat has come here to make some money while at the same time contribute to the region's economy. Afterall, he or she has been hired to do a specific work isn't it? Hope good sense prevails. Let's hope that the entire region frees itself from the impractical and illogical branding of people based on their visa professions.

Police clearance for Indian nationals

2010-01-31T06:56:00.003+03:00

It was only a matter of time before this new rule was implemented in the kingdom. Indian nationals who are planning to come to work in Saudi Arabia would now need to go through another process. They would need to have a police clearance from the local passport office.

I remember that this rule was already in place about a decade ago, when I first entered the kingdom. However, it was never implemented strictly and over a period of time, the Saudi embassy in India also stopped insisting on it. But now, it has become official.

What does this mean for the potential Indian expatriate planning to work in Saudi Arabia? Indian passports are valid for ten years from the date of issue, before they need renewing. Potential Indian expats planning to come to the kingdom for employment first need to ensure that the address mentioned in their passports are updated. So, if you have moved your residence after issue of your passport, you better get the new address updated in the passport. I would advise you to also make a personal visit to your local police station to make sure that the cops visit you when you are present at home. Visiting your local police station strengthens your case for a quicker home visit by the policemen.

An update to the Arab News report is that the new rule is being implemented from 15th February, 2010 and not from 25th January, as mentioned.

What is particularly comforting is the fact that Saudi sponsors too need to have their visa requests certified by the local Chamber of Commerce and countersigned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In case any sponsor has defaulted or has pending cases in the labor court, he would be unable to get this certificate from the Chamber of Commerce. It is hoped that both criminal employees as well as criminal sponsors can be effectively screened this way. I just wish that this rule is implemented in letter and spirit and not watered down as time passes.

On another note, there is still no update on the proposed family visa process based on income. Remember the famous NOC-not-required-rule which came into force in 2006, but till date is partially implemented and that too only for a few countries? Patience is a virtue for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia and I just hope that the family visa proposal also does not get delayed further.

Of minimum wages for expats

2010-01-22T14:08:00.004+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge. More so when you realize that you are offered a pay which is far less than what was promised / anticipated. Whenever a fleeting thought comes to my mind why some people with far less qualifications and experience than me land themselves in jobs paying much higher than mine, I just look around at some of my poor low-paid fellow expatriates and thank Almighty for what I am.

My heart goes out to these lowly-paid people who slog it out. Can you believe that some of these guys get paid just SR450 per month? I was talking to a Nepali janitor the other day who say he works 365 days a year without a break by doing odd jobs. Ditto with the Bangladeshi car cleaner who is forced to take up sundry jobs after his regular work.

My attention was drawn to the labor ministry's proposal to raise the minimum wage for Saudis in private sector. Take a look at this article. Fair enough and I feel happy for them. But please, extend this to everyone, not just Saudis. If you pay someone SR450 a month, what would he eat? Forget about saving and sending something for his family back home, his own sustenance would become a question mark. Sending a person on vacation once in 3 years may make good economic sense for a few selfish sponsors, but wouldn't it encourage petty crimes by some of these guys out of desparation?

What is it that makes these people work for a pittance? I guess it is a combination of illiteracy and desparation back home that they jump into whatever is offered. It is no wonder that they are taken for a ride. Unscrupulous agents in their own countries promise them the moon and when these people land in the kingdom, they are in for a rude shock. To add to their misery, some of the sponsors retain their passports and do not release them, which makes them virtual slaves.

I was talking to a Pakistani driver the other day. He said that it was 5 years since he went home. His sponsor wouldn't give him his passport and wouldn't allow him to work with someone else either. When asked what he was planning to do, he told me without the slightest emotion in his face that he had "escaped" from his original sponsor and that he had no iqama and that after earning enough money from odd jobs, he would go straight to the infamous bridge in Jeddah and wait for the police to arrest and deport him back home.

Sad story, but this is the reality. What is the remedy? To begin with, there must be minimum wages fixed for each profession and the labor ministry must strictly monitor whether the workers are indeed being paid what was promised. As in the UAE, bank accounts must be made compulsory for all expatriates and all payments must be done on time. Vacation of atleast once a year must be made mandatory and binding. Let's hope that the year 2010 ushers in good times for all our fellow expat brothers and sisters.

Changes to family visa policy in Saudi Arabia

2009-12-26T16:27:00.005+03:00

This is one of the best news which expats working in Saudi Arabia have been waiting for since such a long time. Finally, it is now official.

For the past 10 days, since the arrival of the Saudi crown prince from abroad after his successful medical treatment, expats in Saudi Arabia have been treated to a very special gift. Family visa rules had been relaxed. All one had to do was just to pay SR25 towards visa application fees and everyone who applied was issued a family visa. Yes, you read it right, a permanent family visa irrespective of one's profession. Word spread like wildfire and soon crowds started swelling in passport offices all over the kingdom. Years and years of pent up frustration in not being able to bring one's families, just because the visa profession was not supervisory, simply changed into uncontrollable joy for the thousands of expatriates who were without their near and dear ones.

The crowds became uncontrollable and soon the passport office had to put a ceiling that not more than 1000 applications per day would be considered, due to the huge and unexpected response. This was THE day which people were expecting. As usual, there was no official announcement and everything was just by word of mouth. But who cares, as long as the work gets done.

Well, the news has now become official, but with a rider. An income ceiling, which is yet to be confirmed, has been proposed to regulate the milling crowds. My sources tell me that pending the decision on the minimum income, issue of family visas has been temporarily put on hold and is likely to be resumed within a week's time. In the meantime, take a look at this link for the "official" version in the local press:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=130232&d=26&m=12&y=2009

The myriad complicated procedures must hopefully be a thing of the past. A cursory look at my previous post on family visa (click here) and the over 300+ comments from desparate readers wanting to be with their families, shows the pent up frustration of expats in not being able to be with their kith and kin.

12 years back when I landed in the kingdom, the Principal of an international school, a Phd qualified gentleman, quit his post in disgust as he was on a painter visa which was not entitled to sponsor a family, never mind that his actual profession was a Principal. Hopefully, all such nonsensical procedures should soon be a thing of the past. As usual, this blog would come out first with any developments on this, so watch out for this space. Meanwhile, on this happy note, let me welcome the arrival of the New Year with a warm wish to all my readers.

Procedure for replacing lost SIM card in Saudi

2009-12-20T16:28:00.013+03:00

Several months back, I had written an article about telecommunication system in Saudi Arabia (Click here). To give a quick recap, there are three telecom operators in the kingdom - STC, Mobily and Zain. The market leader, due to historical reasons, is STC. Most expats prefer to buy 'SAWA' card, the prepaid chip from STC due to the lesser hassles of paperwork.

As has been mentioned several times in the past, as long as everything works smooth in paradise, nothing will go wrong. But things DO go wrong and horror of horrors, no one knows where or whom to approach to when they do go wrong. Which was why this blog was started in the first place. One such issue is when you have a prepaid SAWA card, as most expats do, and the unthinkable happens - you lose it! Ask me, I have first hand experience!

Well, the first thought which would come to your mind when you lose your SIM card is obviously to contact 902. Rule # 1: Don't expect a friendly operator to pick up the phone and answer your call! After going through the machine-recorded ordeal of STC's latest promotions and offers, you are lead through a series of buttons you have to press. After half a dozen options, when you finally press the button for prepaid mobile phones, you are greeted with a recorded message - no surprise - "Please use your own mobile to make your complaint". Oh dear! Why would I make a complaint if I had a mobile with me in the first place?

The next thought which would come to your mind would be to go to the nearest STC outlet, right? Wrong! STC have opened sales outlets in several places which work till 10 pm, but when you lose your SIM card, none of these outlets can help you. After visiting a couple of them, the truth realized on me that these outlets are, as the name suggests, only sales outlets - nothing more, nothing less. You have to personally go to the STC's customer service office in your town.

My next destination was the STC customer service office. Their office works only between 9.30 am to 2 pm, Saturday through Wednesday - so much so for customer service! Okay, after undergoing the embarrassment of asking time off from my boss, I finally made it to STC's office on a weekday. After about 45 minutes of wait in the queue, I got my turn. I explained to the guy in the reception my problem and he kept nodding his head all the while. I thought that I was through, but it took me some time to realize that I got it all wrong. My problem was not my losing the card. My latest problem was that I knew only English and this guy knew only Arabic! Excellent communication in a telecom company!

Finally after looking around, I got hold of a friendly Bangladeshi janitor who did the role of a translator cum mediator between us. Just when I thought that my problems had come to an end, I realized that they had just begun.

I was told to go to Arab National Bank, pay SR50 and then bring the receipt back to STC. Oh dear! Why don't they just take the 50 riyals and be done with it? I asked the guy whether I could pay this amount online in my own bank - after all I pay my monthly phone bills online. The answer was a big NO. You've got to pay ONLY in Arab National Bank! By then it was already time for the afternoon prayers and I thought it was best to come back another day!

So, I had to undergo the same ritual of asking time off from my boss (who looked at me like a worm!) and proceeded to Arab National Bank. I filled in the cash deposit form for SR50, stood in the queue for about 20 minutes, and finally when my turn came, the cashier tells me that I have to fill in another form specifically meant for STC and not the usual cash deposit form. Don't tell me! The cashier gave me a concession, though. He said that I could come straight to his counter bypassing the queue, after filling in the right form. Thank God for small mercies.

After wading through the piles of forms, I finally got someone to help me out with the STC form. No surprises, every single word in the form was in Arabic! So, after getting a Saudi to fill in all the details, I finally paid the money and went back to STC triumphantly - afterall half the battle is won, isn't it?

No, how wrong I was. There was a shortage of SIM cards and I was supposed to come and try another day. I almost had a heart attack and the image of my boiling boss came to my mind! Drained of all energy, I went back to the same Bangladeshi janitor and asked him for a favor. I wanted his mobile number so that I could enquire the availability of SIM card in the office before coming. He took pity on me and gave me his number.

This morning I called up the janitor (who was more helpful than any of these customer-service guys) and I was asked to come urgently. So, hopefully for one final time, I approached my boss and before he could reach for his gun, quickly left the room to reach STC! An hour and a half later, I finally got the replacement SIM card. No, my problems aren't yet over. I was told that the card would be activated after one hour. Well, it is almost going to be a day as I write this post, but at least I have the SIM card in my mobile - never mind that it doesn't work still!

So, to make the story short, here is the summary when you lose your chip:

1. Go to Arab National Bank, fill in the form in Arabic and pay SR50.

2. Find out from the STC customer service center whether and when the SIM card is available

3. Take a copy of your iqama (for verification) and the receipt for SR50 which you paid in Arab National Bank.

4. Get the chip and after putting it in your mobile, enter the PIN number. Now wait........don't ask me how long, I don't have an answer for that.

While waiting for my turn in STC office, I did some fact-finding. For those of you who are on exit and want to surrender your landline as well as DSL connection, you have to first find out your balance amount from STC, go to any bank (yes, you read it right, ANY bank) pay the amount and bring the receipt to the STC customer service office. Fill in only the landline form (not DSL form) for cancellation and hand it to the counter along with the bank receipt and you should be through.

Hope the above post was useful.

Labor courts and your contract

2009-12-05T14:29:00.009+03:00

Ignorance is bliss, goes the saying. For expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, ignorance is dangerous. My earlier article (click here) about the importance of work contract evoked a lot of response from readers of this blog. To this day, the biggest hurdle facing expats is lack of information on just about anything concerning them. Information on labor courts is one such thing.

Sadly, contrary to popular belief of those who want to work in Saudi Arabia, this is neither a place of easy tax-free money nor does milk and honey flow in the streets of the kingdom. Life is definitely tough here. Just take a look at the number of cases in the labor courts and it is more than proof enough.

There are two types of labor courts, also known as "commissions". There is a so-called "Preliminary" Commission and a "High" Commission for settling labor disputes in the kingdom. The preliminary commission has jurisdiction only for small-causes, i.e., for labor disputes up to SR10,000. This commission also takes care of issues like termination of contracts. The High Commission, on the other hand, has more powers and deals with labor disputes involving sums above SR10,000. Once can appeal the decisions of the Preliminary commission to the High commission.Both the commissions have legal powers to inspect the premises of any firm and their record books, when a dispute is involved.

Expatriates must be aware of certain important issues before approaching any of these commissions. As per Article 222 (1) of the Saudi Labor law, you must definitely take up your case within 12 months from termination of your contract or from the date of occurrence of the cause of the dispute, otherwise your case will not be entertained. Note that once a judgement has been passed by the High Commission, there is no further appeal. One good provision in the Saudi labor law is that there can be no abstentions by the judges - either you get a judgement in favor or against.

The biggest problem in the system is that it may take literally several months or even years before you get the verdict. This is what pisses of most expats, as no one has the time or money to sustain the legal battle for so long. Unscrupulous sponsors take advantage of this. Which is all the more reason why I keep emphasizing the importance of your written contract. Never ever ever go by verbal assurances. Remember, if it is not in paper, you don't have it!

On another note, this blog has had its 150,000th visitor this morning. What started off on a small scale has grown so fast within just above 2 years. Never did I ever imagine that this blog, which was started based on my own experiences and the need for information, would become so highly popular. If my writings have helped reunite families and to make lives of my fellow-expats easier, then the purpose of this blog has been achieved. To all my readers and fellow expatriate brothers and sisters, with all humility, a big thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Healthcare and alternative medicine in Saudi Arabia

2009-11-10T07:54:00.009+03:00

My earlier post (click here) on healthcare in Saudi Arabia drew an enthusiastic response from readers that I decided to do a follow-up article on the same.

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must realize that health care in the kingdom doesn't come cheap. It has been now made mandatory that all sponsors must necessarily obtain health insurance for their employees. I had written a separate article on this earlier (click here). Though this is a welcome move, there are certain issues which need to be attended to urgently. For example, if the sponsor does not obtain the health insurance on time, the employee's passport will not be stamped with an exit/reentry visa nor will his iqama be renewed. In other words, the employee has to suffer for the fault of his sponsor. But the trauma does not end there. Without an insurance card, the employee would have to shell out a huge amount to the hospital in case of sickness / hospitalization.

It is not uncommon to see both Saudis as well as expats go to other countries to have certain important surgeries done. No, it is not that there aren't enough facilities here. It is just that top-notch specialists who perform certain critical surgeries are available abroad and at relatively cheaper prices! Some oriental countries have grabbed this opportunity to start what is now fashionably known as medical tourism!

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must realize that alternative forms of medicine are neither recognized not encouraged by the Government. The only form of medicine legally allowed is Allopathy. Homoeopathy, Ayurveda, Accupuncture and the like are legally not permitted. What is rather surprising is that certain traditional forms of therapy still exist in some parts of the kingdom, albeit illegally. One such therapy involves piercing the skin on the neck to remove the "impure" blood. This kind of treatment is popular among certain sections of Saudis, particularly in the western coast. The effectiveness and safety of this therapy is still a controversial topic, but the fact remains that a lot of people do trust this therapy and claim to have obtained relief.

It is quite common for expats, particularly those from the East, to bring their own traditional medicines while coming back from vacation. Of course, the risk of such medicines being confiscated at the airports is always there, but these expats do not care as long as there is relief from pain! The surprising part is that alternative therapies such as Ayurveda is not only legally allowed in neighbouring Bahrain, there are even full-fledged pharmacies existing which sell traditional medication. So, when it is legally allowed in Bahrain, why not here?

It is time the authorities reconsidered their policy and allowed other forms of medicines to legally operate in the kingdom. Let the patients decide which one is best for themselves.

Of tough times

2009-10-10T16:49:00.008+03:00

Recession seems to drive people to desparation. Not one country in the world can claim to have escaped the current downturn. Saudi Arabia is no exception, though the degree of recession is not as bad as some neighboring countries.

I have been frequently getting requests from people asking whether I could arrange a job for them in Saudi Arabia. No, these requests are not from the not-so-educated, but from professionals who would otherwise have normally picked and chosen their jobs. Apart from the fact that I am not an employment agent, this just left me wondering the extent to which people would go to somehow get "some job" in Saudi Arabia. People tend to think that this is a land of milk and honey. Far from it.

Expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia must remember something. Unless the economy is booming, there wouldn't be enough jobs and even if there are, they wouldn't be paying as much as one would normally expect. Afterall, if your employer doesn't make money, how do you expect him to pay you? True, there is no income tax in this country, so what?. There is a misconception that just because there is no tax, life is really easy here. Nothing can be farther from truth.

When I first arrived in the kingdom more than a decade ago, it still wasn't that bad. People used to keep their cars unlocked with the engines running and go into shops to get a can of Pepsi. No one was bothered about the safety of the cars or about the valuables kept inside them. Burglary was extremely rare and one could hardly see any beggars at traffic lights. Malls used to be packed with people. Ramadan was a time when people regularly changed their furniture, even though they were almost new. Expats used to hunt second hand markets only to get their hands on these near-new pieces! Companies were generous in their pay and bonus and truly, this was indeed paradise.

Times are tough and how they change people within a span of 10 years! Employment has become scarce, and a growing local population yearning for more , wouldn't settle for anything less than the best. Plum managerial jobs occupied by expats have all vanished. Labor offices have their hands full with complaints by expats of unpaid / delayed salaries. Saudization, or replacing expats with Saudis, is the in-thing here. Sporadic attacks on expats are definitely there, and though they are not common, the very fact that they do occur once in a while definitely unnerves the expat community. So where do we go from here?

I do not want to paint a pessimistic picture though. All said and done, Saudi Arabia is still the best place where one can save money in the Middle East, for the simple reason that there aren't just many outlets where you can spend as compared to, say the UAE. Huge cities are being planned. New Universities are coming up. Grand plans have been drawn to give a boost to the economy. It would take a while before these bear fruit, but until then one must have perseverance. If you have the right skills, the opportunities are still there, but the days are long gone when people without qualifications and experience could simply walk in and get "some job". If you have the right skills and experience, you have a chance otherwise you are out. It's that simple.

Let's just hope that we quickly get out of this recession. After all, tough times do not last, tough people do!

Education in Saudi Arabia

2009-09-18T05:14:00.012+03:00

I have been getting periodic requests from potential expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia about educational facilities in the kingdom, both in primnary / secondary levels and in under graduate levels.

I had briefly described in one of my earlier posts (click here) about schooling facilities in the kingdom. Schools in Saudi Arabia can be broadly classified into two categories. The first one serves only Saudi / Arab children while the other is meant for expatriate children, more popularly known as "international" schools.

International schools can once again be broadly classified into two - those which serve primarily the citizens of their respective countries and those which are 'truly' international, i.e., they do not mind admitting children of any nationality.

Before I go into the details, a word of caution for potential expatriates. If you are planning to bring your family into the kingdom, make sure that you sign a contract in which the educational expenses are covered by your employer. Education IS expensive in the kingdom and it would put a big hole in your pocket if you fail to take care of this important point.

First, a word about the country-wise "international" schools which cater primarily to the citizens of their respective countries. For example, we have schools run for Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, etc., and have typical names such as "International xxxx School". The curriculum followed in these schools is exactly what is followed back home in their respective countries. For those expats who do not want to lose continuity and who would like to ensure that their kids get a smooth re-admission once they return to their native countries, joining their kids in their respective country's school makes sense.

There are also other schools which are truly multi-national and multi-cultural. The students as well as the teachers come from almost every part of the world. Some of these schools charge exhorbitantly and it is very uncommon to find expats paying the fees themselves. The kids in these schools are invariably company-sponsored ones and the syllabi followed here conform to western standards. All schools come under the strict purview of the Ministry of Education of the Saudi Government and there is an "observer" to monitor the activities of each of these schools. Since last year, Arabic has been made as one of the compulsory subjects in all expat schools due to statutory restrictions, but passing in Arabic is just a formality and is not taken too seriously by the schools themselves.

It is quite common for expats to send their kids back home for higher studies once they complete Grade 10. There is no denial of the fact that as the kids keep growing up, the standard of education imparted is nowhere near what is taught back home. To give their kids a fair chance of writing competitive examinations, it makes more sense to send them back home when they cross Grade 10. Of course there are kids who continue upto Grade 12 but then this seems to be the limit. There are two reasons for this.

When the child completes 12 years of schooling, his or her age is typically 17 years. Once the child reaches, he is supposed to get a separate iqama. Any male above 18 years is considered as a potential employment-seeker and hence can no longer be under his father's iqama. Parents usually make the painful decision of sending their children back home to pursue their higher education when it comes to this stage.

Talking of higher education, the opportunities for children of expats are very limited and whatever is available is prohibitively expensive. Also, the various courses and options available back home are, sadly, missing here unlike neighbouring GCC countries like Bahrain or the UAE. Universities such as KAUST promise to provide the latest hi-tech education, particularly in Science, but being a relatively new University it would take a while before it gets fully established. Since there is no subsidy for expats, education here is also extremely expensive.

Most expats working in Saudi Arabia, who are forced to be away from their families just because they want their kids to have a better education back home, are in an unenviable position. The emotional and psychological problems faced by these expats can simply not be compensated. But the other pain is the financial one. Every year they have to pay for the air tickets of their families to the kingdom, just to ensure that their names are still in their iqamas. It is no wonder that after a certain stage, expats consider seriously shifting back home or to some other country where opportunity for higher education is available for their kids.

Let us just hope that things change for the better and Saudi Arabia too offers the same educational opportunities in higher education, as in the rest of GCC.

The law and reality of your contract

2009-09-05T08:38:00.007+03:00

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia are in an unenviable situation. All of us have fixed term contracts which we sign before taking up an assignment in the kingdom. We just assume that once the contract is extended, we have another term of stay in the kingdom.

I have mentioned in the past the importance of going through your contract terms and conditions very carefully before signing it. What protects you once you land here is only the contract and nothing else. Note that all the important things which matter to the expatriate, your job title, family visa, end of service benefits, virtually all of your benefits and obligations of your sponsor, are all based on your contract.

My attention was drawn to an interesting article in today's Arab News. This is a question by one of the readers to a lawyer about the status of his contract. The question relates to a "time bomb clause" in the contract by which the employer can terminate the contract at any point of time by giving a month's notice despite a contract to the contrary. The reply given by the lawyer is 100% correct and I have no reason to dispute it, given that the learned lawyer is a well-respected one in his profession. What I would like to focus in today's post is what is NOT mentioned in the reply.

For those of us expatriates who have continued to stay beyond the "initial" contract which was signed after entering the kingdom for the first time, you must be careful on what you sign while extending your contract. Clever employers use the word "extension of contract" rather than just "contract". Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must be aware of their rights and obligations while extending their contract with the above words. What this means in simple language is explained below.

When you first arrive in the kingdom on a contract, this becomes the "mother" contract. Now let's say you signed a 2-year contract. At the end of the 2nd year, both you and your employer want to renew this for another 2 years, either on the same terms or on mutually agreed upon terms and conditions. In case the new contract says that it is an "extension of contract", your employer has every right to terminate you with just a simple one-month notice. All is not lost. You too have an equal right to terminate the contract with the same notice period. It doesn't matter if you have a 2-year contract extension. What this, in effect, means is that the employer is not obliged to give you your complete end of service benefits and other dues until the "end" of your contract, i.e., until the 2-year period in the renewed contract is completed. This is the difference between a "contract" and an "extension of contract".

For example, this is my 12th year of stay in the kingdom. After the "mother" contract of the first 2 years, the contract with my employer has always been an "extension of contract". My employer chose not to sign a fresh contract, but rather just "extend" the existing contract. Of course, it was by mutual consent. So, every two years I sign a contract extension for another 2 years. I am under no kind of illusion that I would stay in the kingdom for atleast 2 more years. Every day I come to work, I know that I have a notice period of 30 more days on either side, even though I have a 2-year contract. I am quite happy with this arrangement because I am not bound to work for the complete 2-year period in the extended contract and I can just quit if I get a better job by giving a month's notice, just as how my employer can also fire me by giving a month's notice. So, all is fair in love and war, as they say.

After all, the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty! Hope this post is an eye-opener for fellow expats.

Tips for expats during Ramadan

2009-08-23T09:43:00.009+03:00

I would like to begin this post with my hearty Ramadan greetings to all fellow-expatriates. This post may be useful for newly-arrived expatriates working in Saudi Arabia and also for those who are planning to arrive soon.

Ramadan is a month in Islamic calendar in which Muslims all over the world fast from dawn to dusk. This is considered a holy month by Muslims in which they are required to refrain from eating, smoking or drinking from sunrise to sunset. The dates of Ramadan keep moving by about 10 days each year. The elderly, sick, children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and people who are travelling are exempt from fasting.

For first-timers and new comers, particularly non-Muslims, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Never ever eat or drink in public or in front of your Muslim colleagues / friends. Not only is it severely punishable by law, it also goes without saying that it is morally binding on you not to do so. Most work places have designated separate areas for non-Muslims where you can eat or drink within closed doors and your Muslim colleagues would avoid such places. Make sure you spray some air freshener in the area once you have finished your food, to curb any smell which may emanate. Respect the sentiments of your fasting colleagues and you would get back the same from them.

One of the most dangerous time to drive is about 30 minutes prior to dusk. This is the time when some people drive like crazy and it is quite common to see cars jumping the red light. They somehow want to reach home to be in time to break their fast. Whenever possible, please avoid driving during this time for your own safety.

Expatriates requiring liaisoning work with Government agencies must be prepared for delays. For example, if your iqama gets processed in 30 days during normal times, there would be more delay during Ramadan. So, you should be well-prepared for such delays. I would also advise expatriates to book your flights well in advance, if you are going to travel home, particularly during the last one week of Ramadan. All flights would go packed with travellers going home for Eid holidays. Advance booking would ensure that you get your seats on the flight and also not put a hole in your pocket.

The normal working hours for Muslims is 6 hours and for non-Muslims is 8 hours during Ramadan. You would find that the entire city would come to life at night. Most of the shops open around 8.30 pm and stay open until the wee hours of morning.

The last 10 days of Ramadan is really a sight to see. All supermarkets would be jam packed, people would be shopping excitedly, packing their trolleys with all kinds of stuff as though there would be no food available the next day! But this is again, part of the fun. Road-side eateries would spring up and you shouldn't be surprised to see people offering you fruit juice packets at gasoleine stations just before the sun sets. This is also a great time to get some really cheap stuff in the second hand markets. Most Saudis dispose off almost brand-new items during this time, and you could strike a good bargain. This is particularly applicable for those who are just setting up their families and want to buy some good furniture.

Have a nice time and may this festive season usher in good times for all fellow-expatriates!

A word about the Contact Form

2009-08-17T13:09:00.006+03:00

After my decision to introduce paid consultancy services for those who require personalized consultancy, a lot of readers have been requesting information on this. So I decided to write a separate post about it. My friend and renowned software / VA expert, Mrs. Deepa Govind, had helped me set up the form (click here to view it) in this blog. For those who are yet to get familiar with it, here are the steps.

When you click on the link given here, you would get a form which is self-explantory. For basic queries, I charge a nominal amount of $5. This is to segregate spam from genuine requests and also to put a value for the time and effort I put in.

Once you have filled in the form, you would get an automated message saying that your request has been received. The next step for you is to actually do the payment. You need to have a Paypal account for paying me. If you do not have a Paypal account, please visit http://www.paypal.com/ and click on 'Sign up' link. The instructions given there are clear. Paypal (http://www.paypal.com/) is a secure site and there is no need for you to reveal your card details to me - Paypal assures complete security and secrecy for both the parties - you and me. Registration with Paypal is easy and is free of cost. You just need a credit card or a debit card for payment.

You may also wish to pay in Paypal through your bank account by opting for an e-cheque facility, if you are uncomfortable using your credit card or debit card on the net, But the downside with an e-cheque is that it takes about 10 working days for the money to be realized by Paypal. Payment is instantaneous if it is made through a credit card or a debit card. Whatever be the mode of your payment, once Paypal realizes the amount, I would be informed immediately and within 1 working day, I would reply to your email.

There is also a provision to track your query. Once you have submitted your query, you can always track its status. Simply type your email id in the 'Track your Query' box given on the top right hand side of this blog and you would know the status of your query.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of those readers who have used this new service and have promptly paid me. However, some of the readers fill in the form and then forget about the payment! To overcome this problem, an automated reminder would now arrive in your Inbox if you fill in the form and then forget to make the payment. Of course, you have a choice not to be reminded and this option is given to you while filling in the form.

Finally, I continue to get requests from some readers asking for free consultancy. Regretfully, I cannot entertain such requests due to acute pressure of work and time. Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to all the readers for your support.

Until next time,

Swine flu in Saudi Arabia

2009-08-05T17:07:00.007+03:00

It's now official. Swine flu has arrived in the kingdom and the official count, sadly, is 6 deaths until now and 595 affected. What started off as a localized problem in Mexico has now spread all over the globe and Saudi Arabia is no exception. The situation has now become so critical that Iran has prohibited its citizens from performing Umrah during the month of Ramadan.

With the month of Ramadan just around the corner, Makkah and Madinah would be attracting pilgrims from all over the world wanting to perform Umrah. The Saudi Government's Ministry of Health is taking no chances. Private hospitals have been given the green light to supply anti-flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza to patients suspected with H1N1 virus. In an advisory to all private and Government hospitals, the Ministry has instructed that any patient with a temperature of above 38 degrees C must be compulsorily tested for swine flu. Another health authority, the National Scientific Committee on Epidemic Diseases (NSCED) has proposed using thermal cameras at all airports and seaports to scan people suspected of carrying the virus. So, if a person arrives in the kingdom with a fever, he is sure to be detained and tested for swine flu. The NSCED has even recommended treating all patients of bronchitis and pneumonia as potential carriers of the H1N1 virus. All medical staff who are in contact with such patients have also been instructed not to come in contact with patients undergoing treatment for cancer and HIV.

For those expatriates coming into the kingdom for the first time and those who are returning after a vacation, you shouldn't be surprised to see that you are being scrutinized upon arrival in the airport by a medical team. This is one of those things, like security checks, which might appear inconvenient but is absolutely necessary considering the times we are living in.

New restrictions on Haj pilgrimage

2009-07-24T07:19:00.004+03:00

For Muslims around the world, the Haj pilgrimage is one of the primary duties and one which is very close to their heart. This pilgrimage has to be done by Muslims at least once in a life time by those who can afford it. People plan for months, if not years together, to make this trip.

Handling such a large number of pilgrims pouring in from all parts of the globe is a logistical nightmare for the authorities. Despite extensive arrangements, major accidents have occured in the past, just because of the sheer volume of people converging at one place. This was the reason why a rule is already in place that Muslims currently residing in Saudi Arabia cannot perform Haj if they have already done it within the past 5 years.

On 22nd July, 2009, Health ministers from Arab countries met in Cairo, Egypt, and unanimously agreed to impose certain restrictions with immediate effect. The new restrictions are that pilgrims above 65 years would not be allowed to perform Haj. Also, children below 12 years would not be allowed, as also those with chronic diseases. Also excluded are those with symptoms of the now infamous H1N1 virus or swine flu as it is commonly known. Though the resolution is to be ratified by the respective Governments, it is just a matter of formality before it becomes a rule, because the decision of the Arab ministers has been unanimous.

Statistically, about one third of the pilgrims performing Haj are above 65 years. For those who have been saving for this trip for quite a long time, this news has come as a blow. But more cause of worry is for those who have already paid money and are waiting for the visas to be stamped in their passports.

It is still not clear whether this new rule would be a permanent one or whether this is just for the time being, until the swine flu epidemic across the world comes under control. Meanwhile, this blog would continue to keep track of the latest developments and would keep you posted.

Family visit visa validity

2009-07-10T08:13:00.009+03:00

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must always be alert to the various dates and deadlines. This particularly applies to those of you who are sponsoring your families on visit visa. I had described the detailed procedure for sponsoring your family on a visit visa in one of my earlier posts (click here). I would now like to describe on the next steps you should take, once your family arrives here.

Much as we all would like to keep our visiting family members with us for as long as possible, the hard reality is that there IS a deadline up to which they can legally stay in the kingdom. The duration of their stay can vary from one month up to 3 months depending on the validity of their visit visa, unless the visa is renewed. I had described earlier the procedure of renewing the family visit visa (click here). The most important thing you should remember is the date up to which your family is allowed to stay here.

Please note that there is a fine of SR10000 (yes, you read it right, it is ten thousand riyals!) if your family overstays in the kingdom beyond the deadline. Not only that, when your iqama expires, it will not be renewed and you would be deported out of the kingdom. What this also means is that you can never again enter Saudi Arabia, once you have the deportation seal stamped in your passport. Most expatriates working in Saudi Arabia have faced the problem with dates, more so because the officially recognized dates are from Hijri calendar and not Gregorian calendar (click here for date conversion from one to the other). I have now provided here another easy way to check the validity of your visa.

Click on this link, enter your passport number and visa number and you will straightaway know the validity of the visa. Once you know this important information, all it requires is to just renew your family's visit visa before the expiry date. This would avoid a great deal of trouble for expatriates who have sponsored their families.

Hope this post has been useful to you.

Great day

2009-07-07T15:37:00.005+03:00

Today is a great day for your favourite blog. The visitor count has crossed the 100000 mark! All this has happened in just about 2 years time. From the bottom of my heart, a big Thank You to all of you.

As I look back in all these 12 years of my working in Saudi Arabia, the one thing which hasn't changed is the lack of information for expatriates. This, coupled with the lack of understanding of how the system works, makes life even more difficult. As the saying goes, the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty.

My Inbox has never been empty ever since I started this blog. At one point of time, I even discontinued giving personal replies to the queries as it became overwhelming and difficult to handle. That was when my friend and reputed software / VA expert, Mrs. Deepa Govind, suggested to start a paid service for those requiring a personalized consultancy. Thanks to her valuable inputs, I have now added a form in this blog which can be accessed using the link given on the right hand side of this blog.

More important and very dear to my heart, much more than what money can give, is the good feeling that I get when people write to me about families getting united, people returning back to the kingdom for work and expats finding solutions to problems they thought were insurmountable. If my writing has been of help to any of my dear fellow expats, then the purpose of writing this blog has been served. A very big thank you to all of you once again, dear friends!

Important announcements by Saudi Government

2009-06-27T11:40:00.002+03:00

The Government of Saudi Arabia has made some important announcements in the past few days. As usual, your favourite blog is the first one to release this information.

The Saudi Government has issued directives on the procedures to be taken by expatriates in case of loss of passports, iqamas, driving licenses, birth certificates and car number plates.

In case you lose your passport or iqama, it must immediately be reported to the nearest Passport office. Note that if you do not report this loss within 24 hours, there is a fine of SR1000 in the first instance, SR2000 in the second instance and SR3000 in the third instance. You must also inform the police in case of criminal cases of document theft.

Loss of birth certificate must be reported to the nearest branch of Civil Status department. If you lose either your driving license or your istemara, it must immediately be reported to the nearest Traffic Police branch, whereas loss or theft of car number plates must be reported to the police station. Note that these two are different.

Expatriates owning cars must note this important point. In case your istemara is going to be renewed, new number plates are issued by the traffic police. As you may be aware, the new number plates have both Arabic and English letters and numerals. For getting the new number plates, you must first remove the existing number plates. Most cars have the existing number plates welded or screwed very tightly and it is quite common to have them removed in a nearby garage. So, for the duration of travel from the garage to the traffice police (after removing the existing number plates), and from the traffic police to the garage (for fixing the new number plates), you would be driving your vehicle without a number plates. You must be extremely careful in this period not to lose your number plates and must also ask for divine help that no cop must catch you in this period!

There is another very important announcement by the Saudi Government for expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia. With effect from 26th June, 2009, all expatriates going for employment / residence in Saudi Arabia MUST have themselves vaccinated for Cerebral Meningitis. You cannot have yourself vaccinated by any doctor / hospital, it must be done only by a GCC panel doctor. Before boarding the flight, you MUST have this certificate issued by a GCC panel doctor. Note that you face a risk of being deported soon after you land in Saudi Arabia, if you do not have this certificate.

On another note, I will shortly be publishing the form for those of you who request paid personal consultancy. I am currently sorting out some technical issues and once I am through with it, it would be published here. Please do not use the comment link below for making such requests, I cannot entertain them due to my current workload.

Of course, this blog would be the first to come out with any issue which affect the expatriates working in Saudi Arabia in any way.

Fingerprinting mess

2009-06-16T20:45:00.003+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is becoming a pain for expatriates particularly when contradictory information keeps flowing in day in and day out. First, there was this announcement in the local newspapers about fingerprinting of all expatriates, including their families, compulsory. What followed was utter panic. It was well-known that the finger printing process had begun almost a year back and was being implemented in phases. What added to the confusion was the deadline of 25th May.

Long queues could be found in passport offices all over the kingdom to beat the rush before the holiday season began. News started flowing in almost on a daily basis. Expatriates, particularly those with families, were the most nervous. I personally know friends who were on the lookout for those 'mobile' units, desparate to have their families fingerprinted. Industrial Security Departments in companies were flooded with enquries. The tension in the air was quite palpable. Then came the announcement that fingerprinting was required only for males above 18 years old and that children under dependent iqamas need not be fingerprinted.

It appears that finally good sense prevailed. There was this announcement saying that no fines would be imposed and that the 25th May deadline was only a "rumour" (amazing how people contradict themselves!) The latest is that companies have been allocated certain specified days in which their employees must go to the designated passport offices and have themselves fingerprinted. One never knows whether the last word in the matter has been spoken. After all, the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty!

Readers might be wondering what ever happened to the request form which appeared on top of this blog. My friend Deepa Govind, the highly skilled and reputed software / VA expert, is helping me redesign this blog and a few technical glitches are being resolved before the form would be re-introduced. Do keep watching this space.

Personalized consultancy

2009-06-03T11:17:00.012+03:00

Here is the procedure for those requiring my paid consultancy services:

1. All payments must be made only through Paypal, a highly secure and trusted website, used by millions of people around the world. Please login to www.paypal.com and sign up. Registering with Paypal is free of cost and easy. You need a credit card to make payment. In case you do not have a credit card, you can also use your friend's credit card. You do not need to reveal the card number to me.

2. After registering with Paypal, please login and click on 'Send Payment' link. In the 'To' field, please type expatguru@gmail.com. In case you are a resident of India and making the payment from your Indian bank account, please type expatguruin@gmail.com (this is very important and required due to recent changes in RBI regulations). Choose 10 US dollars as payment and select 'Services' button. Click on 'Continue' to complete your payment. Wait, there is one more final step - your query.

3. My friend and well-known software expert / VA professional Mrs. Deepa Govind has designed the form below. Please fill in your query in the form. The information you give here will never be passed on to anyone and is completely confidential. In case you wish to receive an automated reminder, please click on the appropriate field. However, if you do not wish to receive any reminder, I respect your privacy and you will not get any reminder. However, please note that in this case, your query will get automatically deleted by the system without notice within a few days in case you forgot to make the payment.

Once Paypal notifies me by email that the payment has been made, you will get a detailed, personalized and confidential reply by email within 24 hours. Regretably, due to the huge volume of queries I receive each day, I no longer entertain any free requests. The idea is not to make money, but only to screen genuine requests and avoid spam while at the same time putting a value for my time. Hope you understand.

My blog will continue to remain as a free service for non-paying readers, who can still view all the posts, but without a personalized reply to each of your queries.

Terms and conditions:

Please note that I am not a lawyer by profession nor do I hold any position in any department of the Government of Saudi Arabia. The opinions and consultancy services rendered here are purely based on my own experiences as an expatriate of long standing and are expressed in good faith to the best of my knowledge. I take absolutely no responsibility for the consequences arising out of such consultancy. Paying an upfront fee of USD10 is an indication of having read and understood these terms and conditions and having agreed to the same.

Swan song

2009-05-14T07:51:00.004+03:00

It has been exactly 2 years since I started this blog. Having undergone the pain of running around from pillar to post for information, I realized that all other fellow-expatriates like me were facing the same predicament as I was. That was when the idea of documenting all my experiences as well as doing my bit to help fellow-expats, came to my mind.

I started off this blog just as a hobby, and as a policy, I have never charged anyone a single penny for guiding people. The good feeling which I got at the end of the day, more than made up for the time I spent on this blog. From just 2 to 3 hits a day, this blog has reached about 50 hits an hour. My Inbox is being flooded with requests from expatriates almost everyday and it has become a herculean task to handle it. I have a full-time job and devoting time for this blog has now become extremely difficult.

I have now decided to stop taking any more queries. Of course, I will not shut down this blog as the information here is too precious to be lost. This blog will continue to be there perpetually, as long as Blogspot - the webhost - allows it. For those requiring personalized guidance, I am ready to offer my service for a nominal fee. The idea is not to make money, but to filter and choose only those very important queries which are genuine and does need an answer. Almost every single topic which an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia needs to know has been covered in this blog, and if there are families being united, people getting their dues from their sponsors, expats in trouble getting some help out, then the purpose of this blog has been served.

Useful phone numbers

2009-05-09T09:02:00.004+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge. More so when expatriates do not know whom to contact and how to contact for information. This blog was started primarily to fill that gap and its growing popularity by the day is proof of how badly information is needed in this country.

Things aren't that bad now as what it was 12 years back, when I first landed in Saudi Arabia. International calls were at a whopping SR13.50 per minute and one had to pay SR10000 deposit for a mobile connection from the only phone company at that time, PTT! How times have changed!

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has now offered some services for providing you information by sms in your mobile phones. I have listed a few of them below for the benefit of all expatriates in the kingdom. Note that all calls cost SR1.50.

If you want to know whether your name in English as entered in your passport has been correctly entered in the system (so important, to avoid problems in immigration when you go on vacation), to know the expiry date of your passport and your dependents' passports or to know whether your newly renewed passport has been updated in the system, do the following.

Type then 13 then* then iqama number then * then the expiry date of your iqama in the format yyyy-mm-dd and send the information to 88909. For example,

13*Iqama number*1431-10-15

Sometimes, you apply for an exit/reentry visa and then due to some unavoidable reasons are not able to travel within the stipulated time. If you do not cancel the exit/reentry visa, you will have to pay a fine of SR1000 (what a 'fine' way of collecting money for a service you did not use!). You also want to know the deadline before which you must depart and the deadline before which you must re-enter after going out of the kingdom. For all of these, do the following:

Type 11 then * then Iqama number then * then Visa number and send the information to 88909. Note that the visa number is what is mentioned in the exit/reentry visa which is stamped in your passport. For example,

11*Iqama number*Visa number

It has now become mandatory for all sponsors to provide health insurance to their employees. Only then can the employee even go on vacation or on exit as the visa would not be stamped on the passport (How unfair, punishing the employee for a sponsor's mistake!). If you want to know whether your sponsor has actually taken your health insurance or not, just type 10 then * then Iqama number and send the information to 88988. For example,

10*Iqama number

I have been very frequently getting requests from fellow expats on the profession mentioned in the iqama. If you want to know your actual iqama profession or the date of iqama expiry of yourself and your dependents or to know the latest transfer fees or to know how many times your sponsorship was transferred, just do the following. Type 12 then * then sponsor ID then * then Iqama number and send the information to 88909. Note that you MUST get the ID number of your sponsor for this. However, this is quite a delicate and awkward situation and you must tactfully get this information somehow from the sponsor, to use this service. People usually are quite fussy about giving such information. For example,

12*Sponsor ID number*Iqama number

Finally, if you want to follow up regarding your Haj permit, just type 30 then * then iqama number and send the information to 88988. For example,

30*iqama number

Hope the above information was useful to you. Just my small attempt to make our lives a bit more easier!

How to know your traffic fines

2009-04-25T17:54:00.004+03:00

It's a 'fine' day - literally! No, I did not mean the weather, this is about the fine you have to pay when caught for some traffic offence.

Most expatriates working in Saudi Arabia would have at some point of time faced a peculiar situation - getting a traffic violation ticket without even knowing what it is all about. Expatriate car drivers / owners dread the so-called yellow ticket. Everything would be in Arabic, so you will have to make a guess or take the help of a person who can read Arabic. Well, you will have to get used to it, and the sooner the better. The worst part is when you come to know about a pending fine just when you are about to leave on vacation. Imagine going to the airport and being refused by the immigration officer, just because there is a fine pending against your name.

Thankfully, those days are now gone. You can get to know the fine pending against your name sitting in the comfort of your home. If you are having a SAWA mobile phone (as most expats do), just type your iqama number and sms it to 88993. It would cost you SR1.5 and you will get a reply back in your mobile about the pending fine. If you are a Mobily subscriber, just type your iqama number and send an sms to 625555. You can also call 01-2928888 through your landline to know the status of your fine. Just follow the instructions after dialling this number.

Once you know the fine amount, you have to go to either Al Rajhi Bank or Riyad Bank and pay the same. You can also do it online if you have an account in either of these two banks.

Talking about fines, I always used to wonder how some people just get away with all that rash driving? I never realized it until I saw it myself. Believe it or not, with the right 'wasta', you CAN get your fine amount reduced! I have never seen such a thing anywhere else in the world! In the earlier days, people even used to get their tickets cancelled before it was entered in the system, but now it has become a bit difficult.

Rather than undergo all of this, the best way would be to just drive safely and reach home in one piece! Hope this information was useful.

New multiple exit reentry visas stopped?

2009-04-06T16:27:00.009+03:00

These are indeed tough times. The myriad procedures and complex policies, half of which are not officially announced, are already keeping expats on their toes. To add to the misery, here's the latest rumour - I call it a rumour because it is still not yet official - new multiple exit / reentry visa for eastern expats, particularly those in the eastern province, has been "temporarily" suspended.

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia over the years develop a 'skill' not normally present elsewhere. That is, if they hear a rumour, they believe that in all probability it must be true! Much as I try not to encourage such talk, particularly in this blog which has such a high credibility rating, it is just impossible to skip this particular one because it affects all of us.

One of my friends in Jubail recently had applied for a multiple exit/reentry visa. He followed the usual procedure - paid up SR500 through the bank and gave his application with all the required papers. His application was simply rejected without a reason. And then followed another and one more and yet another one - all of them rejected for no reason. No one would give a reason and there is no one whom you could go and approach. "Khalas" and "Yalla" are the standard replies.

It seemed very strange. So I contacted my friends in other companies and surprisingly, they too had the same story. In fact, the information I obtained was that there is an unofficial ban on issue of multiple exit / reentry visas but this is only in the eastern province. There is a small consolation though. Expats with iqama professions such as doctor, engineer, etc., as also western expatriates are exempt. I tried to read a pattern among all the friends whose cases where rejected, and this story seems to be credible.

My sources tell me that work on expansion of the Saudi-Bahrain causeway has already begun and this measure is just to avoid over-crowding the causeway! I believe that in the past 2 months, the causeway had not less than 5 major chock-o-block traffic jams, something typically seen during vacation time when people use Bahrain as a transit point to go home.

Now don't ask me for proof of this information. I can't provide you a hyperlink, certainly not for a 'rumour'. So you've got to either take it or leave it. What this shows is so typical of the drastic steps officials taken when faced with such problems. It appears to be a case of burning a house for killing a fly inside. Let me reiterate once more, that I write this particular post with abundant caution. There is no official announcement, no official press release or nothing which gives you detailed information on this. It is only through experience of fellow-expats that we really realize that something has changed suddenly.

Aren't there better ways to control the crowd in the causeway rather than creating a blanket ban on multiple visas? For example, why not provide a couple of separate counters for those having multiple visas? Why not create a rule that those having multiple visas need not undergo the process of stamping in the causeway and that they could just pass through after passing their passports under a scanner. In fact, why not have the stamping done before the bridge itself for multiple visa holders and business / frequent travellers? And finally, isn't it just plain and simple stupid to link the iqama profession with a multiple visa, given the fact that 90% of the expats don't have iqama professions matching with the actual work they are doing! Ideally, the system of exit/reentry visa itself (either single or multiple) should be done away with, but I don't see this coming so soon.

Just thought of keeping you informed. No one really knows how long this unofficial ban would last. Let's just hope that thngs return to normal soon. What do you think?

Expat rights upon transfer of sponsorship

2009-03-29T09:07:00.011+03:00

These are tough times. The entire world is reeling under a severe economic depression and Saudi Arabia is no exception. Businesses folding up, bankruptcy and mergers during any recession are quite common, but the human cost involved is enormous. Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia simply cannot be insulated from what is happening around them, particularly in these tough times. Fortunately, certain rights have been inculcated in the Labor Law precisely to protect the workers against such calamities.

Articles 17, 18 and 19 of the Labor Law go at length to describe the situation and also to protect the rights of the workers. It is not uncommon to see workers of a company left to fend for themselves, when their sponsor simply winds up his business or sells it to some other sponsor. When the ownership of a firm is transferred to a new owner, or there is a change in the legal status of a firm through merger or partition, the Labor Law is clear on one thing - the work contracts of the workers would remain in force and service would be deemed as continuous. To put it simple, you cannot sack an expatriate worker simply because the new sponsor doesn't want you. All the rights of the worker including his pay as well as End of Service benefits remain the responsibility of both the predecessor and successor owners, in case of mergers.

In case of ownership transfer, if there is any change in the condition, the written approval of the employee must be taken. In case the employee is unwilling for any of the conditions, then the previous sponsor is legally bound to give the employee all his dues. He should also not object to the employee seeking employment with any other sponsor in the kingdom.

The Labor Law also throws some interesting insights if a firm becomes bankrupt. Amounts due to the workers are deemed as "first rate privileged debts". To unwind the legal jargon, what this means in simple language is that when a firm becomes bankrupt, the first right of the amounts from the sale of the firm is to the employee. Article 19 of the Labor Law is very explicit on this. The worker is supposed to be paid one month's salary as "expedited amount" to keep him going. This amount takes precedence over all other expenses including judiciary, legal, banking or liquidation expenses. In short, the law simply says to pay up the employee first before settling the bills of the debtors, lawyer fees, banks, etc.

Ignorance isn't bliss, it is dangerous. It is always helpful if you know what you are rightfully due. Hope this post was interesting.

MVPI

2009-03-22T10:11:00.016+03:00

Car-owning expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must be aware of the term MVPI. It stands for Motor Vehicles Periodic Inspection. Whether you want to buy or sell a car or simply renew your vehicle's registration (Istemara), you simply cannot miss the MVPI. For the uninitiated, let me explain.

Every vehicle running in Saudi Arabia must compulsorily undergo the MVPI test. The Saudi Government has set up highly sophisticated computerized test centers in 24 locations all over the kingdom. The aim of these test centers is to test all the vehicles in the kingdom for their safety and certify their road-worthiness. Unless a vehicle passes the test, it is not supposed to be driven. Don't ask me whether all those rickety shacks on the road (also known as yellow taxis) have all passed this test. I already emphasized on the word 'supposed'!

The MVPI test centers have a fully automated system - well, 'almost fully' would be a more appropriate description. More on this later. Before you take your vehicle for an MVPI test, I would advise you to do all the basic checks - all lamps glowing, brakes working, no black / white smoke coming out from the silencer, and most important, a clean car. Make sure you thoroughly wash your car, including the undercarriage as well as inside the bonnet. Never make the mistake of spraying oil (a normal practice, otherwise) after you have washed the car - traces of oil found dripping could be mistaken as leakage and you could be failed. Also, I would advise you to wait for a day after you wash your car before you take it for a test. This is because any accumulated dirt sticking on to the surface, particularly in the undercarriage, would drop off due to normal running of the car. Ensure that you have a portable fire extinguisher and warning triangle in the boot of your car, before you take your vehicle for a test.

When you enter the MVPI test center, you will first have to go to the reception area and pay SR73. I am talking now of passenger cars, not of other vehicles, whose fees vary. You will have to submit your original istemara and your iqama. These would be verified and the details would be entered on the computer. Take the receipt and drive the car to the testing area. When you enter the test area, you are supposed to leave the key of the car in the ignition and go to the walkway. The technician would take control of your car. You can actually walk in parallel with your car and keep watching the progress of testing. There would be flashing indicators hanging from the roof above the test area, and you can actually know which tests are currently being done on your car.

Except for the visual inspection test, the rest of the procedure is automated. Unfortunately, most of the failures occur in the visual inspection test. There is a very exhaustive list of some 35 items which are checked visually. The other tests, which are automated are the sideslip test (applied to the front axle), brake test, headlight test, Carbon Monoxide and Hydrocarbon test and undercarriage inspection test. To give credit to the system, it is a fairly sophisticated and systematic procedure.

When all the tests are over, the technician would put a sticker on your car's windshield, similar to the one shown above, if you have passed the tests. He would also give you a document in which your result would have been printed.

If there is no sticker and he gives you only the piece of paper I mentioned above, it means that you have failed. The problem is that he would not even explain to you where you have failed, as he would simply go to attend the next car in the queue. You will have to take the paper to another counter separately where you would be told the tests you have failed. You would have to do the required repairs within 14 days and give a retest for the failed items only. The fees for the retest is SR24 for a car.

Now for the downside. My own experience in the Dammam MVPI center has not been all that good. Not once has my vehicle got through in the first attempt. Each time, it was failed for the flimsiest of reasons. Once, it was failed because the front seat cover was slightly torn in one corner - mind you, just the cover not the seat itself. One other time, it was failed due to Carbon Monoxide content - infact, just the previous day I had done a computerized engine tuneup in a reputed garage and everything was under control. The guy in front of me in the queue was failed because his chasis number had dirt on it! Atleast, I was lucky. One of my friends had to do a complete spray-painting of his car. He was failed because his car had scratches on the side. So, it probably reinforces the belief (right or wrong) that, like so many other agencies, the mood of the technician testing your car also matters, isn't it?

When you bring the car out of the test center, you would literally be mobbed by the guys from the various workshops outside. Of course, it would cost you a fortune, and you would have to bargain well. In my case, one guy even offered me a warranty - he would pay me back the entire fees if I failed in the retest - wow! this was one hell of an after-sales service unknown anywhere else in the kingdom.

The best part is that when you do a retest, you would invariably pass! How prophetic these garage guys are or is it just too much of a coincidence? One would never know. The moral of the story is simple: Be prepared for a retest of your car and dont spend too much money on your car before the first test. When you fail the first time, you would know where to spend your money. If it is minor, just get it done in one of these garages outside the test centers, otherwise just drive back home and get it fixed by your regular mechanic, for a more reasonable rate. At the end of it all, I just can't stop the thought which comes to my mind after every MVPI test "Why not they just take my SR97 (73+24) and pass me in the first attempt?"

Update on family visit visa

2009-03-11T11:46:00.003+03:00

My earlier post on family visit visa has now been updated. Please click here to view the same. The changes are mainly in the online link of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also, now you do not need to choose the option of "family visit" as before. You would directly get the page in Arabic. The rest of the procedure is the same.

Driving in Saudi Arabia

2009-02-22T09:13:00.014+03:00

My earlier post on transferring the details of your license evoked a lot of interest that I decided to do a follow-up post on the same.

Expatriates driving in Saudi Arabia require special skills. Even if you are an experienced driver having an international driving license, you need to be street-alert while driving in the kingdom. If you are new to the kingdom, the first lesson is to unlearn whatever you have learnt elsewhere! For instance, theory states that whoever reaches a roundabout first has the first priority. In practice, the priority increases proportional to the size of your vehicle - i.e., Might is Right! Looks like the authorities are also fighting a losing battle, which is why you can find traffic lights even in roundabouts, particularly in places like Dammam. Amazing, isn't it?

Now for some practical tips on driving in Saudi Arabia :) Theory says that you don't move your car until the traffic lights turn green. In practice, you slowly inch towards the middle of the intersection even if the lights are red, virtually blocking half the traffic, and zip across as soon as the lights turn yellow for the traffic coming on some other road! Don't bother about the traffic behind you, what matters is that you have to be the first and ahead of all other cars! God help you, if you are racing ahead and the traffic lights suddenly turn yellow! Theory says that you overtake someone always from the left. In practice, you drive at 160 km/hour in the emergency lane, then race to the extreme left and again zigzag to the extreme right without any indication to the guy behind you. Who cares about road safety, you have a GMC and hence are the king of the road!

Jokes apart, Saudi Arabia has the dubious distinction of the maximum number of road fatalities in the world. Please be extra cautious and always adopt defensive driving while on the road.

By the way, did you know that you are forbidden from driving your friend's car without permission? One of the readers had specifically asked for this information in my earlier post (click here to read it). Let's say that your friend is on vacation and you want to use his car during his absence. The procedure requires both of you to go to the police station personally and sign a declaration form in Arabic. The car owner has to attach copies of his iqama, ownership and istemara cards and the person planning to drive the car must also attach his iqama copy and the copy of his driving license.The declaration letter must clearly state the starting and ending days, i.e., the duration for which you would use your friend's car. The police would then give an authorization letter to you and it is only after this that you can drive your friend's car. Without this letter, never ever drive any one else's vehicle. If the car meets with an accident, you would straightaway be imprisoned, so take care. Personally, I would suggest you do not even try driving any one else's car.

Here's wishing you a safe ride!

Passport and Iqama renewal

2009-02-14T09:11:00.011+03:00

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia need to keep a close tab on the expiry dates of their passports and iqamas. In fact, I would advise everyone to keep a personal diary of expiry dates, from istemara to driving license, from passport to iqama, from car insurance to company ID to ATM card. In fact, the wallet of an expat working in Saudi contains more paper than notes! Remember, when dealing with government agencies, all the dates pertain to Hijri calendar, not Gregorian calendar. I had mentioned in my earlier post (click here to read it) about the importance of Hijri dates and the tool to convert from one to the other (click here).

One of my colleagues recently landed up into quite a mess, which prompted me to write this post. Most embassies allow renewal of their citizens' passports upto one year before the expiry date. I would strongly urge all expats in Saudi Arabia to renew their passports much before the deadline, to avoid unnecessary trouble. Read on, to know why. There are also cases where there are less than 4 pages available in the passport. In either case, renewal of your passport on time is extremely important.

Some embassies such as the Indian Embassy in Riyadh offer the so-called "Jumbo" passports as an option. This costs slightly more, as it has more number of pages. If you are one among those frequently going on weekend trips or business trips outside the kingdom, then this is the one to go for. Some countries do not stamp their visas if your passport contains less than 2 "clean" pages, i.e., without any stamp whatsoever. For example, the Malaysian Embassy in Riyadh wants atleast 2 "consecutive" clean pages, on the left and the right, (not back to back) without any stamp, if you need their visa. I still do not understand the logic behind this, but when dealing with government agencies, you don't talk logic, you just follow their rules!

It is not adequate if you just renew your passport or simply take an additional booklet. In both these cases, the change has to be entered in your iqama. This is the most important part of the whole process, because failure to do so would land yourself in trouble when you go on vacation. What I mean is, you may be having a passport which is up to date and renewed, but if the details are not entered in the system, believe me you are really in for some shock, like my colleague.

Once you renew your passport or take an additional booklet, you MUST submit both the old and the new passports along with your iqama to the Saudi Passport Office (Jawasat). Usually, the information gets transferred in 2 weeks time (excluding Ramadan and Hajj season). The trouble is when your iqama is also about to expire during that period. Remember, the moment you give your iqama for renewal, all exit/reentry visas, including multiple visas stamped on your passport get automatically cancelled. The renewal of the iqama should normally be over in 2 weeks time, but why take the risk by procrastinating? This is why I would advise you not to wait until the last moment to renew your passport.

Always make it a habit to return to the kingdom always a couple of days prior to the expiry of your re-entry visa. If you don't, your visa gets cancelled and it is quite a long process to revive it (click here for the same). Why even ask for trouble when you can really avoid it? Afterall, all of us are here for money, so make your stay here comfortable by renewing your papers on time.

Oh, by the way, if you have submitted your papers for transfer of information to your Government Relations Officer (Mandub), how do you find out whether the transfer has really happened or not? Remember, there is no link or website nor is there any information till you reach the airport. Well, I just discovered this indirect way and want to share it with you. If you or any of your friend has an account with Al Rajhi bank, just login to the bank's website, enter your iqama number and apply for an exit/re-entry visa. If the data has already been transferred, it will ask you to confirm. Don't confirm, just log out. If the data has not been transferred, it will give out a vague message such as "the person is not present in the kingdom". If you get such a message, make sure that your passport details are updated in the system. Hope this post was helpful.

Import of vehicles into Saudi Arabia

2009-02-04T14:53:00.007+03:00

Periodically, I have been getting requests from potential expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia, on the procedures for importing their personal vehicles into the kingdom. This was a natural corollary to my earlier article on the procedure of taking a Saudi driving license (click here to read it). Afterall, who would like to leave behind their good old vehicle back home, if there is a way to bring it here? Well, read on for what's in store for you.

First, a few precautions. The car must not have met with an accident, nor should it have been used as a taxi or as a police vehicle. It should be a left-hand drive vehicle. In short, what this means is that vehicles which are used in commonwealth countries, (where they drive on the left hand side of the road) cannot be imported. There must also be no visible signs of damage to the vehicle.

The procedure for importing cars is different, depending on the country from where you are bringing the vehicle. If you are going to import from any of the GCC countries, then the following documents have to be submitted:

1. A valid vehicle ownership document issued by the traffic police of the country from where the car is being imported

2. Customs declaration from the exporting country's Customs department

In case you are importing the car from anywhere else in the world (note: cars from Israel are not allowed), the following would apply:

1. A legal document proving the ownership of the vehicle, translated in Arabic and attested by the Saudi Embassy in the country from where you are going to export the car from.

2. Export declaration from the Customs of the exporting country.

3. Invoice and certificate of origin to be attached to the above export declaration.

4. A declaration from the police in the exporting country saying that the vehicle is not in the wanted list for criminal offences

The calculation of customs duty varies on case to case basis, but as a general guideline, you can follow what is given here. The latest price list of all major cars are available and this would be taken as the reference. Depending on the model and the age of the car, depreciation is calculated. Insurance and freight are added to this base value.

In case you are bringing in a vehicle which is less than the first six months of the model year, it is treated as a brand new vehicle. If you bring in a new vehicle in the second six months of its model year, the deduction is 2% per month or part of it. From the 2nd to the 5th of its model year, the deduction is 1% per month or part of it. For cars over 5 years, the maximum deduction is 60% of the original price from the beginning of the model year. The customs duty for cars is 5%.

If the above procedure is mind-boggling, then follow my simple advice. Forget about importing your car into the kingdom. You are better off buying a new car here, which you can sell it while going back. Why would you like to spend your time, money and energy going through all of this, when you don't even know for sure how long you would be here? Afterall, the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty!

Thank you

2009-01-27T14:25:00.007+03:00

Dear fellow expatriates, friends and well-wishers,

Today is a great day. Your favorite blog had its 50,000th visitor today. A big thank you to all of you! Within 20 months after starting this blog, the number of visitors, I should say with modesty, is phenomenal. But more important is that so many fellow expatriates in Saudi Arabia and potential expats to the kingdom have benefitted from this. No money can equal that good feeling . This site is viewed by everyone not just as yet another blog but as a reliable source of information on Saudi Arabia.With all humility, I promise to take this to greater heights. Once again, thanks to all of you!

Transfer of driving license details

2009-01-27T11:27:00.015+03:00

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia have to undergo a practical as well as a theory test for obtaining a driving license. Please click here to know the procedure for the same. It is quite common for expats to go on exit and return on a fresh visa. There are also cases where there is an internal transfer of sponsorship. In either case, as long as the license has still not expired, the expat need not give the driving test again just because his sponsor has changed. Here is the procedure for transferring the Saudi driving license details from your old to the new sponsor.

First, you must obtain a new iqama. Until you get your iqama, I would advise you not to drive even though you have a license. This is because, in case of any unfortunate incident involving your vehicle, you would be in deep trouble. There would be too many complications because you would be having a license with your old iqama, but now have no connection with your previous employer.

Once you obtain an iqama, first take an introduction letter from your new sponsor. This should be in Arabic and must specifically contain your new iqama number. Next, pay SR100 in either Riyad Bank or Al Rajhi Bank. You may do it either online or by using the machine in Riyad Bank for the same.

Now take a copy of your latest iqama. Attach all of these with your original license, two passport-size photographs and go to the traffic police station (Muroor) in your city. I would advise you to use the services of your Government Relations Officer for this. A form for transferring the license details is available in the police station. This has to be filled in (Arabic, of course) and submitted to the police along with all the documents mentioned here. After verification, the police will give a date and time when you can collect the new driving license. The details would have now got transferred in the system. You are now free to drive the vehicle until the expiry of the license.

A point to note here. In case your existing driving license is just about to expire, it would be worthwhile to give a fresh test and take a new license. This would save you time and money. Note that this license is valid for driving all over GCC, It goes without saying that having a valid Saudi driving license is definitely a plus point in your resume, while applying for a job anywhere in the Middle East :D

Procedure for changing profession in iqama

2009-01-18T20:51:00.025+03:00

If there is one issue which is so close to any expatriate working in Saudi Arabia, it is the desire to bring his family to the kingdom. My heart goes out to my fellow expatriates who are staying without their families in the kingdom, like the lonely tree above. No other issue causes so much frustration, so much pain and so much anger than the fact that an expatriate cannot bring his family into the kingdom simply because the profession in his iqama does not allow him to do so.

I had covered the issue of profession in the iqama (click here) in an earlier post. There is this famous joke doing the rounds, of a lion in a Saudi zoo forced to eat peanuts, because he came on a monkey's visa! Nothing more could be more frustrating for a person, who cannot bring his family into the kingdom just because he holds an iqama with a non-supervisory profession. In other words, you could be a General Manager of a company, but if your iqama says that you are a painter, you cannot bring your family! Not only that, you cannot even sponsor your family on a visit visa (Click here to see the procedure of visit visa formalities, covered in my earlier post).

I have been repeatedly cautioning all potential expatriates about one thing: Don't be desparate to come to Saudi Arabia without your family. Life isn't all that easy here. It is a well-known fact that there are simply not enough visas in all categories. There are employers who simply bring skilled expatriates into the kingdom on whatever visa is available with a promise that once they arrive, they can bring their families. They are more concerned about running their business than anything else. There are also expats, unaware of the intricacies involved with the visa profession, come to the kingdom thinking that once they are here, they can always bring their families later on. When it later on dawns on them that they have a non-supervisory profession mentioned in their iqama, frustration begins to set in.

The anger and helplessness reaches its peak for those who are qualified and experienced, but are on a visa profession totally unrelated to their job. There was this famous case of a Principal of an International School who had to resign and go back, just because he was on a painter visa and hence could not sponsor his family. By the way, he was a professor with a Phd behind his name!

Changing the profession in an iqama is not at all an easy affair. This one particular post took me so long to write, because information on this was simply not available anywhere. To add to the misery, the list of professions which are barred from bringing their families keeps on changing frequently and to top it all, is not published in any public forum! The information that I have managed to collect in this particular post is based on first-hand experiences of colleagues and friends, who had to undergo a lot of hardships and finally could get their professions changed in the iqama. I just wish that atleast it makes life easy for other expats who want to change their professions too. A disclaimer: Don't ask me proof for what I am going to write below - there is just no information available anywhere else, so you have to just believe it! As I said earlier, it is based on experiences of my colleagues and is to be taken as a guideline.

First, the bad news. In case your profession in the iqama is mentioned as either 'Labor,Painter,Barber,Secretary,Mason,Plumber,Carpenter or Operator', you can straightaway stop reading further. There is no point in even going through this elaborate and really tedious procedure, because the authorities simply reject these cases. The only way is to go back to your country and return on a fresh visa. The list given here is also not exhaustive. I know it only from people who have been rejected before. No one knows for sure how many professions are barred and which those professions are!

If your visa profession is not any of the above, the next criterion is that you must be either a diploma or a degree holder. If you have crossed this hurdle, then the rest of the procedure is as follows:

Before we begin, a word of caution. This MUST be handled by your sponsor. Expatriates will not be usually entertained when they enter any Government office, so don't even waste your time. There are some sponsors who even charge their employees for this (for those in whose contract family status was not mentioned). The reason is not far to seek. The whole procedure is extremely tedious, time consuming and a big headache, so why would any sponsor help his employee when he is not obliged to do so? Be prepared for this also.

You must first get your diploma or degree certificate attested in your home country. Please read my earlier post (click here) on the procedure for attesting your certificate, in case you are an Indian national. For other nationalities, the procedure is more or less the same, except that it must be first attested by the Human Resources Ministry or its equivalent in your country before being counter-attested by the Saudi Embassy. Note that in case of Indian nationals, if you have completed your diploma in a private institute, it is not recognized and will not be attested by the HRD Ministry.

Next, bring this certificate to the kingdom. This has to be submitted to the Saudi Government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Don't confuse this with the passport office (Jawasat). That's different. A charge of SR30 (thanks to reader MSK for updating me) is levied for this and you will get the certificate back usually on the same day. What they do is just to put their rubber stamp as a counter-attestation to the one done by the Saudi Embassy in your country. By this time, the rear side of your original degree or diploma certificate would be full of stamps/seals/signatures, but don't bother!

Next, your sponsor has to make a letter in his official letterhead in Arabic and put his stamp and signature at the bottom of the letter. The letter should mention all your details, your current job title, your qualification and experience, etc. It must also mention how many Saudis are employed by your sponsor and in which categories. The letter must make a strong justification as to why your profession has to be changed, and also how there are no suitable Saudi citizens to fill in that position. This is the most important part of the letter.

Next, your sponsor must hire a lawyer. Of course, it costs money, and you may probably have to pay for this also if your contract does not mention family status, so be prepared for this also. This lawyer must now go to the Labor Court in your town, fill in a form in Arabic and submit it to the authorities. The court will collect the documents and will allocate a date and time. Usually this is about 2 to 3 months later.

Now comes the difficult part. At the appointed date and time, the Saudi lawyer must be present in the court well in advance. Every case is allocated a certain time, say 30 minutes or 45 minutes. In case the judge is already hearing another case and it prolongs beyond that time, then another date and time will be allocated to your lawyer. Again, it will usually be about 2 to 3 months later. The important part is that if the lawyer has forgotten any document, or something is missing, he will be sent back and will be asked to appear again at another hearing, which will be a few months later.

Finally, when the time does come, the judge will scrutinize all documents. The lawyer must convincingly argue that you are indeed required and that there is no Saudi citizen available to fill up that particular position. If the court is convinced, they will put their seal on the Arabic form which was submitted.

This form has to be sumitted to the passport office (Jawasat). After paying a nominal fee, the passport office will put their stamp in your iqama after making the required changes in the system. Usually this would take about 15 days.

The whole process takes about 7 to 9 months, if everything goes smoothly.

If despite all this, you are unable to bring your family, then maybe it is time to draw a line and set right your priorities. It is better to go back and be with your family than continuing to suffer in silence. You are qualified and experienced and the world is full of opportunities, you should not worry about losing your job. There is always another one around.

Hope this post was useful.

Money transfer from Saudi Arabia

2009-01-16T08:37:00.018+03:00

Excactly a year back, I had written a post about money remittances from Saudi Arabia (Click here to read that post). A lot of water has flown down the river since then, new exchange houses have come up, new rules have been framed and it is about time that I updated some additional information for the benefit of the readers.

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 :)

Road safety in Saudi Arabia

2009-01-08T11:16:00.016+03:00

Which country has the dubious dinstinction of 153000 traffic accidents, 2800 injuries and 3500 fatalities every single year in road accidents? And which country has these figures rising exponentially each year? Sadly, the answer for both these questions is Saudi Arabia.

The shocking figures mentioned above point to just one reason - attitude. There is just absolute disregard for road safety and fellow drivers. Defensive driving is something which every person on the road needs to follow religiously. Among the GCC countries, the easiest place to get a driving license is Saudi Arabia. Maybe a compulsory examination on road safety is not out of place, before issuing and renewing driving licenses.

Not that there are no laws. In fact, there are very strict laws in place. The problem is in implementing them in letter and spirit. It is not uncommon to see some of these morons get away scot-free simply because they have the right wasta (influence) in the right place.

The most serious offences range from jumping the red light to practising "wheely" or joyriding. It was reported in the local newspapers that bored youths in the western city of Jeddah recently planned a dangerous game. At 2 am, they all assembled in the heart of the city and conducted a car race. The one who reached the airport first, a distance of over 15 km, without stopping at any of the traffic lights inbetween, was the winner. Thankfully, no one was hurt and some of them were caught by the police patrol. No one knows whether they got away using wasta or whether they were indeed punished.

The biggest problem an expatriate faces in the kingdom is the language. Sadly, most policemen take undue advantage of this. In case of an unfortunate accident, particularly involving an expat and a Saudi, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the 'fault' (as recorded in the police records) would always be that of the expat - if not fully, at least partially!
The first thing an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia needs to remember, if caught in an accident, is not to move your vehicle till the police arrives. Do not be bothered about the traffic behind you. Typically, your iqama would be taken away by the police when they arrive. You have to go to the traffice police station, where everything would be in Arabic.

I would advise all expatriates to never ever drive your vehicle without a license and an insurance. You must always carry these along with you, including your istemara (car registration card). Make sure that you have a photocopy of your iqama always in the car, because you will have to attach this with other documents in the police station. Preferably, go in for a comprehensive insurance, rather than a third party insurance which is mandatory.

Never ever sign any document in the police station unless you are sure of what is written above. Call your Government Relations Officer or your sponsor to the police station. If you are caught in a situation where you are forced to sign somewhere, do so but with the sentence above saying "I do not understand what is mentioned above". Believe me, this would save you from a lot of trouble.

Once, a Saudi driving a GMC hit my car from the rear while I was waiting at the traffic signal for the lights to turn green. The boot of my car was badly damaged. Anywhere in the world, if someone hits your car from behind, he is at 100% fault. When I reached the police station, I could not understand a word of what was being spoken. The GMC man and the cop had a very long conversation. I was finally asked to sign a form (all of which was in Arabic). In good faith, I trusted the cop and signed it, thinking it was some kind of a First Information Report.

When I visited the police station the next day with another Saudi friend to assist me with the translation, I was shocked to know that I had actually signed a document in which it was mentioned that everything was 100% my own fault and that I am absolving the other party of any liability! I protested saying that I signed under duress, without knowing what was written above and under instruction from the cop, but it was of no use.

Thankfully, my car had a comprehensive insurance. The insurance company initially refused to pay, saying that whenever someone hits your car from the rear it was 100% the fault of the other party, but I stood my ground and said that it was a comprehensive insurance which meant that the company had to pay, irrespective of whose fault it was. Finally, a compromise was reached in the office of the Captain, the highest officer in the police station, where the insurance company, the other party and I had to share the cost of repair. It left me with an experience I would never forget and without a car for over 20 days! It sometimes made me wonder whether I was better off without a car.

I have always wondered about the psyche of these people. How many every times have we seen cars while waiting at the traffic lights, to slowly inch ahead and almost stand bang in the middle of the cross section of the road obstructing the way of other cars! All this, just to ensure that they are the first ones to zip ahead of other cars when the lights turn green, as though following any other car is below their dignity!

One of the important things which expatriate drivers in Saudi Arabia need to keep in mind is to control one's road rage. There are a lot of idiots on the road and if someone wants the first right of way, give him the same rather than trying to compete with him. And finally, do wear your seat belts, keeping in mind that you have a family back home waiting for you. Wishing you a safe driving in the year ahead!

Health Care

2008-12-27T13:55:00.021+03:00

My earlier post on medical insurance in Saudi Arabia evoked quite some interest among readers that I thought of writing another post on a related topic (please click here to read the earlier post).

The worst thing which could happen to an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia is to be out of work due to health reasons. Fortunately, the kingdom has invested heavily in health care. You would find some of the most modern medical equipment in the hospitals across Saudi Arabia.

Most doctors and nurses are expatriates. In fact, it is extremely rare to find a Saudi female nurse as the profession is not held in high esteem in Saudi society. While you do find some really good doctors in some hospitals, I have also come across some doctors who appear more to learn from the patients than making their diagnoses! It is impossible to generalize, but I would suggest you must choose your doctor by going by word of mouth rather than the name of the hospital. By the way, all hospitals are extremely clean and health care for all Saudi citizens is free of cost.

The cost of medicines is atrociously high and the joke doing the rounds is that if the treatment doesn't kill you, the price of medicines would! Thankfully, the Saudi Government has now made it mandatory on all employers to have a compulsory medical insurance for their employees. Most medicines are available only upon a doctor's prescription, other than common pain killers which are available even in supermarkets. All medicines must contain a pamphlet giving all the required information such as ingredients, dosage, indications, contra-indications and symptoms. Medicines are never sold in loose, which explains why the price is quite high.

Diabetes and kidney stones top the list of ailements affecting most expatriates. Respiratory problems like asthma, sinusitis , upper respiratory tract infections and skin problems are also very common. This is more due to the high levels of pollutions in major cities and industrial hubs. Every seasonal change is accompanied by severe sand storms when fine sand and dust simply engulf the atmosphere. Temperatures soar well above 50 degrees Centigrade during summer with humidity levels reaching almost 99%. Heat strokes are quite common due to extreme dehydration. In winter, several parts of the kingdom reach almost 0 degrees Centigrade and viral fever is quite common in this season.

Doctors can usually be reached by appointments, but usually they do not refuse patients who go directly without an appointment, though they may have to wait for some time. Alternative medication like homoeopathy, ayurveda and unani are not legally permitted and so are their medicines.

Dental treatment is prohibitively expensive and most insurance companies do not cover certain treatments such as bridges, crowns, etc., as they are considered as cosmetic. It is quite difficult to get immediate appointments from dentists and there is always a long queue of people waiting in all dental clinics. Top class equipments are available, but things could get complicated if the patient has a history of diabetes / blood pressure. Again, I would advise expatriates to postpone visits to the dentist and get themselves treated back home if practically possible.

It is not common for expatriates to use the ambulance services as in other countries. Ambulance services are usually handled by security services and primarily cater to emergencies like road accidents. It is more common for expatriates to make their own arrangements to go to the hospital. One of the first things an expatriate needs to do upon arriving in the kingdom is to note down the number of the nearby hospitals, emergency services and taxi companies. Believe me, you never know when they would come in handy.

Finally, as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. So, here's wishing all of you a healthy stay in the kingdom!

Telecommunication in Saudi Arabia

2008-12-20T13:38:00.010+03:00

When I came to Saudi Arabia 11 years back, I never expected that telecommunication facilities in this oil-rich kingdom to be so bad. The only phone company those days was the state-owned PTT. International calls per minute were charged at an atrocious SR13/minute. Owning a phone was a status symbol. The few mobile phones which were available, were owned by Saudis who used to flaunt them. People used to queue around public booths waiting for their turn. With international calling rates at ridiculously high levels, keeping in touch back home even once a week was a luxury for expatriates. Thankfully, all that has changed :)

PTT has now been privatized and has become Saudi Telecom Company. In fact, there are now 3 companies in the kingdom - STC, Mobily and the recently launched Zain. All of them offer both prepaid as well as post-paid services, but most expatriates usually prefer the prepaid service. By virtue of being the oldest telecom company, STC has more towers in the kingdom and hence the coverage is better, particularly for mobile services. Mobily is fast picking up and there is quite a competition between them to attract / retain subscribers. Zain is still not popular and is yet to establish itself as a preferred choice for expatriates.

The days of long queues in the telephone booths are definitely over. Almost everyone has a mobile phone in his hand which is a real liberating force. You are now no longer tied down to a particular place or time. Most expatriates prefer the prepaid mobile SIM cards from STC ("SAWA cards") or from Mobily. Post-paid cards are not so popular among expatriates due to the paperwork and hassles involved.

International calling rates are still quite high, in relative terms. Calls between 12am to 6 am carry a 40% discount in STC, which results in a huge rush of outgoing calls between 5.30 to 6 am. Howver, most expatriates with an eye on the budget follow a simple way out. They just send a missed call to their homes or sms their families back home, asking them to call back. This works out to be much cheaper!

Internet connectivity is still not very advanced. You must keep in mind that internet was available in Saudi Arabia only in the year 2000, much after countries like Bangladesh had got the same. For several years later, only dial up connection was available. Recently, DSL services have been given a big boost, though downloading still takes quite a while. Areas which do not have a fiber-optic connection still have to rely on dial up connection, which is really quite a pain. Internet censorship is strictly in place and you might find several sites banned. This, however, should not be a concern for the normal user.

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) services are still not legal in Saudi Arabia. We do have quite a few prepaid cards available and are sold clandestinely. Once in a while, shops selling these cards are raided by the police and there is a temporary shortage of these highly popular internet cards. The reason? They are so cheap compared to the services offered by STC and the voice quality is also good. I would personally rate a card called KSAFone which has a good bandwidth, easy to download dialpad, clear voice connectivity without echo and quite cheap. The only downside with these cards is that one needs a pc at home. If you have a DSL connection, the voice clarity is more and with less breaks. Services such as Skype are also available, but are more popular among western expatriates.

At the end of the day, the bottom line is that one has to choose a service or a company which would help the expatriate save money - afterall, all of us have come here to make money, isn't it?

Dependent kids above 18

2008-12-14T12:22:00.006+03:00

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia have unique problems not found elsewhere. One such issue pertains to those whose kids are above 18 years, but are still dependent on their parents working in the kingdom. Expatriates usually send their grown up children back home for higher studies. It is quite a pain to be away from them, and more painful if one has to undergo the process of visit visa for one's own kids, just because they are over 18 years.

Saudi law states that any male above the age of 18 years cannot be included in the expatriate's iqama (resident visa) as a dependent. Most expatriates enjoying family status, but having their kids back home studying in school / college face a dilemma. What if their kids need to visit them? Is taking a visit visa the only option?

Unique problems have unique solutions, and here it is. Let's say that the kid was earlier part of your iqama, but has now gone back to your home country for pursuing his education. Now you want your child back in the kingdom for a visit, but do not want to undergo the hassle of a visit visa. Afterall, he was once part of your iqama, right? For such cases, a provision has been made by the Saudi Government to bring them on separate iqamas. Here is the procedure for the same.

First, get a letter of introduction from the school or college where your child is studying. The letter has to mention clearly the course / class which the kid is studying and the date of admission. It has to be signed by the Head of the Institution with the seal of the school / college.

Now, this letter has to be translated in Arabic. Attach the original letter, the translation and your original iqama along with SR1500/- and submit the above to the passport office in your area, through your company's Government Relations Officer. Of this SR1500, SR500 is for the iqama booklet and SR1000 is for renewal for 2 years. I would strongly advise you to get the iqama renewed for 2 years to avoid unnecessary paperwork at the end of each year.

Since your kid's details are already there in the computer in Passport office, there is no need to provide any other document. Soon, you would receive a separate iqama for your child, using which he or she can visit you as often as required. The procedure for renewal of your child's iqama is the same as what applies to you. This would save the trouble of applying for a visit visa each time he arrives in the kingdom.

I would like to add here that this is applicable only for the male children above 18 years. Female dependent children above 18 years can continue to stay under their father's sponsorship till they are married.

Labor Offices in Saudi Arabia

2008-12-10T10:51:00.011+03:00

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia have overwhelmingly responded to my earlier post on Expatriate Grievance Cell (click here to read the same). In fact, many did not even know about the existence of such a grievance cell in the kingdom. I have been getting frequent requests for more information on this subject that I decided to write a separate post on the same.

The Saudi Arabian government has set up labor offices all over the kingdom to help resolve disputes between expatriates and their employers. There are totally 37 offices spread all over Saudi Arabia.

Usually, the labor offices try to settle the disputes amicably between the expatriates and the employers. In case the disputes cannot be settled, the aggrieved expatriates then raise their cases to the next higher level. In fact, the Saudi government's Ministry of Labor has set up two Commissions for the same. They are the Preliminary Commission and the High Commission for settlement of labor disputes.

The above two commissions act as private labor courts and follow the Saudi labor law. Note that all transactions are carried out only in Arabic and I would strongly urge all expatriates to take the help of their respective embassies, who usually have dedicated Arabic-speaking lawyers to help their respective nationals.

Coming back.to the labor offices in the kingdom, there is an exclusive Workers' Care Department in the Ministry of Labor in Riyadh. The phone number is 01-210 4588.

I am also giving below the phone numbers of the various labor offices all over the kingdom for the benefit of expatriates working in Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh Region 01-4039857
Kharj Province 01-4548231
Dawadmi Province 01-6420920
Majmaa' Province 06-4321724
Wadi Addawasir Province 01-7840264
Zulfi Province 06-4220235
Shaqra Province 01-6221342
Makka Region 02-5420745
Jeddah Province 02-6311687
Taif Province 02-7461616
Qunfudah Province 07-7320761
Madinah Region 04-8654416
Yanbu Province 04-3222688
Al-Ula' Province 04-8840830
Qassim Region (Buraidah) 06-3250387
Onaizah Province 06-3640285
Al-Rass Province 04-3333502
Hail Province 06-5321139
Eastern Region (Dammam) 03-8261419
Ahsa' Province 03-5822801
Hafr albatin Province 03-7220220
Khobar Province 03-8641541
Abqaiq Province 03-5661324
Jubail Province 03-3620150
Khafji Province 03-7660380
Ras Tannurah Province 03-6670424
Aseer Region (Abha) 07-2242128
Bisha Province 07-6226718
Baha Region 07-7253240
Najran Region 07-5224995
Jazan Region 07-3213671
Jauf Region 04-6241766
Qurayyat Province 04-6421108
Tabuk Province 04-4221181
Alwajh Province 04-4421970
Northern Frontiers Region (Arar) 04-6627128
Turaif Province 04-6521029

The above list covers all the labor offices in the whole of Saudi Arabia. I really wish and pray that none of my fellow expatriates would ever require to use the above phone numbers.

Hope you found this post useful.

Checklist for travellers to Saudi Arabia

2008-12-01T17:40:00.007+03:00

People travelling to Saudi Arabia need to take certain precautions to avoid last minute surprises.

You may be a first-time visitor to the kingdom or an expatriate who is returning after a vacation. In either case, the most important document is the Saudi visa stamped in your passport. Note that the dates mentioned in the visa refer to Hijri calendar and not the Gregorian calendar. You may use the tool provided in this page for converting from one to the other or can click on this link.

Note that once a visa is issued, it is mandatory for you to reach the kingdom within the specified date, otherwise the visa would lapse. This is applicable for both first timers as well as those who are on an exit/reentry visa. For those expatriates who were unable to return to the kingdom before the date mentioned, please click on this link to find the procedure for returning. Remember that when you reach the airport, even before you check in, the validity of the visa will first be verified by the airline staff. Since this would normally be in a separate queue, make sure to be in the airport quite early.

I would advise first-timers not to stuff items in your baggage unnecessarily. Almost everything is available in the kingdom, which is available elsewhere in the world. Bring in only those items which you consider absolutely necessary. Note that electric supply in Saudi Arabia is in two voltages, 220 volts and 110 volts , 60 Hertz frequency. Flat to round pin adaptors and vice versa are freely available in the market, so don't bother to bring those either.

If you are going to bring your personal medication, make sure that you have your doctor's prescription with you for the same, or it would simply be thrown out by the Customs upon landing. Alcohol and drugs are strictly banned items and users and peddlers face capital punishment. Some travellers from South Asia, bring poppy seeds ('khas khas'). Although this is quite commonly used in food items in that region, please note that it is banned in the kingdom. Although a well-known fact, I would like to emphasize upon non-Muslims not to bring in any religious material like books, idols, pictures, crucifixes, etc.

Do not at any cost offer to take the luggage of your unknown fellow passengers while checking in. These are difficult days, and who knows what the other guy has stuffed his baggage with!

I would advise you to bring plenty of passport size photographs (about 20 would be adequate, to begin with). You would have to fill in plenty of forms, particularly in the first few months after arrival and these photographs would come in handy. Atleast you needn't have to immediately run to the studio to have yourself photographed.

Do bring some cash in US dollars to see you through the first month, until you get your first salary. Money can be easily converted in Saudi riyals in any of the exchange centers in the kingdom. You may like to bring in your personal toiletry like soap, shampoo, etc., to see you through until you get your first salary. Food is relatively cheap , but you cannot say the same about accommodation. Temperatures reach extreme during summer and winter, so do come prepared with your personal clothing.

Working in Saudi Arabia is both a challenge as well as interesting, if you are well-prepared mentally. Hope the above tips were useful.

End of Service Benefits

2008-11-23T09:07:00.004+03:00

The best thing for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, apart from a tax-free salary, is the provision of End of Service Benefits (ESB) in the Saudi Labor Law :) I have been getting frequent requests for clarifications on this, and hence decided to write an exclusive post on the same.

Nothing more can cause a bigger worry for an expatriate who has decided to leave for good, than the thought of financial insecurity, atleast in the short run. Unless people have a job ready for them as soon as they leave the kingdom, the prospect of being unemployed is truly frightening, particularly in this age of global recession. For those expatriates who have worked in Saudi Arabia for quite a long time, the biggest question before them is: What Next? End of Service Benefits offers some kind of comfort to expatriates, once they have completed their term in the kingdom.

Article 84 of the Labor Law has explicitly stated the benefits to be paid for the expatriates. It is proportional to the number of years he or she has stayed with a particular sponsor. So, for the first five years of service, an expatriate is entitled to receive half a month's pay for each year of service, and one month's pay for each subsequent year of service. Note that this is in case of completion of the contract by the expatriate. Calculation of ESB is based on the last wage a person has earned and includes all allowances. However, these allowances do not include wage components such as sales commissions, sales percentages, etc., because they cannot be accurately determined :-B

There are certain exceptions, though. If an expatriate has resigned within the first two years of service, he is not entitled to any ESB. If he has resigned between two to five years of continuous service, he is entitled to one third of the salary. If he has resigned between five years upto ten years of continuous service, he is entitled to two thirds of the salary and to a full salary, beyond 10 years of continuous service. Again, the definition of "salary" here includes basic pay plus all the allowances, excluding of course, certain exceptions such as sales commissions, etc., as mentioned earlier. In all cases, the last salary drawn is the basis for calculations.

In case the expatriate has to leave due to Force Majeure conditions, he is entitled to a full salary. Force Majeure has been well-defined and in short, it relates to uncontrollable situations such as War, Earthquake, etc.

In case of female workers, Article 87 of the labor law has given some additional benefits. If a female worker leaves the job within six months after her marriage or within three months after she gives birth to a child, she is entitled for full salary benefits.

Hope you found the above information useful. Ignorance isn't bliss, sometimes it could be dangerous not to know your entitlements :)

Child birth in Saudi Arabia-2

2008-11-11T15:12:00.003+03:00

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!

That's it for now. Hope you found the post interesting and useful.

NOC required again for Indians?

2008-11-08T13:42:00.004+03:00

I have received a couple of emails this morning (8th November, 2008) from my friends that the Saudi consulate in Mumbai has now changed their rules regarding NOC. The emails say that the requirement of No Objection Certificate for those wanting to change jobs in Saudi Arabia, is being re-introduced.

I am unable to immediately either confirm or deny this, as I have to verify the genuineness in these emails. Both the emails are only 'forwarded' ones, and it is quite difficult to predict at this stage whether the news is only a rumour or whether it is genuine.

I have with me an official document which says that NOC was no longer required for Indians, which was what prompted me to write an earlier article (Click here to read the same). Just as expatriates were breathing a bit easy, it appears that things don't change so fast.

I am now in the process of verifying whether the draconian rule is really being re-introduced. As a matter of abundant precaution and safety, I would advise all my readers who are planning to return to the kingdom for employment, to take an NOC from the current employer. Once I get some confirmed and reliable information, I would immediately post the same here.

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LATEST UPDATE ON THE ABOVE POST (1st DECEMBER, 2008)

I have just received an email from a leading recruitment agent in India, Jerry Varghese, who has confirmed that the Saudi Consulate in Mumbai has once again withdrawn its recent change in the NOC rule. So, No Objection Certificate is no longer required for Indian citizens who have left the kingdom on an exit visa and who wish to reenter the kingdom for employment. For those who have left on exit/reentry visa, they have to wait for one year before they can return for employment. Obviously, it appears that pressure from employers in the kingdom, who are already reeling under a severe manpower crunch, has worked. For the moment, let's celebrate!

Child birth in Saudi Arabia - 1

2008-11-06T11:28:00.006+03:00

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 :) Your favorite blog now has the distinction of covering all topics from birth until death!! 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 :-B

Ansering 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 gynaecologist 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 desparately 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 8- More on this in future posts.

Do let me know your opinion and comments.

Visit visa renewal

2008-10-29T17:02:00.015+03:00

If you are one of those expatriates working in Saudi Arabia and have sponsored anyone on a visit visa, this is a must-read for you. Some important changes have taken place to the law, which I thought of sharing with you :-S

For those of you who have started reading this blog recently, I would like you to refer to this link which gives the details of sponsoring your family on a visit visa.

First, the procedure for renewing a visit visa. Make sure that you renew your visa well before the expiry date. As per the new law, if an expatriate has sponsored someone on a visit visa and has failed to renew it (even by a day), he faces a penalty of SR10,000. The person who has been sponsored will be asked to to leave the country immediately. That is not all. Hold your breath. When your iqama is about to expire, it will not be renewed and you will be deported ^#(^

This is no joke. The Saudi authorities are implementing this rule very strictly with immediate effect. This is to check the people who are staying back unauthorizedly in the kingdom.

I would strongly urge you to do the renewal atleast 10 days before its expiry. The procedure itself is quite simple. You have to go to the Passport Office in your city (Jawasat), and take the form meant for renewal of the visit visa. Everything has to necessarily be in Arabic and remember, all dates have to be as per Hijri calendar. Use the calendar converter given in this blog to convert Gregorian dates into Hijri dates.

Take the help of someone who can write Arabic and fill in all the details. Remember that presently there is no multiple entry for visit visas, so you have to check the box given in the form as single entry. Also, you must write clearly the date of expiry of the visit visa, for which you are submitting the application for renewal.

If, for example, the validity of the visa is written as 3 months, you must calculate it as per Hijri calendar. The 3-month period starts from the date your visitor landed in the kingdom, not the date of issue of visa. To be on the safer side, always deduct a week, i.e., submit your application in 80 to 83 days, not exactly on the 90th day, if it is a 3-month visa.

You will have to fill in the passport details in the form and all personal details such as address, religion, etc. Do not leave any space blank. Once completed, you will have to attach with this a copy of your residence permit (iqama) and the original passport of your visitor.

Next, take it to the passport office and give it to the authorized officer. Usually it is a policeman with a single star on his uniform. He is the one who decides whether to renew the visa for 1 month, 2 months or 3 months. It is absolutely his discretion and mood, so the best you can do is to politely request him for a 3-month extension. Remember, there is no column in the form asking for the number of days of extension #-o

He will just put his signature with instructions on the number of days of extension. Next, you will have to take this form to another officer who will collect SR100 for each visitor plus the original passport. If he is busy, he will ask you to come later. You will not be given a receipt for either the passport or the money, so do not even attempt to ask him. Don't make the blunder of arguing with him, you simply have to wait :-w

When you go back at the specified time, he will dig out the passport you had given earlier, stick on it a SR100 stamp and will put his seal and signature across the stamp. Wait, it is still not over yet >:P

The last step is to take this passport to yet another officer. Usually, he is a higher-ranked officer with 2 stars. He will also have to sign across the SR100 stamp, only then it becomes a valid document #:-S

That's it foks :-B Hope you found the post useful.

Tips for business visitors to Saudi Arabia

2008-10-14T09:28:00.003+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is both exciting as well as a challenge. A few tips for business visitors and for those who are on a short trip to the kingdom is not out of place. Prior knowledge of what and when to do before meeting your hosts always helps.

Saudis are quite hospitable, particularly when it involves business visitors. The first rule is to dress business-like: a suit with a tie should do, atleast for the first day. You will find that your hosts would be in their 'thobes' - the traditional Arabic dress - a long white robe . They would also be wearing a headgear - a white or pink squares in a white cloth with a black ring around the head. The weather is quite hot most of the year, but once indoor, you will find that all buildings are air conditioned and quite comfortable.

Remember to give a warm and firm handshake. If you are entering a room where a group of Saudis are seated, start always from the person on your right hand side and move towards your left anti-clockwise. Do not forget to greet each person with a "Salaam Alaikum" with a slight bow of your head and a genuine smile. It goes down well with your hosts.

While exchanging business cards, NEVER EVER keep your host's business card on your hip pocket. It is considered as an ultimate insult. Also, while seated in a chair, avoid sitting cross-legged such that one of your shoes point at your hosts.

You will usually be offered a traditional drink, called gahwa, which is a small cup of hot water mixed with cardamom powder. Never refuse it, but if you find it unpalatable, atleast try to take a sip rather than refusing it outright. It is usual for the Saudis to keep filling your cup once it is empty. This drink is normally taken along with dates.

Before you proceed to your meeting, be well-informed about the prayer timings. It keeps changing slightly every day, and it is quite normal for business meetings to be put on hold during prayer times. If you are a Muslim, you would be expected to participate in the prayers along with them. In case you are wearing a gold chain around your neck, try not to make it too obvious. Also, try to avoid wearing gold bracelets. These are considered taboo by Saudis as they are supposed to be worn only by women. Wearing a gold ring is considered okay, and usually nobody will make a fuss about it.

Patience is a very big virtue and do take time to develop your business relationship. Saudi Arabia is an extremely close-knit society and family and tribal connections matter top on the priority list. Establishing personal rapport with your hosts and developing genuine friendship would almost always result in a successful business relationship.

NEVER EVER discuss about religion, politics, monarchy, terrorism, security and such controversial issues, even on the sidelines. These are extremely sensitive matters. Topics which are considered okay are weather, football (the Saudis are a football-crazy nation and are extremely well-informed about the game), travel, hobbies, etc.

If you are giving a Powerpoint presentation, try to use bullets and avoid long texts. Always begin by mentioning the history of your company and do not directly barge into the main topic. Pay attention to the body language of your hosts, as it would reveal more than what a thousand words would not. Try to make the discussion more interactive by involving your hosts, rather than simply lecturing them.

Saudis usually associate any reference to time with the words "Insha Allah", which literally means "God willing". It could mean a few days, hours or months depending on the context, but normaly when they make a promise, it is usually kept. Do not expect miracles to happen right from the first meeting.

Never ever use your left hand. If your right hand is dirty or even wet, never ever shake hands with anyone before cleaning it thoroughly. If you are caught in such a situation that you must shake hands, offer your wrist instead. Strange as it may sound, it is considered quite okay in this part of the world, rather than withdrawing or not offering your hand, which would be considered offensive.

Remember the names of your hosts, or atleast a few of the important ones. Always address them by their last names, more so in the first few meetings.

When you complete your meeting, remember to once again shake hands with each of your hosts and do not forget to thank each one of them. Once you reach home, follow it up with an email thanking them - it goes down well with the Saudis. Remember, building a strong inter-personal relationship is the basis for a long-lasting business relationship!

Expatriate Grievance Cell

2008-10-12T08:38:00.007+03:00

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 recent flight home, I saw atleast 50 odd people who were travelling on the same flight as mine, all of whom 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:

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).

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.

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

Free accommodation or equivalent amount as agreed in the contract

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

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.

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.

Hope you found the above post useful.

Old wine in a new bottle!

2008-10-07T12:10:00.004+03:00

This is probably not an appropriate title to use for a blog post from Saudi Arabia! Nevertheless, I thought it was apt for this particular post. Yes, your favorite blog has now got a brand new look.

Just thought that a third column was required to avoid clutter. Also added a few useful tools for your convenience. I am very keen to know your feedback. Do let me know your views on the new look of this site - great? lousy? just okay? - any comment is welcome from you, dear readers. Also, if you want me to add or delete something, I would do the same.

So, what are you waiting for? Just drop in your comments right away.

Government work in Ramadan and Hajj periods

2008-10-03T08:20:00.007+03:00

A lot of potential expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia have been asking me various queries about Government-related work during Ramadan and Hajj periods. I thought I might as well write a post on it, because it is so important.

For those who are unfamiliar with the laws of Saudi Arabia, Ramadan is a month in Islamic calendar in which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. The official working hours in all offices, both Government and private, is restricted to 6 hours for Muslim employees. Drinking, eating and smoking in public is strictly prohibited during this period, from dawn to dusk. This applies to all, irrespective of their faith.

It is common knowledge that normal work slows down during this period, as people would be fasting and the efficiency is much below usual. Hence, for any liaisoning work with government agencies, eg., passport, visa stamping, renewal, iqama, etc., one must take this into account. There are two official sets of holidays in Saudi Arabia. The first, called Eid-ul-Fitr falls at the end of the month of Ramadan. The second, called Eid-ul-Adha, or popularly known as Hajj holidays, falls approximately a couple of months after the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

Saudi embassies all over the world usually close 2 weeks before these two sets of holidays. So, expatriates who are processing their visa papers in their home countries must give adequate allowance for this. In particular, I would like to draw the attention of those who are processing visit visas (please check my earlier post on family visit visa from the archives on the right hand side of this blog).

As already mentioned earlier, once a visit visa is stamped by the Saudi embassy or consulate in your home country, the visitor must necessarily enter the kingdom within one month from the date of stamping. Otherwise, the visa would get cancelled automatically. If the visitor is going to enter the kingdom just a week after Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid-Al-Adha holidays, care must be taken to submit the documents in the embassy just a week prior to the long closure of the embassy. Remember, if you submit too early, the visa would get cancelled if the visitor does not enter the kingdom within 30 days. If you submit too late, the embassy / consulate would be closed prior to the holidays.

In fact, visit visas to Muslims during Ramadan are not issued by the Saudi authorities because they discourage people coming on visit visas to perform 'Umrah'. For non-Muslims, only 1-month visit visas are issued in this period, which of course, can be renewed twice, each renewal of one month duration. It is another issue that some Muslim visitors do manage to do Umrah while on a visit visa, but officially this is prohibited. For those visitors who want to do Hajj, normally this is not allowed. In certain cases, special permission must be obtained after paying the required fees, otherwise they would not be allowed to even board the bus without a Hajj permit. In any event, everything is on a case to case basis, so one cannot generalize.

I would also advise those of you who are planning to process their family visas (permanent residence) to avoid submitting their documents during Ramadan or Hajj period because of the uncertainty and delays involved. Remember, the embassy would be so busy, particularly during Hajj period, that processing your family visa would be second priority.

And finally, do remember that all the dates with Government agencies are based on Islamic calendar and not Gregorian calendar. Please click this link to convert from one calendar to the other.

Hope this information was useful to you.

Final exit procedure in Saudi Arabia

2008-09-22T08:50:00.003+03:00

What goes up has to come down, so goes the saying. A similar analogy applies to expatriates working in Saudi Arabia. I have been getting requests from several fellow expats to write about the final exit procedure from the kingdom.

Going out of the kingdom is not necessarily a painful decision. Some expatriates get better jobs, some go due to family reasons, and some others due to other compulsions. Whatever be the reason, it is always better to be well-informed of the procedure, to avoid last-minute heart-burns. As mentioned in one of my previous posts (click here for the same), every expatriate coming to the kingdom must realize that he or she is here not here to build a career, but to make money. Life is not perpetual and the sooner one realizes this, the smoother is the exit.

The issue of No Objection Certificate for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia has been covered earlier (see this link), so I am not going to go over it again. The following check list may be helpful.

If you have a car, you must transfer it immediately to someone else's name. Unless this is done, the exit visa will not be stamped. For those who are planning to come back to the kingdom, it would make sense to transfer the car to their friend's name and then re-transfer it to themselves upon arrival.

All your dues must be settled. This includes, electricity bills, water bills, personal loans taken from banks, telephone bills, etc. Note that everything is linked to your iqama number, so a simple run of your iqama number by the passport authorities would easily point out if you are indebted to anyone.

Your traffic fines must have been paid and you must have no outstanding dues. This is one of the most serious issues affecting expatriates. You may have paid your dues, but you must make sure that it has been entered in the system. If not, you must personally go to the Passport Office with your sponsor along with proof of payment to get your name cleared. A simple way to verify if you have any dues or not is to just visit the Ministry of Interior's website and enter your iqama number. As the Ministry prohibits giving their website link, I am not giving the same here. But a simple Google search would lead you to the same. Another way is to just sms 88993 and type your iqama number. You will immediately get a reply about the status of your fines, if any.

You must close your bank account. This should be one of the last steps you should take, because it involves your final settlement from your sponsor. Take two letters from your sponsor. The similar letters, written in Arabic, should mention that you are going on final exit and that an 'X' amount has been transferred to your account which would be withdrawn and the account closed. Present one of these letters to your bank, which would only then allow you to close your account. In case you wish to transfer your money through SpeedCash or Western Union or any other bank, you must use the second letter in that office.

If you stay in a rented house, you must disclose your intentions to your house owner. If you are going mid-way through your house contract, it is advisable to fix any other expatriate to continue with the rest of your contract period, otherwise you will end up paying for the unused portion of your contract. Word of mouth is the fastest way to do this, but posting it in your nearby supermarket is also another common method.

In the unfortunate event that you have paid all your dues, but you inturn are to receive money from certain people, you should nominate your friend to get it on your behalf. There is no guarantee, though, that you will get your money, but if going out of the kingdom is your priority, then you have no other choice but to do this.

I would advise you to send your family out of the kingdom before you actually leave. Not that it is mandatory, but this is just to avoid their being put into trouble due to last minute surprises.

The bottom line is that there should be no financial dues from your side and that your name should be clear of all fines / any record with the statutory authorities, to get your final exit. Once your iqama is submitted, and all the above conditions have been fulfilled, it is only a matter of time before your passport is stamped with an exit visa. Usually, the passport is given to you in the airport just before you leave as the sponsor's responsibility is to make sure that you really leave the kingdom, but some companies also give the same to you a couple of days earlier. Good luck for your future!

Permanent family visa for Saudi Arabia

2008-08-23T12:14:00.006+03:00

The biggest problem facing expatriates working in Saudi Arabia is bringing one's family into the kingdom. I had already covered the procedure for the same earlier (please click this link). But this was for bringing one's family on a visit visa. I would now like to mention the procedure for bringing one's family on a permanent visa.

I have mentioned several times in the past about the profession in the residence permit or iqama (See this link for more details). The biggest hurdle facing an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia is the profession in his iqama. It is quite common to find people working in one profession whereas his iqama would have something else as a profession. In fact, one ex-Principal of an international school here, a professor with a double doctorate, had to resign in frustration and go back, as he could not bring his family here. The reason? His profession was mentioned as a painter, and as per the rules, a painter cannot sponsor his wife! What a pity!

Coming back to our topic, the first thing you should do is to check your iqama profession. If it is mentioned as "Labor" or "Operator" or "Secretary" or any other non-supervisory category, you can straightaway assume that you cannot bring your family either on visit or on permanent visa. But if you are qualified, i.e., a degree holder and yet your iqama profession is in one of those mentioned in the 'restricted' list, then the best way out is to get your profession changed as mentioned here (please click here) and then apply for a family visa.

Next, you must get the following certificates attested in your home country.

1. Your original degree / diploma certificate

2. Your original marriage certificate

3. Copies of Birth certificates of your children

You also need the following:

1. Arabic translation of your marriage certificate

2. Arabic translation of your degree / diploma certificate

Note that all of these have to be done in your home country. For your degree certificate, you must first get the same attested by the HRD Ministry or the Ministry of Education (where applicable) of your home country's government. Once this is done, it has to be re-attested by the Saudi Embassy in your home country.

Once all the above are ready, they have to be brought to the kingdom by you. Now, you need two more documents. The first is your salary certificate which has to be attested by the Chamber of Commerce in your city. The next is an introduction letter from your sponsor in Arabic, complete with all the details of your salary, your position in the company, etc., in the company letter head with the signature of your company's authorized representative and company seal.

Approach any of the numerous agents here and get all the processing done through them. This would save you time and energy. However, you can also get the work done here yourself. In that case, do the following.

Get an application form for permanent family visa and fill all the details in Arabic. You may need an Arabic-speaking person next to you to do this. Make sure that there are no mistakes. Next, submit the following to the Passport Department ( Jawasat )in your city:

1. Original family visa application

2. Copy of your iqama

3. Original salary certificate / introduction letter from your company in Arabic with salary details attested by the Chamber of Commerce

4. Copy of the passport of each one in your family (eg., wife and each child)

5. Copy of birth certificate for each of your children

6. Arabic translation of the copy of your marriage certificate

7 Copy of your degree / diploma certificate which has been attested.

9. Arabic translation of your degree / diploma certificate.

9. Copy of your passport

10. Copy of your work permit card (the original is normally attached to the passport and will be in custody of your sponsor)

If you are going personally, keep ready with you the originals of the following:

1. Original degree certificate

2. Original marriage certificate

3. Original iqama

4. Original work permit card

The above may be required for verification and depends on the mood of the officer across the counter :)

If everything goes well, he will give you a so-called 'Yellow Slip' immediately. Get a color photo copy of this yellow slip for your records and send the original to your family in your home country.

Ask them to submit copies of all of the above documents, along with the original yellow slip and original passports of your wife and children to the consulate of embassy of the Saudi Government in your home country. Usually, if it is not Ramadan or Haj season, you should get a permission to proceed for medical test within 2 weeks. Once this is obtained, ask your family to get the medical test in the authorized place (mentioned by the Embassy). This medical report must be again submitted to the embassy. That's it. The visa would be stamped on the passports of your family and they just have to buy their tickets to join you in the kingdom.

Hope the above post was useful. Do let me know of the same. Your appreciation is my motivation to write more.

Road accidents in Saudi Arabia

2008-08-14T19:25:00.007+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge, but driving in Saudi roads is much more than that. Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia has one of the worst records of road safety in the world. This post is meant to guide those expatriates working in Saudi Arabia who are caught in an unfortunate accident. I really wish none of you use the tips given here and everyone has a safe drive on the roads. Nevertheless, it always helps to know what to do in an emergency. Ignorance is not bliss, it is dangerous :-?

I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts (click here) of the importance of carrying your documents with you. You MUST definitely carry your original iqama, vehicle insurance card, driving license, vehicle registratiion (istemara) and vehicle ownership cards with you all the time. Remember that driving in Saudi Arabia without a valid insurance is a crime and you could be jailed for the same. Unfortunately, these rules are strictly implemented only for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia and not for the locals >:P

Usually new cars should be covered with a comprehensive insurance, but it is economical to take a third party insurance if your car is more than 5 years old, as the book value of your car would have been almost reduced to zero due to depreciation. Click on this link for more information about it.

The first thing you must do if you are caught in an accident is NOT to move your car until the police arrives. Just put on the hazard lights and stand by the road side, and do not bother about the traffice behind or ahead of you. If you try moving your car, you could land in a more serious offence of trying to tamper with evidence, so be careful

Once the police arrives, they will first ask for your iqama and you as well as the other party will be asked to go to the police station. If the accident is serious, usually an ambulance would accompany the police and the area would be cleared of the junk in no time.

When you reach the police station, all conversation would be in Arabic, so if possible try contacting your Government Relations Officer / your sponsor / any of your Arabic speaking friends over phone and ask him to come to the police station immediately. Try to avoid signing in any kind of document until your sponsor arrives on the spot. Remember, this is the most important part.

Once, a Saudi hit my vehicle from behind and I was asked to sign a document by the police. In good faith, I signed the same and the next day when I took a friend to the police station, he explained to me that I have signed a paper which said that everything was my own fault and that I am releasing the Saudi guy of all offences and that all repair would be borne by me ^#(^ Of course, not all policemen are mean, but you never know who is good or bad, so take all precautions.

You may sometimes find yourself in a tight situation that your sponsor cannot come and that the police is forcing you to sign some document. In that case, do sign but write above your signature that you do not understand anything what is written above. Believe me, this is for your own safety.

Never ever reveal to the other party that you have vehicle insurance. It is very common for the locals not to carry any kind of papers including insurance ( I am not blaming all of them, but this is usually the case). Once the guy knows that you have insurance, he may try to negotiate with the cop and see that a part of the blame is shifted on you (again, one cannot generalize, but it happened to me, so be careful). The cop will usually split the fault to both the parties as a percentage, i.e., 0%-100%, 50-50, 75-25 or 100-0% etc. This refers to the percentage fault and the amount of damage also varies in proportion to this. Of course, if someone hits your vehicle from behind, he is at 100% fault.

The next few days could be traumatic without a vehicle as you would be asked to bring three quotations from authorized workshops. The lowest of the three would have to be borne by the other party, if he is at fault or vice versa. The amount is to be paid / recovered from the other party in front of the police and only then the case would be closed. Make sure that this is done, because you would not be allowed to leave the kingdom on vacation or on exit as it would appear in the computer against your iqama number if it is still pending.

Good luck and have a safe drive!

Saudi Expatriate Expectations

2008-08-01T08:38:00.004+03:00

Ever since this blog was started, it has become extremely popular among all the potential and existing expatriates by the day. This just shows the dearth of reliable information available for expatriates in Saudi Arabia.

I have been frequently getting comments from a few people voicing their opinions about working in Saudi Arabia. My attention is particularly drawn towards those which are rather negative, because it reflects either a lack of awareness or probably contempt or maybe a combination of both.

I have already covered in my earlier post about this, but would like to now emphasize a few points here. Before coming to Saudi Arabia, you must first decide what you need. Are you looking for a cozy life, lots of fun and frolic, alcohol, entertainment and enjoyment, etc? Sorry Sir, this is not the place for you. To put it bluntly, expatriates working in Saudi Arabia are here for tax-free money, nothing more nothing less!

There are a lot of blogs which paint quite a negative picture about this country and a lot more potential expatriates who have a pre-conceived mindset that this place is nothing short of hell on earth. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion on anything. I have seen some expatriates, who at the end of the day, have nothing but a mouthful of abuse on the system. Agreed, it is not a bed of roses here, but who compels you to work here if you are not comfortable? You chose to come here because you wanted the money, no one invited you with a red carpet. One cannot enjoy the tax-free money and at the same time complain about the system and the society where one works. It's either take it or leave it.

I have my own opinions too, like everyone else, but they would never appear in public domain in this blog. The intention of this blog is just to provide factual, reliable and accurate information to potential expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia, which is what makes it so popular.

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge, no doubt, but it is purely up to you to make your world lovable. In certain ways, all of us are kind of mercenaries, working for money. So, love for your job is the last thing which should come to your mind. You are hired here because you are needed here, not because someone adores you. The day you are perceived as of no use to your sponsor, you are out of this place, so you must be ready to accept this fact. Love your work, not your job, and don't complain, because it's of no use anyway. Realize that every day you spend here is a day you have earned money, but that doesn't mean that it will be perpetual, because the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty!

Renewal of Saudi vehicle registration - Istemara

2008-07-12T12:49:00.007+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge, more so when the procedures are rather complicated. I had mentioned in brief about this in my earlier post.

Any vehicle owner must necessarily carry with him 3 cards pertaining to his vehicle.

The first one is the vehicle ownership card. This card proves that you are indeed the owner of the vehicle. The second one is the registration card, which in effect, proves that your vehicle is registered with the Government. The third card, of course, is the insurance card. All these 3 cards are mandatory by law and must be produced when demanded by the authorities.

This particular post covers the procedure for renewing the Saudi vehicle registration or istemara. The renewal of istemara has to be done on time, to avoid penalties. There is a 15-day grace period after expiry of the istemara for renewing the same. Please note that renewal of istemara is usually not done more than 1 week before its due date, so if an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia is going on vacation during this period, he must arrange with someone else to renew his istemara.

First, you must send an SMS from your mobile to the number 88905. The text of the SMS must strictly be in the following format: The first line must contain your iqama number. The second line must contain the number plate of your car (both Arabic letters as well as the numerals). It is advisable to send this SMS from a friend who has enabled Arabic in his mobile rather than trying it out yourself. This would be convenient (though not compulsory) as the exact translation of Arabic letters to English could sometimes be complicated and hence can go wrong if you use your English-enabled mobile. Each sms costs SR2.50, so if you make a mistake this amount gets deducted every time.

You should get a 9-digit code immediately in your mobile. Save this code carefully. Next, you must go to any branch of Riyad Bank or Al Rajhi Bank and pay SR150 in the designated machine. This can also be done online in the websites of these banks. You will be prompted to enter the 9-digit code which you received in your mobile. Pay the money and take a printout of proof of payment.

This printout must now be attached with other required documents, as below:

a) Copy of your iqama

b) Copy of your driving license

c) Introduction letter in Arabic from your sponsor

d) Attestation of the above letter from the Chamber of Commerce in your town (this is waived for government employees and employees of SABIC)

e) Copy of your vehicle insurance

f) Original ownership card

g) Original istemara card

h) Copy of valid MVPI

You will have to attach all of the above in a green hanging file (Neither the Saudis nor any of the expatriates working in Saudi Arabia really know why this obsession about the green hanging file!).

Next, submit this file to the traffic police. You will be asked to come the next day. Note, however, that you will not be given any acknowledgement by the police when they take the file. It is supposed to be only on trust!

When you visit the police station the next day, make sure that you have removed both the number plates from your car. You will have to give these to the police, who will then issue two new number plates - for the front and rear sides. The new number plates contain both English and Arabic letters and numerals. You will also be handed over the new ownership card and new istemara card. That's it! Hope the above post was useful.

Death case formalities for expats in Saudi

2008-07-02T11:34:00.006+03:00

I really wish that no one ever needs to use the information given in this particular post. Despite my initial hesitation, I thought I might as well write about it, because no other blog seems to have covered this subject. Also, lack of information in times of crisis is more dangerous than the crisis itself. Thanks to Ravi from Riyadh, who requested me to write about this subject. It took me a lot of time and effort to gather the information given here, but at the end of the day, I hope it is of help to some of my fellow expatriates in Saudi Arabia.

Expatriates working in Saudi Arabia should know that in case of death of a non-Muslim, the body cannot be disposed off in the kingdom and has to be sent back to the home country. In case of Muslims, there is a choice whether to bury the body in the kingdom or in the home country. The procedure for both are given below:

The following procedure must be followed for both Muslims as well as non-Muslims, in case of death of an expatriate in Saudi Arabia. Whether the demise is natural or otherwise, the first thing to be done is intimation to the Police, to the nearest kin and to the Embassy of the deceased person's home country. The next of the kin or legal heirs in the home country must now do the following:

First, a fax must be addressed to either the sponsor or any close friend of the deceased stating that they have no objection to the body being buried (note: this is applicable only for Muslims) or that the body has to be transported back to the home country. This fax must authorize the sponsor or the friend of the deceased to take charge of the body and complete the remaining formalities in the kingdom. I would like to mention here, that as per Saudi Labor Law, the sponsor is supposed to bear all expenses for transportation of the body to the home country or for burial in the kingdom, so please be aware of this.

For transporting the body to the home country, the legal heirs of the deceased must submit an affidavit to the nearest office of the Airlines in the nearest international / domestic airport saying that they would collect the mortal remains of the deceased without any delay, as soon as the same arrives in the cargo terminal. A copy of this affidavit must be faxed to the sponsor, cargo agent and to the Embassy of the deceased. Note that without this important fax, the cargo agency will not accept to transport the body.

The rest of the formalities have to be done by the sponsor or the person authorized by the legal heirs of the deceased, (for the sake of clarity, let's call this person as "Authorized Person" in this post) and are as follows:

The hospital will issue a Death Intimation Report based on which the police would issue a Police Report. The personal belongings of the deceased will be listed and handed over to the Authorized Person, in front of a witness.

The Authorized Person must now contact the embassy of the deceased with all required documents and obtain a No Objection Certificate for either burying locally or for transporting the body to the home country. In case of burial, the mortuary, after receipt of the NOC, will issue a Burial Permission Certificate to the local cemetry. In case of transportation to the home country, Police clearance has to be first obtained for embalming the body. This clearance, along with the NOC must be submitted to the mortuary along with the required fees (SR2093 for embalming and around SR800 for the coffin).The hospital authorities would guide the Authorized Person on this.

Next, the Authorized Person must submit the iqama of the deceased to the Passport Department cancelling the same and for stamping exit visa in the passport of the deceased. All these documents must be handed over to the cargo agent, in case of transportation of the body to the home country.

To summarize, the following documents are required:

1. Copies of Iqama and passport of the deceased.

2. Medical report from the hospital with English translation

3. Copy of Power of Attorney from the legal heir with Arabic translation (signed and attested by Notary Public)

4. Police Report copy (only for unnatural deaths)

5. A letter from the sponsor regarding dues of the deceased.

Bringing pets into Saudi Arabia

2008-06-22T09:27:00.002+03:00

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.

Procedure for obtaining driving license in Saudi

2008-06-17T14:24:00.002+03:00

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 atleast 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 (thanks to reader Joe for the update). 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 <:-P

Touts for family visa in Saudi Arabia

2008-06-10T10:33:00.002+03:00

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 emails from people saying that they have been contacted by touts to help them get a family visa :-O 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 :-B

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 :-S

NOC not required for Indians

2008-05-21T13:06:00.004+03:00

It's now official. There's finally some good news for Indian expatriates working in Saudi Arabia who are planning to switch jobs. I had mentioned earlier the difficulties faced by expatriates planning to change jobs, due to the draconian No Objection Certificate requirement. This has now been done away with, but only for Indian expatriates, at the moment. For other nationalities, it is best to consult the Saudi Embassies in your own countries.

More than 2 years after it was made a law, Saudi embassies around the world are slowly starting to implement the same. The consulate in Mumbai, India, has now declared that if any Indian national, currently working in Saudi Arabia , wishes to change his job within the kingdom, he can re-enter the kingdom without the requirement of a No Objection Certificate from his current employer, provided he has left the kingdom on an Exit visa. In other words, if he has gone on Exit/Re-entry, it is still necessary to obtain an NOC from the current employer.

A major hurdle has thus been removed for Indian expatriates planning to switch jobs. Let us hope that it would be equally applied to all other countries too. The winds of change, it appears, is slowly blowing in favour of expatriates.

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Update on the above post (November, 2008):

The winds of change, it appears, has stopped! Within 6 months after relaxing the NOC rule, the Saudi Consulate in Mumbai has once again reintroduced the requirement of a No Objection Certificate. What is really annoying is that it was done without the slightest notice, leaving hundreds of expatriates high and dry. Many people had gone back to India in the hope of coming back to a better job and now find that their hopes have dashed. Let us hope that this rule is relaxed at the earliest!

Vacation entitlements

2008-05-18T09:17:00.003+03:00

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.

Dealing with cops - Some tips

2008-05-11T09:45:00.004+03:00

One of the most common problems of expatriates working in Saudi Arabia is dealing with the policemen, language being the biggest hurdle. If your vehicle ever meets with an accident, the first thing you should do is to stop the vehicle right there and get out of the car. Do not move the vehicle till a policeman arrives on the spot. Do not be bothered about the traffic behind you, i.e., even if the vehicle is bang in the middle of the road, you must just put on the hazard lights and stop the car right there. This is very important because if you try to move the vehicle to the side of the road, it would amount to tampering with evidence.

If you are taken to the police station, never sign any document unless the Government Relations Officer of your company arrives. This is important because all verbal and written communication would be in Arabic. If it is not practically possible, and the cop on duty forces you to sign some document, sign it but make sure that you write above your signature that you do not understand what is written above. Believe me, this would save you a lot of trouble later, as mentioned earlier.

With the current security situation, there are checkpoints in almost all major towns across the kingdom. As mentioned earlier in my blog, you must always make sure to carry your iqama, istemara, car insurance and your company ID with you all the time. At every checkpoint, make sure that you do the following. A word of caution - these are just tips, not official rules, and are based completely on my own experiences!

Completely roll down your car window; never mind if you lose the coolness and comfort of the ac. One of my friends did not roll down his windows and he was simply asked to park his car by the side of the road and made to wait for more than 30 minutes. Remember, the cop is standing in the hot sun and you must do nothing, absolutely nothing, which would irritate him
Switch off the music from your radio/CD player

Take out the ID in your hands and show it out of the open window. Some people have their IDs hung around their neck. Never make the mistake of showing the cop your ID in this fashion. Take it out of your neck and display it clearly by sticking your hand out of the window.

Never chew gum in front of the cop. Some of them consider it as an insult

If you are wearing sun goggles, remove them when you cross the checkpost
Never ever try to switch lanes. Murphy's law always works here and the other lane would always be faster than yours. But if you try to switch lanes in a checkpost, you had it!

Never talk to other passengers or in your mobile phone as you pass a checkpost

If a cop speaks something to you in Arabic, just give a friendly smile, apologize and say that you do not know Arabic. In nine out of ten cases, this works and he would simply let you go without bothering you much.

Remember that these cops are stressed out standing in the open and your actions must never ever irritate them at any point of time.

These are practical tips for expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia, which you wouldn't find in any official dossier. Hope they are of some help to you.

Used cars in Saudi Arabia

2008-04-15T14:38:00.002+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge, but driving in Saudi Arabia, as mentioned in my earlier post, is a bigger challenge! It is extremely difficult for an expatriate, particularly those with their families, to be without a car. Public transport is scarce in Saudi Arabia and taxis may not always be convenient or available when you need them :-(

Usually, expatriates prefer to buy used cars from other expatriates, particularly those who plan to stay for the short-term. This would be by either word of mouth or through advertisements placed in supermarkets or malls.

Of course, new cars are also available, but they don't come cheap. If you are going to pay for the car from your pocket, (i.e., not company-owned car), I would advise you to go in for a used one, preferably one that is less than 5 years old. With the current problem of traffic jams and parking space in cities, a smaller car would be preferable. Used cars can also be bought from auction yards, but since you may not always know the previous owner, it would be purely your luck if you get a good car. In any case, the procedure is the same.

The car has to be kept in custody of an "exhibition" ( a place where trading is normally done) for 24 hours. The owner of the exhibition is a government-registered broker to whom the buyer has to pay a commission as transaction charges. The broker transfers the ownership of the car from the previous owner to you, after the mandatory 24-hour lock-in period is over.

You would be given two cards. One is the ownership card which proves that you are the owner of the vehicle. The other is the registration card, called Istemara :-B You must carry these two cards with you, along with your insurance card and original iqama, all the time. Believe me, the wallet of an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia has more paper than money /:-)

And by the way, if you didn't know, women are not allowed to drive cars in the kingdom and expatriates are not allowed to own pickup vehicles.

Bringing dependent parent into Saudi Arabia

2008-04-04T18:08:00.004+03:00

I started this blog just as a hobby. However, at one point of time, work pressure and time constraints led me to stop writing. I have since been inundated with requests to keep blogging, which just proves how much scarce information is for potential expatriates planning to work in Saudi Arabia 8- So, I have decided to start writing again :) , although I would use discretion in answering questions from people.

One of the most popular posts in this blog seems to be that of bringing family on a visit visa to Saudi Arabia. I have been getting queries from people, particularly those planning to work in Saudi Arabia, whether it was possible to bring their dependent parents permanently to the kingdom. Answering this question could be quite tricky :-?

First of all, you need to convince your own sponsor that your parent(s) are completely dependent on you and that you would like to bring them at your cost into the kingdom on a permanent visa. The problem is that there is an unwritten rule which defines "family" as simply one's wife / husband and children. This definition does not include brother / sister / parents even though they may be your blood relatives ~X(

Once your sponsor has no objection to bringing your dependent parent, it would have to follow the same route as how your spouse / children are brought into KSA normally.

Whether the application would be approved or not is a big question, and it all depends on the mood of the officer who is approving the visa. The likelihood of bringing your parents permanently, if at all, is more bright to bring one's mother rather than father on a permanent visa. The logic (?) behind this is that there is a strong suspicion that the dependent father may start working illegally! True, this logic may sound as absolute rubbish, but that's how the system is #-o . As for bringing your dependent brother or sister, you can simply forget it.

Of course, it is much easier to bring one's parents on a visit visa. The procedure has been covered here earlier .

What I would advise the potential expatriate thinking of working in Saudi Arabia is to take into consideration all the above, before planning to relocate into the kingdom. Hope this post has been of some help to you.

Sending money from Saudi Arabia

2008-01-30T20:20:00.000+03:00

Working in Saudi Arabia is a challenge, as all expatriates would agree. Being away from your home country is itself a big emotional pain =(( But, as mentioned in this blog earlier, all that would be worth it when you get your pay check every month :) It would be no exaggeration to say that the happiest day for an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia is the day he sends money home :D

Sending money home is quite easy. There are several banks and exchange centers to choose from. But since money doesn't grow on the palm trees of Saudi Arabia, you have to choose carefully where from you send your hard-earned wage :-B

Most expatriates working in Saudi Arabia prefer to use tele-transfer, which is known by various names depending on your bank. The commission charged by banks is slightly more (usually in the range of SR 25 for each transaction). A few others also prefer to purchase a Demand Draft, to be sent home via normal post. Of course, the bank charges in this case are far lesser. In any case, the bottom line is that you must have a bank account first to send your back home. But it is not necessary that you must send your money from the same bank where your account is :-?

There is almost no restriction on the amount of money you send home. However, when it crosses SR10000, you will usually be asked to produce your salary certificate to the bank. This is usually a one-time verification process, i.e., you need not produce this every time you send money home. Also, if it is the first time you are sending money home from a particular bank or exchange center, you will be asked to submit a photocopy of your passport, with the official seal of your sponsor. This is a precaution to prevent money laundering.

A useful tip for you. Remember that the exchange rate varies every day and also between one exchange center / bank to the other within the same city :-O It may only be a marginal difference, but when the amount you send is more, the difference cannot be ignored. In fact, it is usual for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia to find out from 2 or 3 banks or exchange centers the current exchange rate before choosing from the most attractive one ;)

Conversion of dates

2008-01-21T11:23:00.000+03:00

Most of the expatriates working in Saudi Arabia get stuck with the problem of conversion from Islamic to Gregorian dates and vice versa. It is no exaggeration if I say that the wallet of an expatriate contains more paper than cash ;)

Typically, the wallet of an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia contains his original residence permit (Iqama), company ID card, and if he has a car, the original driving license, car ownership card, car registration card (known locally as Istemara), insurance card for his car, medical insurance card (one each for himself and his family members) and probably lots of other stuff like pocket calendar, ATM card, credit card..... :-O

The problem is not so much in carrying these documents, but in knowing which one expires when. All dealings with the Government are done only as per Islamic calendar, which usually has 11 days less than the Gregorian calendar. There are innumerable cases where people have lost flights, denied entry after vacation due to visa expiry, and a host of other problems all because they did not check the equivalent Gregorian dates :-S

Probably the most alarming would be to drive your vehicle after expiry of your license or your car insurance, or even worse, without a valid iqama. The expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must also be fully aware about the validity of their iqama and their exit / reentry visas. Please always renew your documents on time L-)

Please also note that when it is stamped as "One year" in your passport as the time for re-entry, it always means "One Islamic year" and not one Gregorian year. To be on the safer side, always deduct some 15 days from a Gregorian calendar to know approximately when your visa expires.

I have given in the link here a tool for converting from Islamic to Gregorian date and vice versa. I am sure this would help you overcome the problem of conversion of dates ;;)

Hope you liked this post. Your appreciation is my motivation to write, so please do let me know what you feel about this blog and the topics you want me to cover :)

Schools in Saudi Arabia

2008-01-15T13:22:00.000+03:00

One of the problems faced by expatriates working in Saudi Arabia is that of schooling for their children. Government-run schools in the kingdom are exclusively meant for Saudi and Arab children. The only option left for expatriates is to try in the so-called "International" schools.

Westerners usually prefer to educate their children in schools which follow either British or American system of education. School fees are quite expensive in such schools and I would advise you to include educational expenses for your children as part of your employment contract, or else it would put a big hole in your pocket.

Almost all of these "International" schools are co-educational, and are concentrated in bigger cities like Jeddah, Riyadh, Jubail, Al-Khobar, etc.
Non-westerners usually have their own national schools, each following the syllabus in their respective countries. The Ministry of Education monitors the running of these schools by having an observer for each of the community schools.

Primary education is not much of a problem here, but expatriates working in Saudi Arabia must take into account the risks of secondary education in the kingdom. Typically, as the child moves into higher classes, he or she moves away from the "real" world back home, in the sense that the competitive spirit required for higher education is almost absent. This could be quite a problem when the child returns home and faces competitive examinations.

There is also the problem of high turnover of qualified and experienced teachers from schools in Saudi Arabia. Almost all the female teachers in the kingdom are dependent on their husbands, i.e., they are not sponsored by their schools but are dependent exaptriate wives and so when the husband leaves the country, so does the teacher. This could be quite a pain, particularly for higher classes. You should not expect a high standard in the schools here as in your home country.

Getting admission into any of the private schools is quite easy. The usual custom in International schools in the kingdom when you join your child mid-way through the academic session, is to charge you from the beginning of the academic year, so please be prepared for this too.

Qualified and experienced teachers are quite scarce, and you must be prepared to shell out money for private tuitions, in case your children are in higher classes. Westerners usually charge on hourly basis while non-western teachers generally charge a monthly flat fee for private tuitions. In almost all cases, it is a one-to-one arrangement between the parent and the teacher. It would be worthwhile to bring the required books and CDs from your home country, as they may not always be available here all the time.

There is always a demand for qualified and experienced female teachers, but I would advise potential teachers to be choosy about the schools where they teach. The best way would be to enquire with fellow expatriates about the reputation of the school where they propose to join. Remember that cultural differences among different nationalities could sometimes be quite stressful for the teacher.

Finally, you as an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia must make a judicious decision considering all these factors.

Banks in Saudi Arabia

2008-01-07T10:34:00.000+03:00

I had mentioned clearly in an earlier post on the fundamental reason why an expatriate is here in the first place. I would now like to elaborate on the Banking System in Saudi Arabia. Opening a bank account is not an easy process #-o It requires the approval of your sponsor and an introduction letter from him. You will also have to submit copies of your residence permit (Iqama) and your passport which should have been attested by your sponsor #:-S Bigger companies usually transfer their salaries directly to the account, while smaller contracting companies make a cheque payment. Of course, there are also those rogue sponsors who don't pay their employees for months together X( but I will cover that in another post.

Banks in the kingdom do not pay any interest for the amount you keep in the account. Of course, they charge you a hefy interest if you take a loan from them. It's just that they don't call it as 'interest' but prefer to call it as 'Service Charge' :)) This is all the more reason why you must keep a bare minimum amount as balance in your account. Typically, it should be equal to a one-way air fare back home for you and your family. Keep the rest of the money with you as cash, or better still, send it immediately back home.

If you have an account in a bank, you will normally be issued a debit card. Make sure that you NEVER EVER use the debit card issued by your bank in the ATM Teller Machine of another bank :-O There are simply innumerable instances of expatriates being caught in unimaginable circumstances. If your ATM machine 'swallows' your card, or worse still debits from your account but does not issue any cash, at least the process of retrieving your card and money from your bank becomes a shade simpler if you had used your own bank's ATM. The settlement period is usually not less than 15 days #-o

Before leaving on vacation, never ever use your ATM to withdraw cash. It would be safer to go to your bank, use a withdrawal slip and take your money. If your card gets stuck or your money is debited without issuing cash, you don't even have time to go and lodge a complaint with your bank, so be safe.

There are many remittance centers in Saudi Arabia. All of them charge a small premium as service charge, irrespective of the amount you send. There is no upper limit on the amount you can send, but for bigger amounts banks normally ask for a salary certificate from your sponsor. Before sending money home, enquire about the exchange rate in a couple of remittance centers. You would end up with a hole in your pocket if you go to a bank / remittance center which offers you a rock bottom rate.

To be on the safer side, try not to send too much money in one transaction. There are cases where it has taken more than a week for the money to reach home, even though you had sent it by "Express" service (:

Most big shopping outlets in the kingdom accept debit cards issued by local banks. If the transaction amount is big, please ensure that you have a copy of the transaction slip. Instances of your account being debited twice are not uncommon :-SS I may sound rather pessimistic, but I have to also be realistic! As long as things are going on smooth, there's no problem. The moment you have a problem, with some good luck it would get settled in a few week's time ~X(

The whole problem is that there is no ombudsman for the banks here and hence no accountability by the staff either. First of all you wouldn't know whom to complain to and you cannot fight for your rights. You don't have them anyway. In the unfortunate event of your money being debited twice, it becomes YOUR responsibility to prove that there has been only one transaction. It's no joke, it happened to me :(( Luckily my bank credited the amount, but the ordeal I underwent before this was terrible.

I would also advise you not to take any credit card from any of the banks in the kingdom. It would be better to take an international credit card in your home country. You never know the fine print and courtesy is the last thing to expect from the staff, particularly from bigger banks.

Finally, ensure that dealings with your bank are a bare minimum. Typically, I would use them only as a transit point for my money before being sent home :D Afterall, the best day of the month is Pay Day!

Medical insurance in Saudi Arabia

2007-12-29T18:08:00.001+03:00

A very important aspect which an expatriate has to take care in his contract before arriving in the Kingdom is regarding health care.
In big cities, there are good hospitals, but the same cannot be said of smaller towns #-o It is rather difficult to generalize, and probably the only way to find out whether your doctor is good or not, is only by word of mouth from other expatriates. There are hospitals which do not have the best of facilities but excellent doctors. There are also hospitals which have top of the range facilities in terms of patient care, but unfortunately not so good doctors >:P You have to make a judicious decision.
Whatever be your hospital or dispensary, health care in Saudi Arabia is an expensive affair and I would advise you to immediately take an insurance card, otherwise it would cost you a fortune X( In most of the cases, atleast with good sponsors, the company takes care of your medical AND dental requirements. Please ensure that this is clearly mentioned in your contract. Note that "Medical" does NOT cover "Dental", that's why I have mentioned the two separately.
Another important aspect is the type of insurance which your sponsor has taken. Not all insurance companies give 100% coverage, in the true sense. For example, your contract may actually mention that you are covered 100%, but you may actually end up paying a nominal amount (usually SR20) for every visit to your neighbourhood doctor, even though you have an insurance card with you :-B
Theoretically, for a family of four, if you visit the doctor or dentist once every month, this itself amounts to 960 riyals a year - not a small sum indeed! This downpayment of SR20 (or sometimes SR30) may be quite baffling, because you may think you are covered 100% and do not need to pay anything, but that's how the system is. However, for bigger insurance companies where the premium is more, the company takes care of this initial payment also, so you have to put it in black and white in your contract, whether you are REALLY covered 100% or not.
Usually, for dental coverage, insurance companies pay only for extraction / filling or surgery. Cosmetic surgeries and the like (including artificial teeth / bridges) are NOT covered :-w Also, it is normal practice that reading and power glasses are not covered by insurance, i.e., the doctor's consultation would be covered, but not your frame / lens. The only exception would be safety glasses provided by your company, if you are working in a factory.
Hence, if possible please go to a good eye doctor and buy your frame / lens in your home country. After all, there is no place as good as home B-)

Moving & Relocating to Saudi Arabia

2007-12-18T08:39:00.000+03:00

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. Do read my earlier post on this topic for western expatriates.

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 instalments of 6-months each or in one annual lumpsome 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 atleast 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.

Family visit visa

2007-12-15T09:40:00.006+03:00

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 ~X(

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.

Your original iqama (keep a copy with yourself for records)
Your passport photocopy
Introduction letter in Arabic from your employer giving details about your salary
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 #:-S

Certificate from a hospital in case your wife needs support for any reason, eg., 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 "famly visit" in Arabic.

Once you fill in this form and submit, you will get an acknowledgement 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 ~X(

Wait for about a week and the visit the above mentioned link once again. Type in your iqama number and the acknowledgement 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 :)]

The 'Yellow slip' color printout mentioned above
Copy of your Iqama
Copy of your passport (remember, you are the sponsor)
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
Printout of your last 3 months' bank statement
A letter in English addressed to the Saudi Embassy / Consulate of your home country stating that you will be present to receive your guest
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:

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

Good luck with your efforts to bring your family to the kingdom <:-P If this post was useful, do send in your comments. Your appreciation is my motivation to write more.