Moving to Saudi (Advise on Police Clearance Certificate)

Hello daexpat,

the police certificate should normaly be from your home country alone, unless requested otherwise, meaning if they didn't say they want all of it (they don't usually) you just get the report from your local authorities.

Jeddah and Riyadh are great pick's, any of them would be great, but you can't compare them apple to apple, Jeddah is less than an hour away from Makkah, I'm sure you'd count that as a super positive thing, you can just drive there for half a day during the weekends, Riyadh is the center of Saudi Business and alot of relations and benifits can be gotten here as well, Now many can prefer Jeddah above Riyadh, but I wouldn't, I feel I belong here... as for yourself you must do you homework and decide where to go, perhaps Jeddah is a good choice...


Salman

Salaam ya Salman,

Thanks for the info. Just to clarify, The coppers in India takes around 45 days to issue this certificate and I need to be @ work in 30 days. So, can I visit Saudi on a biz. visa first and once the certificate is ready apply for the iqamah? 

Is it possible to stay on the visit visa and convert to employment, without having to leave saudi? Or is it similar to UAE - do I have to exit and then come on the employment visa.

Thanks a ton.

Ahmed

Wa`alaikum al`salam ya Ahmed,

you guessed correctly, the second option is correct, you'll have to leave the country and comeback with the work visa. some people arrange it to go out as in to Bahrain or Dubai and comeback with the new visa from there, so to not travel so far, but I'm not sure your employers can pul that off. so you'll have to visit, and after your visa is issued, leave and comeback again.


Salman

Perhaps weather might be a consideration?  The Jeddah area is extremely humid, unbearably so in the hot months.  Riyadh, while having higher temperatures, has absolutely no humidity and so it is much more tolerable.

Another thing to consider is that Jeddah is much more westernized while Riyadh is much more conservative.

Best of luck!

Thank you Salmaan and Alliecat.

Jeddah seems to be the pick for now, the wife prefers there more for the obvious reason of being more liberal.

Cheers

What about Dammam? I wouldn't consider that as bad either.

In my view, having lived in all the three major regions of KSA over the past 30 years I would say that ALKHOBAR, where I first landed in 1979, is still and will always be, the BEST.

Des & Musicman, thanks for the input.

I ve heard Al khobar is very picturesque. But which among these are most westernised and a bit more liberal and ideal for my 6 yr old daughter (from an education & after-school activities point of view).

Damam or Al Khobar or Riyadh or Jeddah.

Thanks.

Does anyone have any experience with working in Jeddah for Boeing on C-130s???? Offered a job there and have questions about the working/living conditions and safety, as well as specifics about the company. I've heard mostly positive things, but there are a few posts I'm concerned about.....the company confiscating passports, not paying as scheduled or according to contract, living conditions not as described during hiring, insurance not effective in the USA, etc.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Dear Ahmed

If you have been selected all you need to do is submit your passport to the Employment Agent chosen by your Saudi Sponsor in India. This Agent will process your visa with Saudi Consulate in Mumbai or Delhi.

Both Riyad and Jeddah are good cities for living and employment,

Wish you good luck....

Mohammed

Hi PSJK,

Everything depends ENTIRELY on who your employer is. If you are hired directly by BOEING CORPORATIUON USA or any other FOREIGN (western nation) Company, then you have nothing to fear. They wuill treat you with great respect, honor, sincerety, and rights. However, if you are hired by a local O&M SUB CONTRACTOR for Boeing thgen you will be at their mercy and wrath.

Most local Companies, especially O&M types, keep thge Passports of their employees in their custody. They may also not pay salaries on time as agreed. Increments and other benefits may not be as forthcoming as expected. Food, Housing, Transportation and other benefits, if stipu;lated in the contract may not necessarily be as "rosy" as you expect. The subcontractors treat workers like Slaves. Thats the bottom line.

Furthermore, you will be expected to carry out whatever tasks that are assigned to you irrespective of your profession, job title or role.

Rarely will you see proper job descriptions, policies, procedures, standards, ethics and good nature. Thats the way the wind blows with O&M Sub Contractors.

In some cases, however, the major foreign contractor imposes some form of sanity on the sub cointractors and in such cases you may find some respite. Ive visited many such wpork sites and my experience tells me that its a dogs life in thgese slave camps.

^ What he said, PJSK.

I have worked on three military support contracts here...and Boeing does a great job of treating their people right.  I know people working on various Boeing projects in KSA and they are happy.

But, if you are talking about posts you are reading giving the "company" a bad name, the company confiscates passports, etc. then you are talking about a sub-contractor, probably begins with Al-Y...., yes?

If so...be cautious.  I've heard bad and so-so about the company lately and lots of rumors that they will be losing some of the Boeing contracts, so that's another consideration to have.