Departing Saudi Arabia amidst COVID-19

Uther wrote:

I will be moving to a new company in Saudi Arabia, and sadly my company does not offer Iqama transfers...no comment.

Sorry to read that. Really the transfer of sponsorship is not a legal right of foreign expat. It is subject to the discretion of the sponsor and approval of Saudi authority.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, situation get worst. Just recently, the imposition of 24/7 enhance quarantine curfew lockdown was not expected in the neighborhood of Dammam, Dhahran, Khobar, and other cities.

No one knows when are they going to open the borders and resume international flights. But the answer is certain "until further notice".

I have a friend with the same situation. One airline company expects after ramadan maybe will start few flighs.

I managed to leave on 25th March via the causeway as I have posted on another thread.  This was the day before Riyadh curfew was reduced to 3 pm and entry / exits from Riyadh were stopped.   What helped me was the fact that I have a Bahrain residence visa and was in a Bahrain number plate car.

Left Riyadh at 630 in the morning and drove to the causeway.  Then I had to convince and charm them to let me go back to Bahrain.  It took almost 1.5 hours with the medical tests and immigration papers that they had me sign - basically stating that I won't come back until the situation normalizes.    Forget about even trying this unless or until you have a Bahrain residency and even then, it was very tough as they kept saying that you should have a Bahraini passport for us to let you pass.  I was able to demonstrate to them that I have a house and family in Bahrain.  What helped was my 10 year self sponsorship visa in Bahrain which clearly stated my profession as "property owner" .  Then another hour in Bahrain immigration where they took us for Covid-19 tests and then they asked us to self isolate.

Anyway, I am relaxed now as I will ride this out at home with the family while working from home.  Good luck to you in getting out.  I have heard that they will do outbound flights in a few weeks to take expats back home.  Register with your Embassy but keep in mind that this is likely to be a one way trip until the situation normalizes.

RedTrumpet wrote:

Uther wrote:

I will be moving to a new company in Saudi Arabia, and sadly my company does not offer Iqama transfers...no comment.

Sorry to read that. Really the transfer of sponsorship is not a legal right of foreign expat. It is subject to the discretion of the sponsor and approval of Saudi authority.

Yes, we all know this to be the case.

More of a disappointed feeling rather than an actual expectation.

XTang wrote:

I managed to leave on 25th March via the causeway as I have posted on another thread.  This was the day before Riyadh curfew was reduced to 3 pm and entry / exits from Riyadh were stopped.   What helped me was the fact that I have a Bahrain residence visa and was in a Bahrain number plate car.

Left Riyadh at 630 in the morning and drove to the causeway.  Then I had to convince and charm them to let me go back to Bahrain.  It took almost 1.5 hours with the medical tests and immigration papers that they had me sign - basically stating that I won't come back until the situation normalizes.    Forget about even trying this unless or until you have a Bahrain residency and even then, it was very tough as they kept saying that you should have a Bahraini passport for us to let you pass.  I was able to demonstrate to them that I have a house and family in Bahrain.  What helped was my 10 year self sponsorship visa in Bahrain which clearly stated my profession as "property owner" .  Then another hour in Bahrain immigration where they took us for Covid-19 tests and then they asked us to self isolate.

Anyway, I am relaxed now as I will ride this out at home with the family while working from home.  Good luck to you in getting out.  I have heard that they will do outbound flights in a few weeks to take expats back home.  Register with your Embassy but keep in mind that this is likely to be a one way trip until the situation normalizes.

Yeah, we had to pass on the repatriation flights as we were told it would be considered unpaid leave.

Will reassess the situation once summer arrives.
Really hoping for some luck with a flight.

When you say you "had to convince and charm them", do you mean the Saudi or Bahraini authorities? I am thinking of trying it soon.

Saudi.  They have to let you exit.   Bahrain has no issue allowing residents to enter.   You will have problems if you don' t have a residence visa for Bahrain.