Strange visa from my employer

Hi Ali,

Am not sure what you mean by paid visit visa , but usually companies can give either commercial or business visas for 1,3 or 6 months for people who they need to be bring quickly into the country, So if you are talking about one of those two visas then its ok and lots of companies are doing it all the tim.
Problems you will face; you can't rent a house, open a bank account, buy a car, get a post-paid mobile service (only pre-paid ) and (depending on the visa type) you need to leave the country every 30 days(usually people will go to a nice, paid by their employer, weekend break to nearby countries like Bahrain, Dubai, Sharm El shiek…).

Now, you can't really transfer a business or commercial visa (there are under the table ways) into an Iqama so usually they will send you back to your country for 3-6 weeks to process your new visa.

You will get your Iqama first then, depending on your profession on your Iqama, you can apply for your family visa (white-collar jobs only can bring their families into the country , so no labor, mechanic, driver…)

All your degrees and marriage certificate need to be attested by the Saudi embassy in your country for the processing of your Iqama/ visa (not business or commercial visas )Contact the Saudi embassy where you live and they will point you to “certified translation offices” to translate your documents into Arabic.

javaclinic,

Is this govt hospital, National Guard????

Currently due to emphasis on employing more saudis specially in government sector & Banking. The rule has been passed either foreigners need to be hired through a 3rd party contract or will be asked to work on a visit/business visa. In this scenario you will be issued a visit/business visa for you & ur family. The only disadvantage will be is that you wont be having any permanent residence permit due to which you will not be able to have driving license, any banking accounts or even wire transfer money back home. You cant carry out any transaction in KSA if you are on a visit visa.

Rgds
Mohsin

javaclinic wrote:

Hi,I am an European citizen , Today I got strange offer from my prospective employer . It is a Govt Hospital in Riyadh and I will be coming as System Administrator (computer). Though i dont know what profession I will get on visa.

They said, Come as Paid visit and when you are here we will initiate your permanent visa process. They said that you will get Family visa on this paid visit .  I asked them why this paid visit of 6 months? they said Since permanent visa takes long time and this paid visit enable to bring you quickly in KSA.


Q1: Any hidden problem in above settings ?
Q2: Lets say after joining they give me permanent family visa , in this case Do I with family have to exit and re-enter in KSA ?
Q3: I have marriage letter in English , Do we need it in Arabic ? dont know how to do it from Stockholm ? Note that : Our marriage was accomplished in Pakistan .

any help will be highly appreciated .

/Ali

My advise, considering where are you coming from you should reject the offer and ask them to bring you on permanent visa, you never know that once you are here, whether hospital gets short of visas etc. Don't do this unless you are badly stuck at your present job in EU

Thanks a lot for important suggestions:

Yes I will not come except they send me permanent offer.

One more question: In case of Permanent visa from start , Someone told me that first you have to come alone and later apply for family iqama . which means my family will be stranded for this duration back home.

Does anyone know any case where Family visa was issued with Permanent offer from start ? Actually i want to know if that is even possible so that i  can press hard on employer ..

/Ali

javaclinic wrote:

Thanks a lot for important suggestions:

Yes I will not come except they send me permanent offer.

One more question: In case of Permanent visa from start , Someone told me that first you have to come alone and later apply for family iqama . which means my family will be stranded for this duration back home.

Does anyone know any case where Family visa was issued with Permanent offer from start ? Actually i want to know if that is even possible so that i  can press hard on employer ..

/Ali

Not possible since employer is not the sponsor for your family, you are. This would mean you need to get here first , get the iqama and then apply for the family visa. Unless - if you are coming on visit visa , you can bring them as well with you.

Hello.Ive received the same kind of visa, they call it visit. Now, as I see, I'll be having problems  if i accept it. I am hired by a large government hospital in Riyadh. Do you think they can change it from visit visa to working visa? Thanks a lot