So, you’ve got that amazing job offer and you’re ready to start your new life in Saudi Arabia. Not so fast, friend, you need to sort out a visa first. Anyone travelling to Saudi (even for a holiday) requires a valid visa – you simply won’t be let into the Kingdom without one, no matter how full-on your waterworks are.
Now that Saudi Arabia is really embracing tourism, you can grab an eVisa for that sunshine break you’ve been waiting ages for. If you happen to have a passport from one of 49 countries it really is a doddle. But if your Saudi Arabian journey is set to be one for the long haul then you need a work visa and eventually a residence visa, or Iqama, which your employer will help you with.
The basics
The first thing you need to know is that in order to obtain a work visa you need a passport that is valid for at least six months with two blank pages facing each other in it (this is where your visa will live). So, make sure you renew your passport if it’s running out otherwise it could cause unnecessary complications along the way (no one wants those, right?).
Your employer must apply for your work visa on your behalf and they in turn must have visa approval from the Saudi Ministry of Labour to employ foreign nationals such as yourself. Once you get your work visa sorted out, you can start beavering away in your fantastic new job.
Iqama
Within the first 90 days of you starting working with them, your employer must apply for your residence permit/Iqama (this also includes your work permit) that will be valid for up to two years depending on the length of your contract.
Your Iqama works pretty much as your national ID card and so you should carry it wherever you go (guard it with your life as it’s a pretty essential piece of kit!). Without an Iqama you won’t even be able to open a bank account and no one wants their amazing new salary to be floating around in the ether do they?
Having an Iqama card will also provide you with the added bonus of not having to carry your passport around with you (we’ve lost a few in the past so know exactly how much of a pain that can be). On it, you’ll find a lovely mugshot of yourself along with your name, date of birth, nationality, employer, job title, your Iqama number and issue and expiry date.
What you have to provide
Although your employer will deal with most of the formalities involved with getting your shiny new Iqama card there a certain things that you will need to rustle up yourselves.
Firstly, you’ll need to provide your passport and two passport-sized photos of yourself (on a white background, you know the drill) to prove it will be your gorgeous visage your colleagues will be seeing every day from now on. You’ll also require two passport-sized photos of your employer (depending on how photogenic they are, that could be a real ice-breaker!).
You will then need a signed copy of your employment contract as well as a letter from your employer that has been certified by both Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A copy of your degree certificate or equivalent will also have to be provided (sorry, your grade two piano won’t suffice), along with an up-to-date police report stating you haven’t been a naughty boy or girl and a medical report from a licensed physician.
How much will it cost?
Don’t worry, your employer will foot the bill for your Iqama and will cost them either SAR7,200 or SAR8,400 depending on how many expat workers they already have on their books. A small price to pay for such an undoubted talent as yourself. Your company will also be in charge of renewing your Iqama when the time comes to do so. You’ll have to have another medical but that’s not really a hardship after being given a contract extension now is it?
And finally…
Once all your documentation has been accepted you will head off to one of the unfeasibly clean and well-run government buildings to have a copy of your fingerprints taken and to have a medical examination (your visa application won’t be accepted should you have certain contagious diseases such as HIV). Once that’s done you’ll soon be in possession of your very own Iqama which will be your passport to adventure for your new life in Saudi Arabia.
