revive
Senior Member
Posts: 180
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Post by revive on May 6, 2013 16:42:48 GMT
My in-law advised us to visit Dhahran before making the big move, primarily to survey the place, school, environment, etc. to make sure we like it.
I personally don't feel it's necessary, as we have done tons of research, talked to a lot of people, seen a lot pictures, etc. really more than enough to make us comfortable. Also not only it would be a pretty expensive trip, I think the logictics will be difficult.
Has anybody done this before?
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Post by justthe4ofus on May 6, 2013 21:39:58 GMT
I don't believe Aramco does look-see visits anyways. Someone will correct me if i'm wrong though.
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zsb
Advanced Member
Posts: 59
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Post by zsb on May 6, 2013 23:13:17 GMT
I have read about one person (somewhere on the forum) GC 15 who was offered to fly down to Dhahran for meetings/visit before he accepted the job offer. Overall, I agree it is not the norm to be offered a pre-visit.
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Post by Herewego on May 7, 2013 5:27:00 GMT
Unless the company approved it you wouldn't even be able to get into the country. You wouldn't have visa. I have never heard of the company approving this.
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Post by GroveWanderer on May 7, 2013 7:45:12 GMT
I have not read the post that zsb refers to but I personally have never heard of anyone being flown here from abroad, to look at the place before hiring.
Possibly, if someone was being hired in-kingdom but not otherwise, as far as I know.
The company hires lots of GC 15's (well, a relatively good number) and it would cost a small fortune to fly them all here for visits beforehand, not to mention the visa issues that Herewego alludes to.
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zsb
Advanced Member
Posts: 59
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Post by zsb on May 7, 2013 12:58:16 GMT
I stand corrected. Per the post, the visit was not "Dhahran" but Bahrain. See the following note from the post I referred to:
"My husband has been told by the recruiter at Aramco that an offer should be here any day. We are hoping to get it today, this has been a long process. He was first contacted back in September. Been flown to Bahrain once and Houston once."
Again, it appears that Aramco paid for the visit, but it could be for some other prior business engagment. Regardless, it is not a norm for Aramco to pay for pre-visits.
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revive
Senior Member
Posts: 180
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Post by revive on May 7, 2013 15:30:55 GMT
Thanks everyone for your input. I actually don't expect Aramco to pay for the trip. I was testing the idea of going there on our own $ technically as tourists / visitors. So we buy our own tickets & hotel, and try to ask VPainter and other folks currently living in Dhahran to help us see around the compound. But I think it's too costly and the logistics also look very difficult especially for me, wife & 3 small kids. I guess this is the kind of brilliant ideas you get from in-laws, friends, etc. so concerned that we've lost our mind to be moving to KSA  Just fyi, major IOCs like Exxon, Chevron, etc. typically pay for a "house hunting trip" when they are sending you as expat where you are expected to rent your own house, e.g. places that are relatively safe such as Dubai, Qatar, etc. Such trip is usually not available if you are expected to live in a company compound due to safety reasons, e.g. West Africa. GW, I was under the impression that 14 is the highest GC for new expats. I guess I was wrong. What kind of people get hired as GC 15? Must be extremely senior folks. |
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Post by Hadia on May 7, 2013 19:33:49 GMT
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Post by GroveWanderer on May 8, 2013 7:16:23 GMT
It seems the list on that page is out of date. Saudi Arabia does now allow tourist visas. If you click on the link to the left of the page that says "Visa Application" and then click to open the pdf application form, you will see "Tourism" available as one of the categories you can choose.
Having said that, according to the information I have read, tourist visas are only allowed for people travelling in a sponsored group, with a fixed itinerary that is communicated ahead of time to the Saudi authorities.
Here is an explanation of the guidelines that I found on a tourism website:
So someone travelling as an individual would not be granted a tourist visa, although I suppose a family might, if there are four or more of them and they work through one of the authorised companies.
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