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Post by rockiesCal on Mar 11, 2014 19:23:19 GMT
Finally received call yesterday informing our visas are stamped.
This forum is very useful with excellent resources and information, without this forum it would have been very difficult.
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Post by tvdloo on Mar 18, 2014 19:09:28 GMT
Any word back from anyone regarding visa les? I also followed up with my relocation advisor today who said the Ottawa Saudi consulate is taking at least 4 and up to over 8 weeks to process the visas once the les are assigned and the applications are in. Is this roughly what you have been hearing from your RAs?
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Post by O&GEngg on Mar 19, 2014 14:19:54 GMT
Forgive my ignorance but does this mean that while you're on the Saudi consulate in Ottawa you're without your passport?
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Post by JeffSteiner on Mar 19, 2014 15:36:51 GMT
O&GEngg, yes. I accepted an offer on or about November 12th, orientation, medical, in Houston Dec 2-3, CR check Jan 15, passport to Houston on Feb 3. Still waiting. For me, the process began on June 30, 2012. Nothing to be done, it appears. RAs have no idea what to expect and I have stopped pushing her for an update. It will happen when it happens. Until then, I cannot travel outside the country (obviously), but have no plans to do so at any rate.
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Post by JeffSteiner on Mar 19, 2014 15:43:07 GMT
tvdloo, I would be hesitant to take anything that your RA says as gospel; they simply do not know what to expect. A fellow Canadian "rockiescal" got his and his wife's stamped presumably because there was an empty or abandoned le in the previous block that he and she could "use". The Saudi govt does not communicate directly with ASC and it is my belief that the RAs want to be helpful and optimistic, but it's all smoke right now. The Saudi consulate website claims that they will turn apps around in 2 weeks or less, but that likelihood diminishes over time as more and more of us are likely to have apps submitted at exactly the same time, if and when they next block arrives. Bigger backlog for them and for us -- at both ends, really.
And, just imagine, this is just with Saudi Aramco. What about all of the other employers in KSA, the expats already there looking for an extension/renewal and, of course, all of the deportees. All processed by the same govt department or departments. At some point, the floodgates will open and all of this will be forgotten or diminished.
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Post by JeffSteiner on Mar 20, 2014 18:38:41 GMT
Update regarding visa medical -- one of the conditions to meet in order to get a visa is that we pass the medical. The medical submission (the results) are valid for 90 days only. If you are like me and well past that 3 month expiry date, you will apparently receive an email from the medical group with instructions for up........./maintaining the medical BEFORE your visa can be issued. If you have not heard from your RA, you may want to get in touch.
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Post by longhorn on Mar 25, 2014 2:21:19 GMT
Update: I was contacted today and they informed me that our visas should be ready within a week... Luckily they applied for them just before the 90 days so apparently we will not have to redo medical. I will keep you all informed when the visas arrive.
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Post by tvdloo on Mar 25, 2014 4:06:57 GMT
Hi longhorn,
Thanks a lot for the update, and do you by any chance know when your visa le was applied for? My visa le and several others here on the forum had their applications submitted on January 14th, so it would be great if you could let us know to see if we are all roughly on the same timeline.
Also, can you elaborate a little bit more on the discussion you had with your relocation advisor about the release of the visa block as my RA did not have any updates whatsoever when I spoke to her this past afternoon...
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Post by longhorn on Mar 26, 2014 2:54:43 GMT
tvdloo,
I know that a visa le was requested sometime last fall, not sure of the exact date though, I think she said we were on a waiting list at that time for a le. She requested our passports in early february to apply for the visas. As I mentioned in my last post we are still waiting...Yesterday she said we will have them within a week. My original departure date was in mid december.
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Post by longhorn on Apr 2, 2014 1:55:38 GMT
I received the long awaited phone call today that the visas are stamped in our passports and we should have them back tomorrow. It was about eight weeks from the time our passports were submitted. Definitely a bit of a back log at the embassy in Canada. I am unsure if our visas were from a block.
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Post by JeffSteiner on Apr 16, 2014 16:02:22 GMT
Somethings to know about re-doing medical in Canada -- in the event you are not going back to Houston:
1. You will be re-imbursed for expenses incurred. 2. Be sure that the doctor strictly adheres to the checklist for the tests required, particularly with regard to the HepB Surface ANTIGEN test and the Urea (kidney function) test). These are considered somewhat outdated by most doctors and labs in Canada and they may subsute HepB Surface ANTIBODY and Creatinine. This is NOT acceptable for our visa medicals. 3. Once you have all of the results (insist on originals only), you will have to scan and send to ASC Medical for review. This is to ensure that you have all that is necessary. Do not skip this step! Once approved in Houston... 4. You will be responsible for having the final report attested by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of (insert province here). The fee is $40. There is a toll free number if you have questions in Ontario -- 800-268-7096, option 5, then 2 -- mail visa form only to 80 College St, TORONTO, ON M5G2E2. This attestation is to guarantee that the doctor who signed the form is a real doctor. That is all. 5. When you get the attested form back, you will send all report results and the attested form back to Houston via FedEx.
Hopefully, many of you will not have to go through this runaround or if you do, you will have correct tests done the first time through. Also, it is unlikely that you will have to re-do x-rays or vision testing.
Good luck to all.
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cgyguy
Advanced Member
Posts: 90
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Post by cgyguy on Apr 17, 2014 2:59:16 GMT
Pretty good tips there JeffSteiner, thank you kindly!
I was under the impression (according to my Relo) that if the package is sent to the embassy for visa application before the Medicals expire then you are golden, but after reading your situation, they can expire even if the package has been received by KSA's embassy, so what's what I'm missing?
Thanks
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Post by JeffSteiner on Apr 17, 2014 3:29:34 GMT
cgyguy, I think that I understand what you are saying, so it may be a miscommunication on my part. The actual application for a visa cannot be made until a block is issued or, more specifically, until there is a "line item" in the block that matches who and what you are.
From what I have read externally to this forum and in this forum, our relocation advisers may use different terminology when speaking or writing to us; I heard "I am ready to apply for your visa. Please send me your passport and criminal record check." I understood that to mean that she (or her team) had already made application for a visa block that included something that could be matched to me AND that she expected to receive the block with a matching line item in short order. Of course, that didn't quite work out did it?
The block application is not person-specific; it is specific to a position/le, gender, and nationality or point-of-origin. So it could be "Male, Canadian, yst II". And there are likely to be dozens, if not hundreds of these line items in the pending block. If, for some reason I had failed (bad medical or BI), only another male, Canadian, yst II could take my spot.
Bottom line(s)? I think that the medical must be current when the block is received so that she can make the application for a "specific-to-me visa". It doesn't have to be current when the block application is submitted, but it must be when she sends the whole package back in.
If I am talking out of my hat, folks, jump in, but that is how I have read this situation.
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cgyguy
Advanced Member
Posts: 90
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Post by cgyguy on Apr 17, 2014 19:17:34 GMT
JeffSteiner, so in your case, your Relo, requested your passports without having the visa le ready and your passports are sitting in ASC's office, correct?
I sent our passports as requested by my Relo, and wonder now if she has my le, I asked her but she has been dodgy on her responses which make me think that she may or may not have the visa le for me.
In any case I'll keep listening to Guns & Roses song "Patience"
Rgds
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Post by MissingSki on Apr 17, 2014 20:04:30 GMT
It's weird that they need 12 pages. I have many stamps on different pages so definitely I don't have continuous 12 blank pages. I don't know about adult, but I renewed passport for my 5 yrs old son, the passport number changed. Now I filled every form with passport number if required. If I renew my passport, the documents will not agree with each other on the passport numbers.
Odd enough. what's your guys's thoughts?
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