visa block

m1ke and other friends:

I too have been frustrated by the circumstances of late with regard to visa allocation, however, as I was reminded by a current employee who initially recruited me, the first thing that he said -- "be patient". I said something along the lines of, "Yes, I will be. Of course and thanks very much for the opportunity!"

Then I was interviewed in August 2013 and he said, "Remember, be patient. This takes awhile." Again, I said, "Sure." and started thinking hard about the adventure to come -- the money, the travel, the new experiences, the weather, the culture. And, truthfully, I thought "This is great. What's a few weeks of waiting."

It has now been several months and a big part of my frustration was not listening, really listening, to my friend when he said, "Have patience, it will be worth it." This is from someone who has already been through the process, much like our intrepid mods and other expat contributors. The recruiters are not in the business of scaring people off! Their job is to attract and retain top talent, to find the best and make sure that we get signed on. After that, it is out of their hands completely. There is no pressure that a recruiter can bring to bear on the relocation advisor, personal effects coordinator, or the hiring manager.

Personally, I am frustrated and a bit disappointed for lots of reasons. But I have not and will not dispae the ASC/AOC team members for doing what they are doing. And not once in all of the correspondence and exchange (verbal, email, or IM) has any member of the team "snapped" at me in any way. I cannot imagine the number of inquiries they must deal with on a daily basis just from pending new hires. This is to say nothing of the volume of work necessary just to get the offer prepared, internal meetings, policy discussions, and the remarkable delay in the visa block release. When it starts to get me down, I think of the total number of new hires pending and try to put myself in the shoes of the folks who are working against significant odds to get us over there.

I also remember how fast I said, "Sure, I can be patient" when the job was still just a possibility. Now that it is a certainty, I am not going to lose sight of the way I felt when I received the offer just because it has taken longer than any other "event" in my life; longer than child birth, longer than a pre-nuptial engagement, longer, in fact, than at least two other jobs that I have had. Maybe the whole lengthy process is meant to cull those who are not suited to the culture of the job. Maybe the recruiters should make us sign an agreement that we really understand what patience means. Maybe, I should just shut up.

Hi there, and thanks for keeping this forum alive.
The question I have is a strange one and would be grateful for any comments...

Has any anyone ever involved in a situation where there was a job offer, contingencies all cleared, and then advised to quit your job in readiness to depart to Saudi, then all of a sudden there was an issue regarding the securing of the work permit (iqama), Has anyone waited for a long time after quiting their job before going to Saudi? and if that was the case, what was Aramco response...

My relocation advisor gave me the great news today that she just received my visa le (after being interviewed in early March and offer accepted in early April) so that was pretty quick for me; specially after reading all the issues and delays with the visa les. Although I am an engineer my position is not as an engineer (Materials Supply Department) so I am not sure if that has something to do with the speed issuing the visa le.

We are heading to Houston the first week of June for our visa medical exams and orientation!

Update - Tix in hand, leaving 31st.

It appears we will be in Rakah

Looking forward to meeting the lot of you over there!

Hi,

Any idea when the next visa block be released..
Furthermore, while waiting for the visa block has anyone been told to quit or left their job then started waiting for the visa block.....Comment will be appreciated...

zulunara - your guess is as good as anyone elses. I think that the latest visa block that was released has proved that we can expect the unexpected. Your best bet is to do a search for "Timeline" and have a look at everyone's different timing. You can make your own conclusions from there. Keep in mind that everyone's timeline is different and all can be considered "normal". I think that everyone is hoping that the long delay on the latest visa block was a unique situation but it could also be the start of something new. Only time will tell.

Sorry that I can't give you a more concrete answer.

Hi everyone,
I am also new to this forum. I applied in November 2013, interviewed in Dec 2013 at Houston office, and accepted the offer in January 2014. I am from Washington D.C. I didn't get any contingency clearance notification for background and health assessment. My relocation advisor suggested that we wait for visa le before scheduling orientation and visa medical. After wait of several weeks, I was informed today that my visa le has arrived. All contingencies are finally cleared also (they told me that today after almost 4 months), and we are now scheduled for orientation and visa medical next week. I think everyone's timeline is different and normal. Good luck to all of you.

PS: When I saw the posts about visa les 2 weeks ago, I sent a follow up email but did not hear back until today. So it is possible that visa les for some folks are there but just waiting for assignment.


K