visa block

Hi Wover,
Someone have hear updates regarding to the news block visas ?

Hi all,

It's been quite sometime since I last posted anything in this forum as I was really busy settling down in Saudi Arabia.

I arrived in the Kingdom on 29 June and it's been more than a month now. So far, so good.

Officially, I have graduated from this visa block thread but I can always share valuable information to those whom are still anxiously waiting for their visa les/blocks.

First and foremost - the waiting. Yes, the waiting can be painful. I had to wait close to nine months for my visa le. If you include from the time I was interviewed, it actually came to a year because I was interviewed during Ramadan in 2013 and I arrived in the Kingdom on the first day of Ramadan 2014.

There is no specific timeframe for the visa blocks to be released by the Saudi government. It is released as and when deemed fit and necessary. The lucky ones will get their visa les as fast as one month from the day they received their offer and the not so lucky ones (like me) had to wait in agony for close to a year.

You must understand that there is this thing called the Nitaqat which is the policy of Saudization in which Saudi companies must comply with the designated Saudi national-to expatriate ratio of employment. The goal is to encoue more Saudis to be employed in the private sector which for so long has been dominated by expats. You can read more about it in Wikipedia and other sources widely available in the Internet.

I'm not saying that the number of expats will be reduced drastically anytime soon, but it means that the filtering will be more intensive to manage the influx of expats into the Kingdom.

But don't worry, Saudi Aramco is definitely in the good books of the Saudi government which makes the visa le allocation so much more easier compared to other Saudi companies. But easier does not mean faster. It just means that you WILL get your visa le, but you will still be subjected to the timeline of the Saudi government and that is clearly beyond Aramco's control. It will happen when it happens, Insya.

So please cut some slack for the good people at ASC Houston and AOC London as they are doing their very best to expedite your relocation process. During my waiting, I have never complained openly to my RA as I know there's nothing much that he can do until my visa le was received. Of course it's frustrating but I kept a positive atude as it was pointless to constantly bicker.

In fact, the moment my passport was stamped with the visa, my RA moved at lightning speed to finalise my relocation which enabled me to be mobilised to KSA within three weeks.

Secondly, with regards to the visa block itself, it is not released according to specific nationalities. Usually, there are several nationalities in one block. A block will comprise a number of visa les which has been allocated to the nationalities. For example, Operations yst for Singapore or Project Engineer for United Kingdom or Teacher for Australia. The visa les does not even carry your individual names. It is merely the allocation or quota with the respective serial numbers which is issued by the Saudi government to Aramco and it will be up to ASC or AOC to sort it out and match the les with the pool of candidate expats waiting.

Thirdly, don't get overly excited once you receive the visa le because the final gatekeeper is the Saudi embassy or consulate in your country of origin which will issue the actual visa in your passport. There have been many cases including some in this forum who failed to get their passport stamped because the paperwork did not match with the visa le. This is where you really need to coordinate with your RA or the local visa agent (for candidates in Asia, Australia and South Africa) to ensure that the information in your file is consistent with the visa le allocated to you. The Saudi embassy will even go through your university transcript to ensure that the subjects you took are relevant to the job you will be doing based on your visa le. If everything is in order and checks out, your passport will usually be stamped on the same day. That was my experience, the Saudi embassy in Kuala Lumpur stamped my passport on the same day as they were satisfied that the information in my file was consistent with the visa le.

But if the embassy rejects it, then you are almost certain to be back to square one as your RA will then need to apply for a new visa le and wait for another block to come. Let's hope none of you have to go through that. Bottom line, check all details before submitting your visa application to the embassy/consulate. Even one inconsistency in the paperwork can be costly and result in agony.

I sincerely hope this has shed some light on the matter and I pray that all of you will receive your visa les in due course, hopefully as soon as possible.

Trust me, once you finally arrive in the Kingdom and officially on Aramco's payroll, the waiting and anxiety prior to that will be well rewarded. It is worth it.

Good luck and Godspeed...

Hi Ritzkool,
Thanks for providing detailed information. I have sent you an e mail if you can reply it will be very helpful.

Regards
bbj

Hi everyone,

Find below the answer from my relo adv regarding the next visa block release:

"We have requested visa blocks. Regrettably, I cannot confirm when the visit blocks will arrive, perhaps second week of August or end of August. We do not always receive the same amount of visa blocks we have requested. I therefore cannot confirm if you can apply with this coming via block or next one."

How can I find out if the contegencies are cleared ?
I have been through background checks since end of July 14'
But not sure if I have cleared them or not ... Does no news means good news ? Or do we get confirmation from Aramco that everything is cleared and only visa block is left?
Any help in answering the above is much appreciated

Thank you, basically I have been in touch with my RA and they have helped me a lot in answering and also working my way through.
The situation I am in that I have another job offer which they want me to join start of September.
The medical is all clear and so as I have completed the background investigation (all queries answered on bi, previous work references supplied, and also the criminal check has been done)
Here are few points to note
- I have no criminal record and it's crystal clear, no caution not even parking or speeding tickets)
- work references are all clean and no gaps in the past 10 years.
- medical all cleared as the medical examiner confirmed that myself and mrs cleared.
- degree has been verified and my university registry confirmed my award and attendance for my masters degree.
- my relocation adviser confirmed that the background screening has been cleared and it has been sent to Aramco Saudi Arabia

The questions I have are

1- how do I find out that whether I have passed the background investigation ? My RA said that they don't have access to that confirmation ? But how do I find out that all contingency aspects (BI) are cleared ?

2- If I have passed all the contingencies does that mean I have a confirmed job offer or will it be still in a doubtful situation like does it happen that at this stage Aramco pulls the offer ?

3- does the visa block application gets requested from Saudi Arabia Aramco itself or is it requested from the offshore office in London ?

4- does the request for visa block done after the background investigation company sends the final report to saudi Aramco ? Or is it the case that when we have the job offer and it's running parallel without the need of background investigation to be cleared because as far as I am aware that background investigation is saudi aramco internal investigation and even though it's part of the recruitment process. It is not really a requirement or pre requisite of Saudi Arabia visa block?

Any help in answering these questions will be really helpful because I am in such a dilemma and any help from previous experience is much appreciated, patience is no doubt the key but any help will be great
Thank you

I am dealing with AOC London too..BI started on 21st July. Visa medical on 24th July (I was told that BI may take upto 4 wks to complete). haven't heard anything back since then. I will call or drop an email to my rel adv to get any updates.

ckalamaras...have you attended the pre-relaocation orientation?

Best