|
|
Post by skyblue on Sept 23, 2017 22:45:35 GMT
o, Anyone know whether there is a clinic/facility at Calgary that's familiar with the Saudi Arabia Visa medical exam requirements? That I can go and get all medical tests completed? I started the process with my family doctor couple weeks but am having problem getting all the tests completed. There are three tests that the Calgary Laboratory Service (CLS) refuse to test despite my doctor has ordered them. Not sure it's because my doctor didn't fill in the right information on the requisition forms or she used the wrong forms. But we were unable to obtain an explanation from the CLS as they kept on referring my doctor to another department. After three calls to three different departments, my doctor gave up and suggests I find a private clinic/lab to complete rest of the tests. Googled the web and called a few places, but so far no luck.  Sky |
|
|
|
Post by calgaryguy on Oct 5, 2017 0:39:57 GMT
Skyblue,
I live in Calgary and got visa medical papers today. Did you find private clinic/lab to complete all the tests?
Thank you.
|
|
|
|
Post by careerfolk on Oct 5, 2017 20:36:05 GMT
Folks I am also from Calgary and have received my Medical Forms today, it seems a lot! did you find out the best way to do that? Thank you. Sharjeel
|
|
|
|
Post by skyblue on Oct 17, 2017 22:26:24 GMT
Finally got all my test results completed and the ASC given me the 'okay' today to start the attestation process. The whole process took about a month!!! To answer my own question, I was unable to find a private medical clinic/lab that's familiar with the Saudi Visa process and can help me complete the missing tests. At the end my family doctor came through for me. I'm not sure whether everyone's experience would be the same, I guess that would depend on each candidate's medical history and health condition, but the required tests that gave me the most grief are the two stool tests- Helminthes & V.Cholera. Apparently, special approval is required in order for the CLS to complete the tests, specifically, your doctor needs to call the microbiology department and ask the OnCall doctor there for permission (and instruction on which requisition forms to fill out).
Also, if you are constantly wondering whether you lab results are available (like I am), you can call the Laboratory Information Center (403-770-3600), give them your Health Care number and they will let you know whether the test results are a) sent to your doctor already, b) Pending or c) cancelled. If your test is 'cancelled' you may want to follow-up with your family doctor right away, as that means the tests are ignored despite your doctor may have specified them on the lab requisition form.
As instructed by the ASC at Houston that the medical form must be attested by the College of Physicians & Surgeons which is located at Edmonton. For those that doesn't feel like taking a road trip to Edmonton (like me), you will need to courier the form. Make sure to include a paid return envelope when you send the form. I included just the paid return postage without the FedEx envelope, which apparently is not sufficient. Also, you may want to follow-up with the College of Physicians & Surgeons after the package is delivered, as I found out this morning the package is sitting at the mailbox despite it's delivered last Friday. The College of Physicians and Surgeons said it can take up to 5 days for them to return the form. Though, if you go there in person they will do it right away (at least that's what they said). [you may have noticed that I actually didn't wait for the ASC to complete the review and had sent the form to Edmonton on the same day I email the results to Houston. I took the calculated risk of not waiting in order to speed up the process. Though I did go through all the test results I got from my doctor and make sure everything listed in the Checklist is there!!]
Good luck to my fellow Calgarians that are trying to complete the medical at Calgary. It's been a long and frustrated process, in fact, it's been so frustrated that I filed a complaint with the CLS! I hope you all have a better experience than I do. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.
Sky
|
|
|
|
Post by calgaryguy on Oct 18, 2017 0:02:57 GMT
Thank you Skyblue for your detailed post.
|
|
|
|
Post by lonelyplanet on Oct 20, 2017 21:54:17 GMT
That is very good information, thanks.
|
|
|
|
Post by electeng on Nov 7, 2017 4:06:14 GMT
I also live in Calgary and recently got an offer. This is very good information. my thoughts were medical will be arranged by ASC in Houston. Is it not the case?
Thanks
|
|
|
|
Post by skyblue on Nov 7, 2017 15:31:56 GMT
Yes, if you are going to Houston to attend the orientation, the medical will be done there at the same time. Unfortunately, for me, my orientation session was cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey in late Aug. The ASC office was flooded and severely damaged and they were unable to move the medical equipment to another location. Given that at that time the ASC had no idea when the office will be re-opened, I was told to do the medical at Calgary.
Sky
|
|
|
|
Post by calgaryguy on Nov 7, 2017 20:14:09 GMT
Sky,
Can you please let us know if you got the visa yet? If yes, can you please share the visa processing time at Saudi Consulate in Ottawa?
Thank you.
|
|
|
|
Post by electeng on Nov 8, 2017 3:58:27 GMT
Thank you Sky!
|
|
|
|
Post by skyblue on Nov 8, 2017 14:41:10 GMT
No, I'm still waiting for my Visa. Will post an update when I heard back from my RA.
Sky
|
|
|
|
Post by electeng on Nov 9, 2017 4:19:00 GMT
Is anyone from Calgary going to Dhahran? What are plans for rental accommodation?
|
|
|
|
Post by skyblue on Nov 12, 2017 0:09:55 GMT
I finally got my Visa, yeah!!! The RA called yesterday and informed me that ASC has received my passport back. My passport (along with all other documents) was sent out to the embassy @ Ottawa on the Oct 23rd/24th, so the entire process took the full 3 weeks. The RA said that's unusual, usually it does NOT take that long, but they were told the embassy is very busy and it is taking a little longer to issue Visas. Here are some tips for those of you that are about to start the Visa process: 1) Do NOT expect the ASC to send your passport to the embassy right away when they received it. If you are like me that the passport was delivered to the ASC on a Thursday morning chances are that your RA may not receive it until Monday morning. The reason-- most of the RA's are on a compressed work schedule and have every other Friday off. (Found this out the hard way when my RA told me the internal mailman did not deliver the package to her until the following Morning @ 8:30 a.m.) Also once your passport or the package is delivered to the RA, she will need to pass the medical results to the Medical Team to confirm the information is correct and that the medical form is stamped. So yes, your RA probably won't be able to send out the passport & the application to the embassy @ Ottawa until late afternoon or even the following day. 2) If you would like to keep an eye on the status of your Visa, use this website: enjazit.com.sa/VisaPerson/GetApplicantData. This link only needs the Passport number instead of both the Passport number and the Application Number (which we won't have until the Application is entered). If your Visa application has NOT yet be entered, you will see this: "Error Ocuured please try again" (and yes, there is a typo in the message). If your Visa IS entered, a new screen will pop up and you will see your photo, the Application Number and some information in regards to your application. However, this only means your Visa application is entered, it does NOT mean the Visa is issued. 3) Now that your Visa application is entered and you have the Application Number, you can then use it (along with your passport #) to check whether your Visa is issued. Use this link to check: enjazit.com.sa/ At the bottom of this website, in the “Searching for” drop down, select “Issued Visa By Application Number”. Similar to #2 above, if your Visa has NOT be issued, you will receive the same “Error Ocuurred please try again” message. If your Visa is issued, you will see at the bottom, “Visa has been issued, No./ ##########...” (in small fonts, at the LHS corner). This means your Visa has be issued, though it doesn’t mean your passport has been stamped with the Visa. So you still need to wait until the RA calls you and confirms the passport has been stamped and returned to Houston. My application was entered on Nov 6th, Visa was issued on Nov 8th, and as mentioned the ASC received my passport on Nov 10th. So it takes ~2 business days for each step to be completed. I think once your Application is entered you are half way there, but in my case, it took the embassy almost two weeks before they entered my application. Sky |
|
|
|
Post by calgaryguy on Nov 13, 2017 15:00:54 GMT
I got my visa on Friday as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by StarboyX on Dec 16, 2017 2:22:09 GMT
Hey fellow Calgarians, I moved out here in March 2017.
If you have any questions or need any assistance, please feel free to drop me message anytime!
I've also posted a couple threads about what it was like when I arrived here from Toronto (I was there for the past 2 years) along with one about healthcare and the CRA.
|
|
