Reflections on the Process in Obtaining a Saudi Iqama (Residency Permit)

As I sit here during my Ramadan break with my brain seeping out my ears, I have plenty of time to reflect on the process I have recently been required to go through. It was a long, grueling process in which one endures great mental games and physical invasion in order to make sure one is "qualified" to live in the Kingdom.

A little overly dramatic? Obviously. However, one needs a little drama in life to keep things interesting, and it is much better to have it on paper than to have to deal with it in the "real world." It could also be a product of the coffee I have been drinking today, but I will throw that by the wayside for now.

The process all started with a word from my supervisor informing me that I would be going to Bahrain just before the start of Ramadan in order to get the required physical. (I had been through this whole process previously while in the states, but as that was for a visa for a different company, it apparently didn't count.) So, me and a colleague took the two-ish hour, 300SAR taxi ride from al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia to Manama, Bahrain. We were put up at the Holiday Inn Express for 3 days.

The physical took half a day; most of it waiting. We were required to do a chest x-ray, get our blood drawn, and have our blood pressure taken (along with height and weight). I think there were other things we were supposed to do but didn't. The blood draw was the worst. The one who attempted to take my blood at first, didn't seem to know what she was doing. For the first time, someone had a difficult time finding a vein. After two attempts, she went to get the more experienced worker (I think I may have caused some nervousness in her, and she was grateful to be rid of me). He had little trouble, and the process was soon over. 

Then it was time to go back to the hotel for the day to wait. The following day we went to a visa processing office. We arrived around 10am and finally left around 5ish. It was a long day of waiting. All that was to be done here was to get fingerprints taken and have our passports taken to be sent to get the visa. It was time was wait again... The following evening, our passports were delivered. 

We stayed the final night and returned to Saudi Arabia the next morning. We waited a couple of days to get over some sort of bug that I am sure we picked up at the hospital in Bahrain. Then it was off to yet another hospital for yet another physical! Another chest x-ray, a stool sample, and more blood!

This blood draw went easier. Interestingly enough, this time the person typed it while I was there.

      "What is your blood type?"

      "O-positive."

     "Who told you that?"

     "Doctors."

     "It is A- negative. If this is true, we are the same. I will check the microscopics later."

So, either my blood type has changed; or the doctors in China, the doctor in the US, and the doctors at the DoD were all wrong. Or, more likely, this typing was wrong. Did she not know what she was doing? Perhaps she was flirting with me... it could happen! I have no idea if it was corrected or not, but this makes me very uncomfortable with the possibility of having to be treated here in Saudi. 

Then we had to send the passports to Riyadh where they will be taken to the embassy and processed for the iqama. I have no idea how long this will take, though I was told that it would take about two weeks. So I sit here waiting and hoping...