Visa for Saudi Arabia

I am not an expat, but a retired Bulgarian diplomat, and can only strongly suggest that you do it yourself. Getting a Saudi visa is a GREAT pain in the ass, and an agency can not help you I think, but there is a great chance you can get fleeced. There is regular bus connection to Athens from Varna, and quite reasonably priced.

Hi Dimitar,

Thank you, I am getting that impression already :) I have a contact address for the embassy in Athens now and a friend sent me details for the bulgarian saudi business council. Hopefully I can sort something out through one or the other..

Best wishes - hope you are enjoying your retirement.

Andrew

Well, retirement is like anything in life,it has good aspectrs and not so good aspects.
Have you ever been East of Suez? And in SA itself? EVERYTHING is absolutely different. And open spaces are not air conditioned...
Regards!

Hi again,

I've been to Dubai and the far east (singapore/thailand) so used to non a/c open spaces ;) To be honest I am slightly worried (as a pale english man) to be going end of June but what can you do, you go where the work is..

Best wishes Dimitar

Definitely not a very suitable period for visiting...Stay inside as much as possible, do not venture out without headware and in short sleeves, and always have plenty of water at hand. Good luck!

I have read this correspondence with interest.

I have signed a contract to work in Saudi Arabia and I need to get a work visit visa . Like Andrew I have found that Bulgaria does n't have a Saudi embassy.

My thought was to go to the Saudi embassy in Bucharest or the consulate in Istanbul. I tried phoning them because not all Saudi missions will process applications from citizens or residents from other countries. Unfortunately neither mission answered the phone when I called them.

I hadn't considered Athens but having read the above I would go there if I knew it would process my application. Can anyone tell me if a Brit living in Bulgaria can submit documents there. If Andrew is reading this perhaps he can answer how he got on?

Looking forward to hearing from anyone who can help

It seems I somehow missed your missive for almost two months, but I was pretty busy all this time.I honestly envy you about Singapore and Thailand, haven't been there since the eighties of the last centuries.AS for Dubai, there really isn't any non a/c there? Well, how was your visit, climate apart things don't seem to be exactly stable over there.

Dear Robert, Andrew's missive mysteriously reemerged and I answerd it before I noticed that I had already actually replied on May 26th...
As it seems we do not really know if he got a visa and if he wnt there at all. Well, Saudi missons abroad are not exactly expected to pick up phones...I am not sure if they answer emails, but may be the best way would be to ask the good offices of the British Consular Office in Sofia.

Dear Dimitar, Thanks for your help. Actually my new firm tells me that all non- Turkish residents can apply for their Saudi visa at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Indeed the boss of the HR team is an American and he does just that. So will go to Istanbul when my letter of invitation is ready.

I haven't found out whether I could do it in Athens but Istanbul is simpler for me to get to anyway.

It is true, Istanbul is easier to go to and the situation in Greece is not exactly pleasant.Good luck.

Morning gents...

Sorry for the silence, been away on a mutha of a work field trip. My project for Saudi got put back to late October so will be picking this up again in September.

Massive thanks again Dimitar. Totally agree the situation in Greece does make the process uncertain and now knowing that Istanbul is an option (thanks Robert) means that I'll be going there too.

Robert - if you are going sometime soon I'd greatly appreciate an update on how you found the process, any little nifty insights?

Best wishes to you both