I am Abd-El-Kader, author of the website. I belong to Yemen and have been in Saudi Arabia for the last ten years. I want to share my story about my journey in Saudi Arabia. In this section, I will tell you about the difficulties I faced (with expired Iqama) in Saudi Arabia so that other people do not meet those problems.
Iqama is a residence permit that the Government of Saudi Arabia issues to foreigners who arrive in the country for employment. As I told you, my home country is Yemen, and I came to Saudi Arabia for work. I started my job on the Iqama provided to me by the company. After two years, my Iqama got expired. Due to the expired Iqama, I faced many difficulties, such as not doing any job, renting a house, having overtime issues, and opening a bank account. I was helpless in Saudi Arabia, as I could not do anything without Iqama.
Due to issues in my Iqama status, I faced legal wages and stay problems. I had to open a bank account, but the bank was not opening my account just because of not having Iqama. Even I was not able to work anywhere. No company was ready to give me a job without Iqama. If any company agreed to offer me a job, my wages would be too low, which was also very frustrating. I could not rent a house or buy a car, and you may say I was stopped doing anything in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. My Iqama expired, and I came for the first time to Saudi Arabia, so I did not know how to get a new Iqama. I searched the internet a lot but could not find any suitable and satisfactory information on any website. I was once fined SAR 1000 by Shurta (Police sergeant) for not having a new Iqama. The situation was very depressing and full of confusion. And all this happened to me due to the lack of knowledge and information regarding Iqama. This is my story of Iqama, which depressed me a lot in my professional career in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, I started a website named “All About Iqama“, where people can find all the details and information regarding Iqama in Saudi Arabia so that other people should not face the hardships and difficulties I faced in Saudi Arabia to get Iqama again.
You can always contact me in case of any questions or concerns by visiting this page.