Damn. I was hoping for a post-departure exposé.
Oh, well. I guess Paul could smuggle out a manuscript. Maybe with the help of a lover who works in the French embassy?
Paul that is great news on the job interview. May it lead to a very profitable relationship for both you and the company. If they hire you, can they use their influence to get you an exit visa so you can return on a clean passport? Or will you not need to exit and reenter for this job?
Horrid thought, can the Saudis get upset with you for not leaving when you said you would, even when they won’t give you the exit visa?
Best of luck on the interview next week!
You have to leave (the country and the employer) to reenter (with a new employer). This is because our visas are tied to our employers. This is the sort of semi-slave system that some American lawmakers want to impose on guest workers.
It is sometimes not-so-nice.
Best of luck Paul !
Hope to see new user name as " Paul Back In Saudi " 
I forgot that, but I knew it when they put the sticker on, and I made that decision to make absolutely sure I’d never end up in a situation like the one Paul in Saudi is in now–or worse, since blood libel still pops up from time to time even in the state newspapers of Israel’s allies over there. Trust me, I’m not losing any sleep over it. By the way, Dubai is a city/emirate, not a country. Do emirates have their own visa rules? That sounds mighty odd to me, but I’d defer to your knowledge on that, since a quick Wiki search has turned up fruitless.
So do I. Which is why I’m here taking part in activist causes, doing my part to (hopefully) reverse that trend. I’ve said for a while that if it gets much worse I’m leaving for Canada or Western Europe.
Neither do I. Spare me the Chicken Little routine. Murder and mugging are simply not issues for the vast majority of non-gang-affiliated Americans.
BTW, Paul, congrats on the serendipity! Here’s hoping you don’t run into this mess again in less favorable circumstances.
This is what we call an “adventure.” We only call it that in retrospect however.
Like the Chinese curse - “May you live in interesting times.” These really do sound interesting for you.
Good luck!
…this we call adventure.
I am actually not sure if an Israeli stamp is ok in the UAE (I have no intention of ever going to em Occupied Palestine). I know people have gotten into Dubai while having Israeli stamps and based on my own experience living in the UAE, Dubai is going to let it slide a bit more to get the tourism dollars. No way could an Israeli passport holder get in tho. They certainly don’t look as hard in Dubai as they do in Sharjah or at the Omani border posts.
That’s the way Polish work visas work, too, at least as of 2002. It wasn’t sufficient to leave Poland; the visa had to be issued by a Polish consulate in your country of origin. Enforcement was uneven and usually rather lax for English teachers, though. Some schools would let you slide along on tourist visas. I started working for a school in September with just a tourist visa, but they made me get a work visa on my visit home over Christmas break. I found out they reported all of my pre-visa pay as if it had happened after I entered the country on the work visa in order to keep things square with their tax people.
I believe it was Thornton Wilder who said you know when you’re having an adventure when you’re wishing you were safe and sound back at home.
I found the problem. The buyer of the car did not transfer the insurance. (Or something.) It will be fixed by this time tomorrow.
Seriously though…I’d leave.
You know, you’re right. My animosity towards the Saudis is completely unjustified.
Say - how’s about I fly over and give Paul a hand?
Thanks but no. Some dogs do better on their own porch, if you get my drift.
And some dogs insist upon sitting on another’s porch, even though they’ve frequently had sticks thrown at them.
Just from what I’ve read and seen on TV, and a little of what I’ve been told, I feel a pretty strong animosity toward the Saudis. It seems they embrace ideas I’ve railed against all my life.
Of course, that’s just me. They do have real nice, sweet crude oil.
Actually no. Saudi oil is “sour,” is has a buckeload of sulfur in it. It is low-grade crude. (Over in Dammam we got tanker trucks labeled “molten sulfur” taking it somewhere to do something with it. I give them a wide berth.
Just had a phone interview with one of the best companies in the world for my business. I think I got the job! Of course nothing queers the deal like saying that aloud. I am very, very excited right now.
Bumping in the hopes of getting new information. 
I just got a job offer from Sultan Cabose University. (It is NOT in Muscat, some provincial village.) They are offing a lousy 900OMR/month. It must be my haircut, they think I would work cheap.
I will make a counter-offer.
The exit visa ought to be ready tomorrow afternoon.
Paul, you’ve been there a while. What do you have to do if you want to just come to the States on vacation for a couple of weeks?