Mufeed

I am learning how things get done here with help of experienced ex-pats. There is the way the new hire manual says, there is the way things actually happen and then there is the way to get things done. I have been waiting on my application to the Saudi Council of engineers to be approved. This is a requirement before I can obtain my Igama (residency permit). Without the Igama, you can’t leave the country, get a Visa, get a drivers license or buy a car. Gary from the UK hears I am waiting for approval. He works in the same department as me and has been in the Middle East a long time. He takes me on a walk into the hallway and says this is what you do. Go into the main HR office/waiting area. Don’t take a number. Don’t wait in line. Go up to counter and ask for Mufeed. Make up a story why you need approval…leaving for holiday, sick relative, kid graduating from college.
I ask for Mufeed and girl at counter goes into back office area , returns and says Mufeed will see you in 5 minutes. Mufeed comes out wearing a white, orange, and black Harley Davidson jacket. I tell him my story and talk about Harley’s. Mufeed owns two bikes. He then makes a copy of my passport and Visa entry number.

The next morning I am approved for the Saudi Council of Engineers.

Gary also has a guy for taking care of the process of transferring title and registering a car. I will be using him when I purchase a car.

An aside: the Visa entry number is a 10 digit number hand written in Arabic in passport when you go through immigration. When I arrived, I was taken to a Saudi Aramco office in the airport and the visa number was translated into English and recorded. This visa number is entered on all government paperwork. Didn’t know how important it was.