THE CLIENT IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE THIS WEB SERVICE

There is an ongoing problem for expats in Saudi Arabia with reference to the Visit Visa extension system. I am not aware if this is a technical issue or there is some other reason, but, there are a lot of confused and worried people out there so I will share my experience to help the best I can.


Usually, we extend our families' visit visas through the Absher website or app which is very convenient. I had to extend the visa for my wife and after paying the fees through SADAD, I was faced with the error message "THE CLIENT IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE THIS WEB SERVICE".

Out of panic, I turned to the internet and no one had any answers. I went to the Jawazat office at the airport and they told me to go to the main office in Rehab, Jeddah (GoogleMaps location below)
Jawazat Office, Rehab, Jeddah


I was told at the gate to come back a day before visa expiry. People there guided me that I needed a full set of documents. I went to the agents across the street and for a cost of SAR 15 they made me a file with the following docs.


1. Visit Visa copy
2. Iqama Copy of sponsor
3. Passport copy of visa applicant (my wife)
4. Passport size picture of the applicant (my wife)


It cost an additional SAR 3 for the photo copies, I need to emphasize that you need to go to the agents in the shops and not the one on the footpaths, especially if you don't speak Arabic.


With my wife I went back the day of the expiry and got there around 7am. There was a massive crowd of people who had been there since dawn. There was a gentleman writing numbers on people's files and I got the number 367, and a gentleman who arrived 10 mins later got 481. This was supposed to be the sequence of entry through the gate only.


There was an announcement at the gate before the gate opened that only people who were on the day of the expiry of the visit visa would be entertained and everyone with even one day left should go home and come back the day of the expiry.


The numbers on the forms got us through the gate and into line for the "ziarah" service. We stood in line for 4 hours, mainly because of the sheer number of people there. In line, our forms were checked by an official who filtered people who had more than 1 day left in the visa and told them to come back the day of the expiry. Since my wife was with me, he told me I should take my wife home and stand in line alone.


I tried to take advantage and sent my wife to the front of the line with my Iqama to get it done, but, they sent her back. The Iqama holder has to personally be in line.


When I got to the window, the guy took my form and Iqama and within 20 seconds said,'Khallas' and the extension was done. I checked on the Absher app, just in case, and it was indeed extended.


Below I am listing a bunch of random facts I learned in my experience just so you are in the know.


1. There are rumours that this is a technical glitch, but, there was a Saudia air hostess in line who said they do this every year in Shawwal due to the Hajj season. This is not confirmed
2. You need to go to the Jawazat office in the city of your Iqama
3. Make sure your fee is paid online before hand
4. You should not have any outstanding fines
5. In Jeddah it is a long wait outside and there is not much water available so be hydrated
6. The presence of the applicant is not necessary but the sponsor (Iqama holder) must be there in person. It is mandatory
7. Some of the staff do speak English but it was a straightforward procedure so you don't need to worry much
8. Make sure your file is complete with all required docs
9. Be sure to get there early and get the number on the file so you can enter, the number is ONLY to get you through the front door. Inside, number 1 and 1,000 are equal. I was 367 and behind me in line was number 13 inside.


Good luck to you all, but, I hope that there is no need for this article and the problem is solved.


Regards,

The Curious Case of Noreen Laghari

Dear Reader,

I want to start off by saying that most of my audience and page views come from the United States, which is a strange realization for me.

Anyway, today I am going to talk about the woman in the picture.

Noreen Laghari

 

Noreen Jabbar Laghari, a Pakistani woman in her 20's is Pakistan's first female Islamic State trained suicide bomber caught by Pakistani intelligence agencies in Lahore, Pakistan in a shootout that resulted in the death of her husband Ali Tariq, who was supposedly the leader of this particular terrorist cell. There was, reportedly, another co-conspirator who goes by the alias Abu Fauji (Father of a soldier). She went missing from her home town in Hyderabad in the South of Pakistan where she was a second year medical student. Her father reported her missing on the 10th of Feb, 2017 and she resurfaced after being caught in the raid.

 

As the story is told, she was radicalized online by ISIS elements online and she traveled to Syria for training. Somewhere between all this, she managed to marry Ali Tariq and hatch a plot to blow herself up during Easter services in Lahore.

 

Her family was, understandably, distraught and claimed she had been kidnapped. The authorities, however, released her confession to the world. You can watch it below.

If you are not from Pakistan, you probably can't understand what she's saying. The text below is a transcript of what she is saying, translated to English.

My Name is Noreen Leghari, I belong from Hyderabad. My father’s name is Abdul Jabbar who is a Professor in Sindh University. I am 2nd year MBBS student at Liaquat Medical University.

Through this video, I wish to make it clear that I was not kidnapped by anyone but went to Lahore on my own free will. Ali [her husband, who was killed in the shootout] was involved in planning of terrorist activities from a long time, he was involved in planning suicide bombings and kidnapping of intelligence officers.

He was accompanied by a boy named Abu Fauji, who was also a part of these terrorist activities. We were planning to target a church on Easter Sunday for which our organization provided logistical support. On 1st April, we were given two suicide jackets, four hand grenades and a few bullets for the purpose. I was tasked to carry out suicide attack inside the church. But, on the night of 14th April Security Forces raided our house.

 How did someone who worked their whole life to become a doctor and save lives, get so mixed up that she wanted to end her life in violence, blood and hate. She comes from a family that did not suspect anything in a society that keeps a close eye on it's daughters. How did everyone miss this.

The answer to this question can be found in the video of the confession. If you watch carefully, this is not an uneducated maniac full of hate. This is a calm and collected educated woman doing her duty. There is no emotion in her voice when she talks about her late husband, she is emotionless. This does not prove she's a sociopath, but, something more is going on here.

In this particular case, we are looking at a victim. A victim of how the Pakistani society is structured. From the day a girl is born, until the day she dies, everyone constantly reminds her that she has to do her duty. Her duty to her husband, her duty to her father, her duty to her faith. Women in Pakistan bear so much in the name of this duty. It is easy for a lot of people to fall into the trap of extremism and become passionate about it. In her video, she displays no passion and no remorse. She just recounts her duty that she was performing.

She plotted the murder of hundreds of innocent Pakistanis on Easter just to prove a political point on behalf of an organization that thinks of a human being a cannon fodder, for this crime, she will stand trial and answer for it. But, let us not forget the role the men in her life played that got her here.

Trust me when I say, every single man in her life at some point lectured her on what her duty is, her father, her brother, her husband, her religious advisor and everyone under the sun. The male segment of society takes the blame for this one. We, as men, pushed her into this.

Pakistan needs to take a long and hard look at how girls are raised and pigeon holed.

I don't want to forget to mention the brave men and women of the Security Services that foiled this operation she was a part of, but now it's time for the Government of Pakistan to work towards a new strategy that prevents this from ever happening again. The men of Pakistan need to do the same, internet censorship is not the answer, a change in attitudes towards women is.

Regards,

Z

PS: The article is an opinion piece only

 

Uphill Drive

Dear Reader,

In my ongoing attempt to bring my one reader (you) more information and pictures about the engineering marvels that are the roads of Saudi Arabia, I am going to tell you about a very popular road called Al Hada Road.

Al Hada Road links the city of Taif with Makkah via a mountain path. It is by far the best mountain road I have ever encountered. With guard rails all the way through and littered with observation points, people go there regularly just to drive and look at the sights. Although, Taif itself is a very beautiful city making the path and the destination amazing.

Although there are no speed cameras on the path, speeding here would be a fairly dumb thing to do. Stay safe, stay within the speed limits.

Pack up the wife and the kids, tell them you are going to Taif for a picnic and you can enjoy the drive and end up spending some quality time with your woman and the human offspring who ruined your sex life.

Al Hada Road, 31Km of pure exhilaration

There are a lot of observation points on the road, as I have mentioned earlier, but you have to be ready to stop, which is easier said than done because they appear suddenly and you can miss them. Just keep your eyes open for groups of people so you know where they are as they aren't marked.

Now you can enjoy some pictures.

Approaching Makkah From Al Lith Rd

Exiting Makkah via Route 15 with a view of King Abdullah College

On the Approach on Route 15

Mountains calling

 

On the base of the Al Hada hill climb 

Don't know what that is, but they built it and it's impresive

See the structure on the top... that's where we are going

It rains unexpectedly in the mountains in the middle of the desert

The sand and rain mix under tyres to make a fine soapy liquid

The observation points offer some impressive views

Monkeys will take your food, forcibly

And Show you their asses

The pictures do not do justice to the brilliance of the views

This was taken at the observation point at the to of the hill

It is steep

and flat

and very curvy

and long

and impressive

Monkeys will steal your food and moon you at every observation point 

This whole traffic jam was caused by one broken down car

 



 



I hope you enjoyed it and are planning a trip of your own. It is an awesome driving experience like none other and I highly recommend everyone to do it at least once. Drive safe and buckle up.

Cheers,

Z

The Upside of an Islamic Utopia

Dear Lost Soul,

Lets face it, if you are reading this, you are bored and ended up here surfing the internet and wasting time. I'm not complaining, just pointing out you and I may be very alike.

I now reside in Saudi Arabia which, for some Muslims, is considered THE Islamic Utopia to live in. Makkah is here, Medina and the final resting place of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is here. To non-Muslims, it is a secretive Kingdom of which, there isn't much known. There is much much more to Saudi Arabia than meets the eye.

Being a car guy, I hope to start shedding light on the fact that Saudi Arabia may, in fact, be the best place in the world to go for a drive. The roads here are a pleasure to drive on. They are smooth, well constructed and in some places showcase the human will to engineer what one might believe to be impossible.

Today, I write about one of my regular road trips. You will see pictures that do not do justice to the beauty of the landscape and the brilliance of Saudi engineering.

This post is about Al Lith Road that is around 40mins outside of Jeddah, my home city.

 

Al Lith Road is 52Km dead straight

 

You read and saw that correctly, 52km dead straight. I am not advocating you break the law and over speed here but the road also has no speed cameras. The landscape is gorgeous, the road is near perfect for a little know back road, it will go up and down but not left or right. It is a marvel of engineering and absolutely brilliant.

 

The intersection approaching Al Lith Road

A curve eases you in

Dead straight for the next 52Kms

Mountains in the distance accompany you

It's straight and seldom used

To give you an idea of the runoff area between the two lanes

Just keeps going

Wouldn't it have been easier to go around? No. They go though it. The expensive way.

Al Lith links to Makkah

The day was perfect, not a sandstorm in sight

About half way through they cut through another mountain

Nothing stopped the engineers from making the straightest road in the world

 

Mountains all around

I had to stop and take pictures

An entire town on the road was being demolished

The rocks mark the end of the straight

Welcome to Makkah

 

 

Just a tip if you decide to go for a drive, make sure you have enough fuel since there aren't and fuel stations until you reach Makkah and therefore no shops to stop for some water. Make sure you are full stocked before heading out.

 

I hope this inspires you to go for a drive. Do not forget to send me pictures of any awesome road you drive on. Stay safe, and the speed limit is the law.

 

I will continue to write and showcase the best Saudi Arabia has to offer for the petrolheads out there.

 

Cheers,

 

Z