While it may be a little easier for Saudi to get student visas for the US, and while their education dollars are very welcomed, there’s still quite a bit of a hassle in renewing those visas. Arab News reports that the US Embassy in Riyadh (the only office issuing visas in the Kingdom) is cautioning students to stay in the US over the upcoming holiday rather than risk returning to Saudi Arabia and finding it taking longer than planned to get a visa to return to the US. The Embassy’s announcement can be found here [one-page PDF document; in Arabic, here.]

The Islamic holiday of ‘Eid Al-Adha, marking the end of the Hajj, will be celebrated from December 12-23. That runs right into the American Christmas holiday on December 25, a Tuesday. And that means that many in Washington will be taking leave on the 24th to create four-day holiday weekends. It’s just not very easy to get things done in either bureaucracy over that period.

Students Warned of Problems in US Visa Renewal During Winter Break
Raid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 13 November 2007 — The US Embassy in Riyadh has advised Saudi students studying in the United States to remain there and not return to the Kingdom to renew their visas at the US Embassy during the winter break. The embassy advised the students to renew their visas when they return to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2008.

“Students are urged to plan ahead to renew student visas early during the summer of 2008 rather than returning to Saudi Arabia to renew their visas in December 2007,” the embassy stated.

The embassy clarified: “There is no penalty, legal or financial, for students who remain in the United States even if their student visa has expired as long as they have not changed schools and have maintained their academic standings as students in good status.”
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