I Quit!

After my trip to the embassy, I consulted more people about the process of switching jobs. I spoke to other teachers who knew people who had been through it before, I spoke with people who worked in the government affairs offices of other companies, I spoke with people who had transferred from other companies, I spoke with everyone I knew who might have any idea at all about how the process would work. I have never gotten so much conflicting advice in my life. Some said ask for a transfer, some said, don't do that or they would put me on a blacklist and prevent me coming to Saudi. Some said I should resign as soon as possible, others said I should wait for the iqama. Everyone said something different. The frustrating thing was, the people who had the answers I needed, my old company, were, as usual, not responding to emails texts or phone calls. I had been hesitent to submit my resignation because the new company wanted me to start Aug. 31st and I wasn't confident I could get out of the 30 days notice period in time to start, and if not, I wouldn't be able to start with the new company until December. After talking with the new company, I decided it would be better to take leave without pay for the part of the 30 days I would miss than to carry on another 3 months with my old company. So, I finally submitted my resignation to my former company.

Based on the advice of a majority who said that I shouldn't mention my other position, I decided not to mention my new job offer. But I had no trouble coming up with the following very valid reasons for resigning:

•  The company changed the contract from ending Aug. 31 2014 to Aug. 31 2015 without my prior knowledge or consent before arriving in the country. 
•  The company did not provide adaquate or safe housing. 
• The company has not issued me an iqama and has allowed my visa to expire making my presence in the kingdom illegal. 
• The company has still not reimbursed me for visa and medical expenses as agreed in the contract. -

The company consistantly does not respond to email, text, or phone communications.
 Interestingly, the very next day after submitting my resignation, Osama (the manager in the Riyadh office) called me to tell me he was 90% sure my iqama would arrive on Sunday. What a mighty convinient coincidence. I told him I would be happy to go to Riyadh and collect my passport and iqama on Sunday, and to please have them ready for me. He told me there was no need to come, and that they could send me my iqama via courier. Just give us till Sunday, he said. If the iqama arrives, you will not need to resign. I didn't say anthing. I just told him that I would come anyway, just to be sure. They clearly didn't want me to come to the office. But every teacher I spoke to told me nothing would ever get done if I didn't go in person, and that if I wanted to get anything resolved then I needed to just go in person so that I couldn't be ignored. So I insisted it would be better for me to go in person, and I told him I would see him on Sunday.
In the meantime, I got an email from another person in the company who told me that my resignation via email would not count, and that I would need to submit the resignation in writing with the signature of my program manager on it. My program manager has been on vacation since the start of August and would't return until August 31st. I told them I would deliver it in person while I was getting my passport on Sunday and that way someone higher than my program manager could sign it in his place. He said an in person resignation would be acceptable since my program manager was on vacation. I decided this could work to my advantage, and dated my resignation letter back to Aug. 10th and left it on the desk of my program manager, and made a copy to take with me to Riyadh. The backdate plus my accumulated vacation days would make my last day Sept. 4th. I wasn't sure if they would recognize that as the official end date or not, but I figured it was worth a shot.  Either way, I would find out myself on Sunday.