Passports Taken By Schools

sibelsibel · Post by **sibelsibel** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 1:53 pm

I have noticed that many international schools have a policy of taking possession of a teacher's passport on arrival in the new country. This is particularly true in Saudi Arabia and South Korea. I personally feel very uncomfortable about this practice. Is it legal? Are there other teachers who have had this experience and who feel uncomfortable about it?

ichiro · Post by **ichiro** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:28 pm

deleted

guestwriter · Post by **guestwriter** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:47 am

Ichiro, you are the one that sounds naive!

Many unscrupulous schools confiscate your passport and hold it against the law of the host country. Schools who do this are often schools which impose "fines" on teachers for petty offenses or hold your salary until you return from a holiday.

I would Run from any school like that!

Of course some schools take your passport for processing visa and et cetera but they usually return it back quickly.

guestwriter · Post by **guestwriter** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:03 am

Just as a second thought, you could get a 2nd passport for protection, if you wanted the protection or needed to escape without school officials knowing. The only problem is that it would not have your entry/exit visas stamped.

I was in a miserable situation in Oman (Muscat Private School) where the first day our passports were taken and then shortly after we had our first faculty meeting and we were given a whole list of offenses and the fines would be taken out of our salary. It was a very inspiring meeting for the new arrival teachers!

I swore that if they "fined" me, I would leave and sure enough I did!

It is very naive to think that if you "ask" a question like this before you are hired, they will actually tell you the truth or honor that when you arrive. There are many very dishonest and unethical "for profit" schools ou there but once again, the good schools and school leaders want you to be happy and will treat you well.

Personally, I would never take a job in a school which holds my passport or in any "for profit" school in the Middle East!

grasshopper · Post by **grasshopper** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:03 pm

ask your embassy to advise - they will know if it is a genuine local law.

ichiro · Post by **ichiro** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:11 pm

deleted

Traveller1 · Post by **Traveller1** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 4:19 am

You don't want to work for a school that holds your passport (unless they can give you a very, very good reason). You will have to hand your passport in to get visas and residence permits etc. but I would demand my passport back once those were issued. If the school wouldn't return my passport I'd get a temporary travel document from my embassy and leave the country. Our friend ichiro appears to have worked at some very questionable schools in his quarter century overseas.

user77 · Post by **user77** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:46 am

I suggest you ask the school whether they will ever need to keep your passport and for what reasons. In Saudi it is illegal to be in possession of your passport and your Saudi identification (iqama) at the same time. When I worked there, the school always kept our passports and we had to trade documents when we were going to travel. And since you need to get an exit visa to leave the country anyway, this was never a problem.

johnwest · Post by **johnwest** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 11:48 am

I apologize for the number of posts I am adding today, but I have only signed up for the forum today and many comments I am reading are quite provocative!

I taught in Saudi for three years. The business office took my passport and gave me my residence document (iqama). I had to trade back whenever I needed my passport. I finally quit trading as I lived near Bahrain and would need to be able to leave without notice when friends would take me across the causeway. I just kept my passport and left the office holding the iqama. The few times I actually needed the iqama (usually the bank), I told them I had my passport as I was leaving the country that weekend. I'd be frowned at, but they then would use my passport for ID.

scribe · Post by **scribe** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:35 pm

When we taught in Saudi (4 years), we were in possession of our passports AND, at all times, an exit visa. This was the policy of the school which employed us - they declined to be in charge of our lives, they realized that we were. During the first Gulf War, this provided us with perhaps meaningless comfort, in retrospect, as we couldn't have gotten out anyway, but nonetheless we had far fewer bitter feelings about our school during that time than many others at other schools where passports were held. The problem with unforeseen situations is that they are unforeseen; who knows when an emergency might require your immediate flight home? Do you want to trust someone else that they will make this happen if need be?

nomadman · Post by **nomadman** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:09 am

The policy in Saudi is for employers to hold your passport and issue you with an iqama (government ID card). Holding your passport is frowned upon in other countries (but it does happen) - but in Saudi Arabia expect it to happen especially if you work for the Royal Commission. In Saudi you also need an exit visa before you can leave at the end of your contract/stay.

carlenss · Post by **carlenss** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:57 pm

Be ever so careful. I worked for CFBT, I thought this was a reputable English company but it turned out far from it. They kept my passport for nearly 4 months.

I had asked the company and they assured me all was fine. When I insisted on information in writing and refused any more verbal assurances, they sacked me.

It turned out, I had no working visa and way over on my visitors visa. Ihad to go to court and it all cost. Money out of my pocket.

I could have taken CFBT to court but it's another process i just didn't have the time to deal with.

Chalk it up to experience and move on BUT in the future I will be far more diligent.

priscilla747 · Post by **priscilla747** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:16 am

I had my passport held against a $500 (approx.) loan that I got from a school in Abu Dhabi (Emirates National School -- see othet forum) when I first arrived. They kept the passport in a safe and refused to give it to me (not even when I needed it to get a visa!) until the loan was paid off. What really got me about this was the fact that they actually owed me more money for yet unpaid relocation reimbursements and for days that I had already worked that month than I owed them!

the Hippo · Post by **the Hippo** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:26 pm

There are some other countries, apart from Saudi Arabia, that require exit visas. Exit visas are needed in Qatar. Without an exit visa, you cannot leave anyway, so whether or not you have your passport is a bit irrelevant.

Some schools in Qatar take AGES to process your residency (Qatari ID card), for which they do need your passport.

E.B. White · Post by **E.B. White** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:51 am

My wife and I are in Saudi Arabia. We have two kids. All four of our passports are sitting in a locked file cabinet in the human resources office. We have our iqamas, and we trade when we leave the country. There has never been a problem. Is it weird? A bit. But, there are so many more things wrong with the school we are at it's just not that big a deal.

Passports Taken By Schools

Passports Taken By Schools

Passports

Passport cont...

passport held

passport retention

Passports in Saudi

Passport

Passport Problems

passports