Hello All,
I'm applying to a school in the middle east and weary of sharing my passport and social security information as often as it has been requested. This is my first international move and I am more or less ignorant as to what is normal and what isn't and wondering if a few of you more seasoned ex-pats are able to offer insight. I have no problem with this proccess if it is normal but want to be sure I'm not sharing this information blindly. Thank you for any and all replies!
Visa Process
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noseyparker
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:58 am
They always need passport info. They will ask for social security I THINK because most countries have some sort of ID personal number and for Americans that will be it. In addition, once you are in-country, they WILL take your passport away for short stretches of time to get visas and other paperwork put in. Unless you sign up to a rubbish school (or go to Saudi) or REALLY put your foot in it you should get it back in a reasonable number of working days. The support staff at our school are absolutely marvelous and I have no hesitation in handing over my personal documents when it is required.
Lots of people get very twitchy about that sort of thing, understandably, but we've had more hassle with our own embassies dragging their feet over extra pages / new passports etc.
The only country we actually had a passport deliberately withheld was Venezuela, and that was because one of the school support staff made a derogatory comment about a Venezuelan ministry lady, and she dropped the passport into a drawer with a big smile and it took 9 months to get it back!
A MAJOR red flag would be asking for money or bank details. You should never be asked that. A recent scam fleeced a bunch a folks applying to a variety of international schools in Northern Europe.
Fortunately, horror stories are quite rare in the ME but ONLY if you do your research and sign up to a decent school. There are some wonderful schools here and if you do your homework you can easily find out which they are.
Good luck!
Lots of people get very twitchy about that sort of thing, understandably, but we've had more hassle with our own embassies dragging their feet over extra pages / new passports etc.
The only country we actually had a passport deliberately withheld was Venezuela, and that was because one of the school support staff made a derogatory comment about a Venezuelan ministry lady, and she dropped the passport into a drawer with a big smile and it took 9 months to get it back!
A MAJOR red flag would be asking for money or bank details. You should never be asked that. A recent scam fleeced a bunch a folks applying to a variety of international schools in Northern Europe.
Fortunately, horror stories are quite rare in the ME but ONLY if you do your research and sign up to a decent school. There are some wonderful schools here and if you do your homework you can easily find out which they are.
Good luck!
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buffalofan
- Posts: 350
- Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:08 pm
Not sure about social security, but you should definitely expect to be asked for your passport details very often. You'll need it for all sorts of things as an expat, such as getting a phone number (depending on where you go), opening a bank account, moving into an apartment...almost everything. However, in my experience the only ones that have ever asked to keep it for a while have been my school. Handing your passport over just feels completely wrong the first couple of times, but it's part of the process. The place I had it held longest was Thailand. I guess they really have to jump through hoops to get things sorted there. In the UAE and Qatar I've only needed to hand it over for a maximum of 5 days, and that included a weekend.
Reply
I would not give my social security number to a school unless:
1) They actually participated in Social Security
2) Had a tax sharing agreement with the USA.
You have a passport number in your passport, which is your NIN (National Identity Number). It is linked in the DOS database to your SS#.
Once you leave the USA your passport will essentially become your drivers license, and you should expect to share it with a lot of people. You can if you wish apply for a passport card when you need to provide identification for non government purposes. Additionally you can get a second (small book) passport valid for 2 years, if you can "provide cause" why it is needed, such as hostilities between ME countries you will traveling too.
1) They actually participated in Social Security
2) Had a tax sharing agreement with the USA.
You have a passport number in your passport, which is your NIN (National Identity Number). It is linked in the DOS database to your SS#.
Once you leave the USA your passport will essentially become your drivers license, and you should expect to share it with a lot of people. You can if you wish apply for a passport card when you need to provide identification for non government purposes. Additionally you can get a second (small book) passport valid for 2 years, if you can "provide cause" why it is needed, such as hostilities between ME countries you will traveling too.