An Unexpected Contract Extension

At the beginning of March, I foolishly asked a rhetorical question on a soon to be published blog about whether anything could stop us returning to the Philippines in 60 days. You see, I had a flight and quarantine hotel booked and believed little or nothing could stop my family and I from leaving Saudi Arabia forever and restarting our life on Siargao Island. How wrong could I have been? 

By the middle of March, the virus situation in the Philippines started getting darker at an alarming rate. Rather than changing quarantine protocols, the Philippine government slapped a travel ban on most foreigners entering the country and withdrew Balikbayan 1-year visa on arrival for spouses and children of Filipino citizens indefinitely. Although the new travel restrictions offered us a limited path to get to the country if we all travelled together, neither myself or my son had an existing Philippine visa so time looked tight to obtain a visa prior to travel in early May.

In these newly challenging circumstances, I started wondering about a contract extension or even staying in KSA for another year. Saudi contracts are usually 1 or 2-year fixed term and, unless you quit on renewal date, you stand to lose a significant percentage of end of service benefit (EOSB) by resigning at any point during the year. Therefore, with my renewal date looming on May 1st, 2021 (and 30-day prior notice date even closer on April 1st, 2021), I requested a bespoke contract extension. I thought it was worth a go, mostly because I was mid-semester teaching an elite security guards intake which I had written the supplementary material for. However, low student numbers and rumours of mass terminations made the extension look less likely. 

Amazingly, within 24 hours, management had agreed to my request: an eight-week extension with full EOSB payable at the end of it. Days later, they terminated 13 Arab teachers, including one of my good friends Marwan, in what can only be described as a bloodbath. Many of these guys haven't even got a homeland to go to. Against that backdrop, it felt even more like a miracle to get such an unexpected extension.  

Whatever happens next, the next 80 days in country will give us a better chance of getting to Siargao in the summer. It’ll also provide a few more riyals and give us some extra time to enjoy the restaurants and coffeeshops in the delightful Saudi coastal city where we currently reside. As for our final departure, I’ve rescheduled our Emirates flight to Cebu to July 7th, my birthday, but whether I’ll get the present of a lifetime remains up in the air. Everything now depends on whether the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh will issue my son and I a visa to enable onward travel.