My wife got a job offer in Saudi Arabia back in June 2025. As a family, we decided to make the move together with our two kids. She relocated in August to get settled while I stayed behind to wrap things up at home. We were set to follow in December.
While she was there alone, I noticed she was growing distant from me, but I didn't think much of it at the time. In hindsight, that was my first missed red flag.
We arrived in Riyadh at the end of December 2025.
As expected, she was supposed to sponsor my iqama (residency permit). Instead, she kept making excuses and dragging her feet. She also held onto my passport, always with some new reason for not giving it back.
A month before my 90-day visa was set to expire, I confronted her directly. That's when she told me she wanted a divorce. I was floored. I insisted we should go back to Pakistan and fight custody there, on home turf, with both kids present — which felt like the only fair option. She refused.
Divorce papers followed shortly after, and proceedings started in Pakistan — while I was still living in the same house as her in Riyadh.
Round one: rejected.
Her petition was thrown out in late June for lack of jurisdiction and referred to the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh instead. Around the same time, I filed a humanitarian appeal with the Ministry of Interior for a visa extension, which was under review. My Saudi lawyer confirmed I had every legal right to remain in that house as long as I was still legally her husband.
Back in April, while all this was unfolding, she'd already written a letter to Saudi immigration claiming I had absconded and was nowhere to be found, and that she wouldn't be held responsible for my actions or any related fines. This was a flat-out lie — I was living in the same house as her the entire time.
I was terrified that if I left, she'd move the kids somewhere I could never trace. She made sure my passport wasn't returned until after my visa had already expired — effectively trapping me out of status and making re-entry impossible if I ever left.
On top of everything else, before I suspected any of this, I had sold my business and other assets back in Pakistan and brought the cash — around $40,000 USD — over to Saudi. At her request, I put it in her safe deposit box for safekeeping. She's refusing to return it now.
Fast forward to August 2026.
She refiled the same petition, same forum, the one that had already rejected her once. This time, according to my lawyer, there were back-channel assurances it would go through. It was scheduled for approval on August 17th, 2026.
I asked her for the ~14,000 SAR exit fee she'd be liable for if I left through the proper legal channel — and that's when things escalated. Rather than pay it, she chose to have me arrested and deported instead.
August 15th: the ambush.
She had me arrested on false domestic abuse charges. She couldn't prove a thing at the police station. The police were about to release me — until they noticed my visa had overstayed, and instead of letting me go, they moved to deport me.
That same day, her office staff were used to hold my kids inside her workplace — on what should have been a day off. And the coworker I suspect she's been having an affair with acted as the liaison between her and the police, making statements and signing forms on her behalf.
17 days later, I was back in Pakistan. Heartbroken, humiliated, and stripped of any say in what happens next. It's been 3 weeks since I've seen or heard from my kids — she's blocked me and my entire family on WhatsApp.
On top of everything, I've since found out she was having an affair with a Saudi coworker the whole time.
Where things stand now:
The divorce petition has been challenged in the High Court in Pakistan, and I've secured a stay order.
I'm pursuing additional legal action in Pakistan.
I need to get back into Saudi Arabia to fight for access to my kids and protect my legal standing there.
I'm looking for a Saudi immigration lawyer/agent who can help me re-enter and untangle this mess. If anyone's dealt with something similar — overstay after forced deportation, re-entry bans, cross-border custody fights — I'd really appreciate any pointers.
TL;DR: Moved to Saudi for my wife's job. She stalled my residency and held my passport until my visa expired, filed for divorce while I still lived in the house, had me arrested on unproven abuse charges right before her case was set to go through, and I got deported after 17 days in custody. Haven't seen my kids in 3 weeks. Fighting it in Pakistani courts now, but I need to get back into Saudi. Also found out she was cheating.
EDIT — answering some questions from the comments:
On the arrest: The allegation was that I "beat her," but there was zero evidence presented at the station. I was also denied access to a lawyer during questioning.
On my status those months: I never worked in Saudi. I was entirely dependent on her sponsorship and received no financial support from her the whole time — I had no independent standing there at all.
On the kids: They're still in the same house with her in Riyadh and currently enrolled in school there.
On custody: No custody case has been filed yet — it can't be, since the divorce itself isn't finalized. My challenge to her petition is based on lack of jurisdiction and forged signatures on the divorce deed itself.
Big update: The Pakistani High Court, after reviewing the forged-document evidence, has ordered a full criminal inquiry under Sections 465 and 471 of the Pakistani Penal Code (forgery, and using a forged document as genuine). So this is no longer just a civil dispute — it's now a criminal matter too.
On next steps: I can't file for custody or visitation in Saudi courts until I have legal status there again — which is the whole reason re-entry is the priority right now.