Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Cultural Bureau

To fulfil its responsibilities, the bureau plays many roles. It is responsible for helping Saudi students enrol in educational and scholarship programmes in universities or institutes appropriate to their studies and recommended by the Ministry of Higher Education. The organisation also aims to preserve and promote the Kingdom’s rich history and cultural heritage, by organising various cultural weeks, conferences and exhibitions in the UK.

These responsibilities are carried out by over ten different departments, including the Department of Academic Affairs, Department of Education, Department of Cultural Affairs, Public Relations Department, Department of Student Counselling and the Financial Affairs Department. Its role in consulate affairs and visa applications for the KSA is an important one too.

The bureau is responsible for attesting all documents and certificates issued by the United Kingdom, before they are legalised by the Saudi Arabian Embassy. This means that certificates and college awards to be used for any purposes in Saudi Arabia must be verified by the SACB, before attestation. This process is also called Saudi document legalisation.

Saudi Arabia has extensive diplomatic presence worldwide, including in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. The country maintains more than 100 embassies abroad, most of which have an associated cultural bureau, including those in Canada and Japan.

The SACB provides support to students to get admission into UK-based colleges and research programmes by:

• Helping students enrol in universities in the UK, particularly where there are no Saudi scholarship beneficiaries in abundance.
• Aiding students to get admission in scientific courses of a rare and highly competitive nature.
• Seeking optimisation and continuous improvement of academic programmes for Saudi students enrolled in various programs.
• Facilitating medical treatment for Saudi students in the UK.
• Fostering connections between universities and scientific research centres in the UK with those in Saudi Arabia
• Maintaining a student directory of all KSA students enrolled in various programmes in the UK, by gathering data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Helping students manage their financial matters, such as opening bank accounts, scholarship allowances and more.
• Facilitating procedures for students to obtain and renew passports, flight data, replacing stolen and damaged passports.
• Verifying and attesting academic certificates to obtain work contracts in the KSA.
• Attesting documents to apply for visa, change of profession or to transfer sponsorship.