[jpatokal]

The one quirk about KSA business visas is that they require not just an invitation letter (which is pretty standard), but Chamber of Commerce approval for said letter, which usually takes forever... which is why the usual approach is to go via an agent, who can magically get the approval in a day or two in exchange for a "facilitation fee" of several hundred dollars. Which was a handy preview of how a country can be both filthy rich (at least if you're in the 1% that has "al Saud" in the family name) and still thoroughly corrupt.