It was the same way when I interviewed at the end of 2005. Back then, the HR office in Houston was still operating. I was called by the Jeddah office at the last minute to go to Cairo. The Houston office had my tickets Fedex'd over to me within a day. They also took care of all the visa issues with the Saudi Embassy when the time came to go to KSA. Sadly, that HR office was closed a year or so ago.
It sounds to me like Bilal might have too much on his plate. I know him and he is an extremely nice man. I don't know how much support he gets in making all of the arrangements.