Getting Family Visit Visa in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is said to be a dry place since there are not too many options for the outdoor activities. In this regard, single people who are living in Saudi Arabia try to bring their family members to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to spend quality time. If your family is here, life becomes a bit interesting. In this regard, there are two options. First option is to bring your family on permanent visa and the second option is to bring them on visit visa. If the stay is short term, visit visa is a better option.
Requirement for Family Visit Visa in Saudi Arabia
- You should have a valid original iqama
- Copy of Passport
- Copy of passport of each member of your family you want to invite for family visit visa
- Acceptable Profession to apply for family visit visa. Unfortunately, if profession of your visa is not listed in one of the professions listed in the list, you will have to go for change of profession.
Following Persons can be invited on Family Visit Visa
- Wife
- Children
- Father
- Mother
- Sisters
- Father in Law
- Mother in Law
Step by Step Process to Apply for Family Visit Visa
Filing online application
Here we shall provide you step by step guide to apply for family visit visa in Saudi Arabia. I would suggest you to open the website on Google Chrome. The content of the application is in Arabic and you can easily translate it in English by clicking on the Translate button. Open website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and fill the application form. Enter your name in place of name of Kafeel, since you will be Kafeel of the family members coming on visit visa. Some people make a mistake by entering the name of their employer in place of name of sponsor. You should apply for visit visa of 90 days. Keep in mind that visit visa can be extended two times for the same period for which it is applied. After fulfilling and submitting the application, take a print out of it. Application number will be appearing on the corner of the application.
Submitting the Application to Chamber of Commerce
Now sign the application and put the date on it. After this, go to your sponsor and ask him to sign and stamp the application. Make sure that the person who is signing your application is one who has authorized signatures in chamber of commerce. Now, you need to go to the chamber of commerce of the city where your employer is registered. Keep in mind, other chamber of commerce will not serve your objective.
You need to submit SR 25 fee for application of visa and submit it to the chamber of commerce. They will take copy of your application and give you another print out. Now you are done with the visa application submission.
Check Online Status of Application
Officially they say, it takes 3 days but normally it takes a week to process the visa. Even if it takes more than that, don’t worry. You are dealing with Saudi government department so you should build up some patience. Go to this link, and enter your application number and Iqama number to get the status of your application. If everything goes fine, family visa will be issued.
Submitting the Application in Saudi Embassy
If your family visa is approved, you need to send application number to the relative in your home country. It is better to contact some agent in this regard. He will charge you a little amount but your work will be eased out in your home country. Normally agents who issue Umrah visas have some contacts in Saudi Embassy and they can speed up the process of your family visa application.
In some countries like Pakistan, Saudi Government has established Eitamad Centers. You do not need to contact agents in case Eitamad Centers are established in your native country. You directly go to them and they will process the family visit visa for you. Charges of Eitamad Center are around SR 400 per passport. They process it very fast. Sometimes, you submit documents one day and they send you SMS very next day to collect passport from their center. Process you need to carry on in Eitamad Centers is explained by one of our writer Mr. Shaneel Ahmed in this article. Following documents need to be submitted to the Saudi Embassy.
- Original passport
- Copy of your Iqama (Remember you are sponsor)
- Copy of your Passport
- 2-4 passport size photos
- If you want to apply for visa of your married sister, authorization letter from her husband.
- If you want to apply for the visa of in-laws. You need to present the marriage certificate and copy of the passport of your wife.
Once the visa is processed and stamped by the Saudi Embassy, visa holder will have to travel within 3 months, failure to do so will result in expiration of the visa.
If Some More Documents Required
In some cases, your application for family visa is not approved straight forward. They will ask you to submit the application along with some documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now attach all the documents mentioned above with the application and submit it to the nearest office of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You should go to MOFA office at around 11 am. This is the time when MOFA office will be least crowded. Timing of MOFA office is 7am to 2pm with Zuhr prayer break. If you will come in the early morning, you will find it very crowded. Continue the same process mentioned above for checking the online status of application. Soon, you will see good news there.
Some Deadlines to Consider
- Once visit visa is issued, it can be stamped by Saudi Embassy in your home country within 6 months of its issuance date.
- Once family visit visa is stamped in your home country by the Saudi Embassy, it is valid for 2 months from the date when it is stamped.
Extension of Visit Visa
- If visit visa is stamped for 30 days, it can be extended 6 more times. It means total stay in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be of 210 days in this case.
- If visit visa is initially issued for 90 days, it can be extended 2 more times. It means total stay in Saudi Arabia will be of 270 days.
- Visit visa can be extended online as well.
Do Not OVERSTAY
It is very important to mention here that expat living in Saudi Arabia on Iqama takes the responsibility of the family members entering to the Kingdom. In case of Overstay of any family member, even if the stay is of a single day, SR 25,000/- fine is imposed on the expatriate with Iqama. In fact, you should plan the departure 3,4 days before expiry of the visa date. You never know, due to flight problem you may have to stay at airport or some other bad thing may happen to you.
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