Free Saudi visa renewal to benefit expatriates from 17 countries

RIYADH: The Saudi office of General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) has said expatriates from 17 countries can benefit from the recent government decision to extend the validity of residency permit (iqama), exit and reentry visas and visit visas without any fee.

Among 17 countries, to get free of cost visa renewal, are Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Lebanon, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini (Swaziland), Brazil, Ethiopia, Vietnam, South Africa.

The office of Jawazat has already started automatically extending the iqama validity and the exit and re-entry visa until January 31, 2022 without any fees or duty, which is a step they said was in line with the directives of King Salman, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

These directives also include extending the visas of the visitors who are outside the Kingdom and who belong to countries facing travel ban due to coronavirus outbreak.

The period of extension will be until Jan. 31.

However, the expatriates who are fully vaccinated in the Kingdom before their departure abroad, on exit and re-entry visa, will not get this free extension.

It is in order to further the government’s efforts to mitigate the adverse financial and economic effects COVID-19 on the expats.

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