Saudi Arabia issues regulations for 'final exit visa'

RIYADH: The Saudi government has asked the expatriates to leave the kingdom within 60 days after issuance of the final exit visa, ARY News reported.

According to the Saudi Arabia’s directorate general of passport, the final exit visa will expire after 60 days of its issuance and the immigrant will have to pay SR1,000 as fine.

The 60-day grace period is given to the expatriates so that they can complete their exit procedure. The passport department clarified that the conversion of the visit visa to Resident ID is banned.

In July 2017, the General Directorate of Passports of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) of Saudi Arabia had made the issuance of exit/re-entry visas and renewal of Iqama (residence permits) for expatriates conditional with the advance payment of fees levied on dependents of foreign workers.

The government agencies and banks had been updating data for accepting these fees.

To inquires received on its Twitter account, the Passports Department had said that fees levied on the head of the family “should be paid before issuance of exit/re-entry visa or renewal of residence permits.”