Family Visa

If your family is recently arrived in Saudi Arabia and you are planning to Issue Family Iqama (dependent’s Iqama) either wife or children, this can be achieved in following easy steps.

Medical Test of Family (Dependents)

Visit any authorized medical center or hospital and ask them to do a medical test of your dependents. Your dependents were already completed a set of medical test in home country, however once reached in Saudi Arabia, another medical test is also required. In case these medical test are also passed, there will be no problem for you to get family iqama for your wife or child. Once the test is completed authorized Hospital or Clinic will submit the report to MOI Online. It will hardly take 1-2 days.

Visiting Jawazaat Office

Once you are sure the medical result is online, visit Jawazaat office which is authorized to issue new family iqama. Normally it is one dedicated Jawazaat office in each city for doing this. In Jeddah City it is located in Al-Rehab Dist (حي الرهاب).

Required documents to Issue a new family iqama

• 2 photographs of each family member
• 1 Copy of passport (First Page & Visa Page)
• 2 copies of your iqama
• a filled form

You can obtain MOI form from the internet and fill it by yourself, however I recommend it to get it filled by an agent. Various agents are sitting outside Jawazaat office on the road. They charge SR 10 for filling 1 form.

Once the form is filled, go to Jawazaat building. You may ask the exact hall where new Iqama is issued from the officer at receptionist in case you didn’t find a point arrow or mini-board. Once you reach in the hall, get a ticket and submit your documents upon your turn. The officer might ask you for original Iqama. Also they can retrieve information through Air-port entry number. It will take maximum 2 to 5 minutes and Family Iqama for your dependents will be printed.

Thank you.

If you require Degree attestation in your home country by Saudi Embassy / Consulate, you will be asked for a Letter from your Sponsor – Employer in Saudi Arabia To Saudi Embassy – Consulate in your home country. Normally the contents of this letter are… You are an employee working with the employer and employer has no objection if Saudi Consulate attest your documents. However the letter is written in Arabic language as the official language for communication with Saudi Embassy is Arabic. Also the letter must be attested by Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia to make sure the official signature and stamp is real and not fake.

Mostly expat employee don’t know how to explain their sponsor to issue such a letter for Saudi Embassy and when they request such a letter, even employers don’t have any idea, what the employee is actually looking for.

Upon so many requests, I am presenting a sample letter that an employee can copy and ask his / her sponsor to issue him such a letter. Please note that it is a sample letter and you need to change its contents to match the original content as per your bio-data. For instance the following details.

• Line 1: Issue No / Serial No (This would be an auto-generated number that a a company keeps for its records, this is not mandatory).
• Line 2 and 3: Issue Date in Gregorian and Hijri Calendar.
• Line 5: Location of Embassy – Consulate (City + Country).
• Line 8: Name of Employee as written on Iqama + Nationality of employee.
• Line 16: Name of your sponsor / employer + his signature.
• Ending: Employer / Sponsor’s official stamp (Must be attested by Chamber of Commerce).

Sample Letter to Saudi Embassy issued by Saudi Sponsor employer

Once you get this letter from your sponsor & get it attested as well, additional requirements are copy of your iqama + copy of your passport. and you can read the full procedure here which I explained earlier. HOW TO GET YOUR DEGREE ATTESTED FROM YOUR HOME COUNTRY

Once you get attested degree you can apply for change of profession or apply for family visa in Saudi Arabia

To Download this letter in Ms Word, please share this post from buttons below and the Link will appear after sharing to any single social network.

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QSaudi blog created a very useful tutorial for the people who has activated MOI online services. The electronic system (Moi online services) allows expatriates to perform various tasks which in past require to visit Jawazat office. To do this you must activate online services for yourself by visiting Jawazat office (single time) or any other location where this machine is provided by Jawazat. It is provided at the airport and various shopping centers as well.

1. Services Activation (Online Services / Electronic Services)

This activation machine has a very easy to understand interface and step by step system and it is available in various languages so that expatriate can easily work with it. So you must visit nearest activation center

2. Deposit Government Fee for Exit Re-Entry Visa

In your second step you should submit Government fee for Exit-Re-entry visa which ic currently 200 SR. You can submit it from your own account or account of your friend / colleague. You will be asked for Iqama number, please make sure you are entering Iqama number of your family member (wife, son, daughter)

3. Final Step: Issue Visa at MOI website

Login to MOI website using your Iqama number and Password. Click passport section -> Dependent Services

You will find your family members listed in this page. click on More details link under family member’s listing. You will find 2 buttons, Issue Visa & Issue Final Visa, both are obvious from their names. Make sure not to click Issue Final Visa, because it is for final exit)

Once you have clicked Issue Visa button you will find another pop up window which will show full details of this step, name, iqama number and passport number of the dependent and further instructions. Click OK button to complete the process. In next window you will be asked for Duration in number of days. Enter number of days here but not more than 365 days (that is maximum). Now click Issue button again and you are done.

At next pop up window you can print Exit Re-entry visa

In below images you can see the whole process in step by step. Thank you to QSaudi Blog for providing images.

A-O-A Dear, I have 3 questions for permanent family visa.

1. Do i need to attest marriage certificate from MOFA in saudi arabia?
2. Where can i find the approved Arabic translation centers in Dammam or Jeddah for degree and marriage certificate.( i already translated it from Pakistan)
3. Can i go directly to bank and deposit the family visa fees without having bank account.

Hoping to see congenial swift reply.

Regards, Nadir Ilyas

Please find the answers below as per my knowledge.

1. Yes you need to attest it from Ministry of Foreign Affairs Saudi Arabia (MOFA). It is a mandatory step as I have gone through this. This should be done after completing attestation process from your home country. Attestation of MOFA verifies that the attestation done by Saudi consulate in a foreign country is genuine and original. You can get more guideline about attesting documents from this post. The process is similar to that explained there.
2. In Jeddah there are so many Authorized Translation centers, but most commonly they are situated at King Fahad Street (60th Street) in the are that lies between Gharnatha St and Prince Muhammad Street. Take a look at the snapshot of Translation Centers. There is translation center in Consulate General of Pakistan in Jeddah as well. Probably it is cheaper as well.
3. You cannot deposit without having a Bank Account or at least it will be difficult. To do that you may get help from any friend who has a bank account, if some unknown person do it, they may charge you up to 50 SR for this. But before depositing the fee for family visa, first submit your visa file to Istikdam office and decide on their response. If they advise you to submit the fee then go for it.

I hope these answers will help you. For more questions about Saudi Family visa, please submit your questions to the comment box below. Regards, Yasir Imran.

Changing your Profession in Saudi Arabia doesn’t mean to leave your existing job and do something else but it means to change the profession that is mentioned on your Work Permit or Iqama. Why do someone want to change it? because it has huge impact on benefits and facilities you get in Saudi Arabia being a foreign worker. Including ability to apply for a Family Visa for yourself.

To Change Profession mentioned in your work permit you got to fulfill some requirements and rules. As per Saudi Arabian Ministry of labor you must be doing a technical job and earning a good lively hood to support your family in the Kingdom. That’s why labors and general staff are not entitled to apply for a family visa.

If an expatriate want to call his family on resident visa he must belong to a professional or technical job and his/her work permit should also state that. Every expatriate in Saudi Arabia has an Iqama (Resident permit) which states his profession.

If an expatriate is living in Saudi Arabia and his profession is not eligible for applying for a family visa he got an option to change his profession in his/her work permit. This doesn’t mean he has to change his job, but this is just like a requirement in documents.

1. Prerequisites to Changing Profession in Saudi Arabia

Once you have done Documents attestation from Saudi Consulate in your home country, bring your documents in Saudi Arabia and attest again from following.

• Consulate of your home countery
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia (located in Jeddah or any other city called خارجیہ)

2. Submit an Application for Change of Profession

Your company / sponsor must issue a letter that you are an employee to them and doing same kind of work as per your qualification and degree and also you are intended to change your profession as per same work. Now translate your degree into Arabic from an approved Translation Center in Saudi Arabia.

Then Find a good General Service Agency/Agent. These agencies and agents have their offices at Jawazat Street in Jeddah and you can find by yourself in other cities. Discuss necessary details with them. They will tell their requirements and fees.  Settle a suitable amount that is acceptable for both parties. Also make sure your new profession will be eligible for Applying a Family Visa, the best option to ask is nearest Istikdam Office (The department of Ministry of Labor which is responsible for issuing Family Visas to expatriates working Saudi Arabia.)

Once your profession is changed to a suitable profession you may apply for a family visa anytime. Further process is very simple that I will explain later.

To change your Profession in your Saudi Work Permit or Iqama, you must have a valid University degree or a 3 years technical diploma which is attested by Saudi Consulate in your home country and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in your home country. To attest your degree you must have gone through the following process. This is a Prerequisite to Changing Profession in Saudi Arabia.

1. Request a Letter from your Company; to Saudi Consulate for Attesting your Degree / Diploma.

If you are already present in Saudi Arabia, You need a letter from your Company/Sponsor to Saudi Consulate in your home country. The Letter should state that you are having an Iqama and working in Saudi Arabia and company has no objection if Saudi Embassy will attest your degree, then attest this letter from chamber of commerce in Saudi Arabia. Soon I will post a snapshot of this letter.

However if you are not present in Saudi Arabia or you didn’t reach Saudi Arabia yet, request such a letter from your employer via email or telephone and ask them to send original copy of the letter via Postal Service.

2. What else is required to Get your Degree / Diploma Attested

Once you received such a letter, gather below documents in one file.

1. Letter from your Employer to Saudi Consulate (Explained Above)
2. Copy of your Iqama
3. Copy of your passport.
4. Original Degree or Diploma

3. Prerequisites of Getting your Degree / Diploma Attested from Saudi Consulate in your Home Country

Before submitting it for attestation from Saudi Embassy / Consulate get your degree attested by yourself from following offices.

• Higher Education Commission of your home country
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs in your home country

Once degree/diploma is get attested from above, Move to step 4

4. Finally Submit to Saudi Consulate for Attestation

Contact any recruiting agency, travel agency or agent who is specialized for dealing with Consulate of Saudi Arabia in your home country. Almost all the agents who arrange Umrah Visas can help you in attesting your documents. Make sure to attest degree from following.

• Saudi Culture Center in home country
• Saudi Consulate in home country

Everyone among expatriates who are working in Saudi Arabia and living without their families, is interested in having family visa for Saudi Arabia. Because it is not easy to survive in a location where you don’t have your relatives, friends, language mates etc.

Being an expatriate I have gone through this process so I would like to share the process of getting family visa so others can benefit.

Below are prerequisites  and procedures which are required to obtain a Family Visa in Saudi Arabia. This process is divided many steps to make it clear and understandable. Before thinking or proceeding in to this you must be aware that you are required to have a Valid Saudi Iqama, a Suitable Technical Profession that is eligible for applying a family visa as per Saudi Arabian labor laws. If you are not sure your profession is suitable for a family visa you may ask your company’s HR department, legal advisory or corporate representative.

.First Applying for the visa (being in Saudi Arabia) and Second is Applying for Visa Stamping from your Home Country.

Applying for Family Visa Pre-Requisites

Please gather these documents.

1. Copy of Your iqama.
2. Copy of Your passport which includes information page, Visa page, Airport Entry Stamp page.
3. Original Marriage certificate that is attested by Saudi Consulate in your home country and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in your home country.
4. Arabic Translation of Marriage Certificate from an approved Translation center located in Saudi Arabia.
5. Graduation Degree or 3 Years Technical Diploma with attestation from Saudi Consulate in your home country and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in your home country.
6. Arabic Translation of Degree from an approved Translation center located in Saudi Arabia.

Procedure for applying Family Visa

• Get a Letter from your employer which is describing your Profession and salary.
• Get a Visa Application form from HR Department of your company or nearest Istikdam Office or download it from Pro Saudi Blog, Fill the form in Arabic. Normally the Legal Advisor of your company should do this sort of stuff. (Get this form filled by any Arabic literate person).
• The Family Visa application form should be stamped/signed by your sponsor(kafeel,company) and you.
• Get these documents ( pre-requisites + Letter + Visa Application Form) and bind them in one file.
• Visit Nearest Istikdam office in your city and apply for the visa. Further information can be gathered from the office itself.
• Istikdam office clerk will issue you a Yellow paper which is actually a Family visa. If Istikdam office didn’t issue in the first appearance, he may give you a later time to come and collect it.
• After Getting the Yellow paper you can start processing Family Visa from your home country through an agent.

Disclaimer: The author of this blog is not a law professional and does not hold any responsibility of misunderstanding and wrong doing of anyone. The author of the blog has gone through all this process, (1. Documents attestation from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, 2. Change of Profession, 3. Applying for a family visa, 4. Stamping visa to passport from Saudi Embassy and finally getting family in Saudi Arabia. So the above information should be considered a guide-line or information.

The author is not affiliated with any Recruiting Agency, Travel Agency, General Services Agency, Legal firm or Job Provider. The author will not accept any claim of misguidance, fraud or any other thing of same kind. Saudi Arabian Govt might change the law anytime in future so the best option for you to get family visa is; consult responsible department of your company.