Family Visa

Saudi Arabia Family Visit Visa: Current Status and Important Updates

A comprehensive overview for travelers and families planning their visit


Introduction

Saudi Arabia continues to evolve as a popular destination for families seeking to visit relatives, explore cultural heritage, or enjoy tourism opportunities. If you’re planning to visit family members in Saudi Arabia, understanding the latest visa policies is crucial. In this post, we’ll explore the current status of Saudi Arabia’s family visit visas, including whether multiple-entry options are available for extended durations like 365 days.

Please note: The information provided here is based on publicly available sources and official announcements up to October 2023. Always verify with official channels or authorized visa agencies before making travel plans.


Is the Saudi Arabia Family Visit Visa Currently Open?

As of recent updates, Saudi Arabia has been gradually easing travel restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic. The family visit visa remains a vital pathway for relatives to reunite, and the Saudi government has maintained its commitment to facilitating such visits.

Key Points:

  • The family visit visa is generally open for applicants who meet the eligibility criteria.
  • The application process is accessible through the Saudi eVisa platform or via authorized visa agents.
  • Travelers should ensure they meet health and safety protocols, which may include COVID-19 testing or vaccination requirements, depending on the prevailing health guidelines.

Note: Due to dynamic international health situations, some restrictions or requirements may change. Always consult official sources before planning your trip.


Multiple-Entry Visas and Duration of Stay

One of the most common questions pertains to whether Saudi Arabia offers multiple-entry visas valid for extended periods such as 365 days.

Current Status:

  • Multiple-Entry Visas: Saudi Arabia does provide multiple-entry visit visas, which allow visitors to enter and leave the country multiple times within the visa validity period.
  • Validity Period: The standard multiple-entry visit visas are typically issued for durations ranging from 90 days up to 6 months per visit, with the overall validity period often being 6 months to 1 year.
  • Extended Duration (e.g., 365 days): As of now, a 365-day multiple-entry family visit visa is not a standard offering. Most visas are issued for shorter periods, with extensions available under certain conditions.

Important Considerations:

  • Visa policies are subject to change based on government regulations.
  • Extensions or renewals may be possible but require adherence to legal procedures and sponsorship requirements.
  • Always check with the Saudi embassy or official visa portals for the most accurate and current information.

Recent Developments and Official References

While there haven’t been recent announcements specifically about 365-day multiple-entry family visit visas, Saudi Arabia’s visa policies continue to adapt. For instance, the introduction of eVisas for tourism and family visits has simplified the application process.

Sources:


Tips for a Smooth Visa Application

  • Ensure all required documents are complete and valid.
  • Have a clear sponsorship arrangement if required.
  • Check the latest health protocols and travel advisories.
  • Use authorized visa agencies or official portals for application.

Final Thoughts

Saudi Arabia offers a welcoming environment for family visits, with ongoing efforts to streamline visa services. While multiple-entry visas for up to 365 days are not yet standard, current options include multiple-entry visas with shorter durations and extensions.

Always stay updated through official sources to ensure your travel plans align with the latest policies and regulations.


Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Visa policies are subject to change, and it is advisable to consult official government sources or authorized visa agents for definitive guidance.

If you need further assistance or official updates, consider visiting the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs or contacting your nearest Saudi embassy or consulate.

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Let me know if you’d like any further modifications!

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Saudi Family Visit Visa: What’s the Latest in 2025?

1. Is the visa currently open?

As of June 30, 2025, Saudi Arabia has reopened family, tourism, and business visit visas for all previously affected nationalities. While entry & exit decisions remain at the discretion of authorities, the temporary suspension that began April 13 ended on June 30—so new visas are being processed again.


2. Can you get a multiple‑entry visa valid for 365 days?

Yes. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now issues a multiple‑entry Family Visit Visa valid for 365 days, allowing:

  • Multiple trips to Saudi Arabia within that year

  • Up to 90 days per entry (renewable)

This visa is available to both Saudi nationals and expatriate residents (with valid Iqama) who invite first-degree relatives.

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How to Issue Family Iqama in Saudi Arabia

Issue New FAMILY IQAMA for your dependents

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.

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Sample Letter to Saudi Embassy for Degree Attestation

sample letter to saudi embassy from saudi sponsor

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

Letter from your employer to Saudi Embassy
Letter from your employer to Saudi Embassy

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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Getting Family Exit Re-Entry Visa via Moi Abshir Online Services

exit-re-entry-visa-using-online-services

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.

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Attesting and Translating Marriage Certificate for Saudi Family Visa

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.

Marriage Certificate

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.

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How to Change Profession in Saudi Arabia

Changing Profession in Saudi Arabia

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.

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How to Get your Degree Attested from your Home Country

Attesting Documents from Saudi Embassy in your home country
Degree / Diploma Attested

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
Now move to step 3. The next steps should be done in your home country.

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

In Pakistan all these offices are located in Islamabad. Please note that you can’t go to embassy yourself for this work, you should find an agent who is approved by Saudi Consulate to do this. This is the website of one of the agents doing this.

http://www.skylinkservices.org/

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