The expats in Saudi Arabia are allowed to sponsor their first-degree relatives for a 1-year multiple-entry visit visa. In this article, I will demonstrate how you can apply for this visa.
This visa allows the holder to stay in the Kingdom for 90 days at each entry. It is extendable to another 90 days or less depending on the approval from the passports (Jawazat) office. The holder can also extend his stay in the Kingdom by exiting from any port of exit and entering again.
After the implementation of the dependent fees commonly known as family tax, many families switched to this visa. They obtain this visa and stay in the Kingdom for up to 15 months on this visa. Once the visa expires, they obtain a new visa and stay for another 15 months.
You must be wondering if the visa valid only for 1 year or 12 months, how can someone stay up to 15 months? Well, this approach is completely legal. In the 12th month of the visa validity, just before the expiry date of which is mentioned in the visa document or the visa sticker on the passport, the holder exits the country. Upon entry, the visa holder will be granted another 3 months of stay based on the expiry date of the visa mentioned in the document.
Let’s now move the further steps where I will discuss, who can be sponsored, the required documents, and the procedure.
Eligibility Criteria for a Family Visit Visa in Saudi Arabia
Before you apply for this visa you need to know which family members you can sponsor for a 1-year multiple Family Visit Visa. For this visa only first-degree family is allowed, For Example:
- Mother, Father, Brothers, and Sisters
- Spouse, and Kids
- Kids’s Spouse and Kids.
- Brother’s Spouse and Kids.
- Sister’s Spouse and Kids.
In the case of a stepfather or mother, you will need to present proof of the relationship between you and your biological parent. In the case of step-siblings, you will need to present proof of the relationship between you and your common biological parent.
This visa can also be sponsored to any other family member with whom you can present proof of relationship.
Required Documents for Family Visit Visa
There are no documents required when applying for the visa. All you need is the passport information of the person you are willing to sponsor the Saudi family visit visa. However, once the visa has been issued from Saudi Arabia, the applicant will need to submit the passport for the issuance of the visa from the Royal Saudi Embassy in their home country. The documents that are required for issuance from the embassy are:
- Valid passport with a minimum validity of 6 months.
- Two (2) passport-size pictures with a white background.
- Sponsored Visa Document.
- Complete the visa application form. Click here to download.
- Iqama copy of the sponsor.
- Passport copy of the sponsor.
- Complete personal information of the sponsor (can be obtained from Absher’s personal information section).
- Proof of relationship
- Spouse: Original marriage certificate duly attested from the
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your home country.
- Siblings Kids: Family Tree or Family Registration Certificate of your sibling’s kids with them and by birth duly attested from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your home country.
- Definition of ‘By Birth’: It refers to the family tree of the person in which he or she was born. It will include family members such as parents and siblings.
- The requirements of proof of relationship can be different for each nationality or country you are applying from. To know about yours please visit Tasheer’s website by clicking here. PHOTO
- Any other relevant information needed based on your nationality or the country you are applying from please visit the website of Tasheer.
Procedure to Apply for a Family Visit Visa
To apply for a family visit visa, visit the visa platform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by clicking here.
- Login to the website by clicking on “Login”
- Use the Nafath Platform to log in.
- Once you are logged in, you will see a “Family visit visa application for residents” Click on Apply.
- Now you will see the application page with your (sponsor) details on the page with your Iqama, expiry date of iqama, profession, and contact details.
- Now you have to add the applicants of the visit visa that you are going to sponsor. click on the “Add” button.
- A new window will appear and now this window you have to add all the details of the applicant. Here you will add details of the person exactly matching with the passport.
- The Saudi systems ask applicants to give up to four (4) names. You just have to add your Given name in the First name box and your surname in the family name box.
- If the applicant is not working just select “Unemployed” on occupational status.
- Add passport number, expiry date, issue date, issuing country (Citizenship Country), and select passport type.
- While Selecting the relation, if it is not mentioned in the list, select other. A new box will appear and write the relation in that box.
- After adding passport information proceed down to visa information and select the coming place (Departing City). You have to select this very carefully as you will be only able to submit your application in the same city.
- If your residence city does not appear, select the city nearest to your city.
- Then Select Number of Entries, There are two types here
- Single Entry (Valid for 90 days from the date of issue and allows a stay of 30 days, extendable up to another 90 days)
- Multiple Entry (Valid for 365 days from the date of issue and allows a stay of 90 days, extendable up to another 180 days)
- It is always better to apply for 365 days 365-day visa because the cost of both visas are same.
- After selecting the visa during and period click “Add” or “Edit” if you are editing it.
- After completing, the previous window will appear and now you just have to complete the Image Captcha and Save the application.
- After saving the application now the official document of the visit visa request has been created. You can print this by clicking the option طباعة.
- You have to request your company HR or GR (sponsor of the sponsor of visit visa) to complete the attestation of this document from the Chamber of Commerce.
- Once attestation is complete, a new box will appear on your application request in the system.
- Now you have to wait for up to two (2) weeks for the application to be reviewed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue the visa and the same request will be converted into a visa document.
Now you just have to share this document with your applicants in your home country.
Cost of Family Visit Visa
The family visit visa costs approximately 900 to 1000 SAR. The cost break-down is as follows;
- Visa Fees: approximately 315 SAR or 85 USD.
- Travel Insurance: approximately 150 SAR or 40 USD.
- Service Charges: This varies for all countries, check Tasheer’s website by clicking here.
- Select your Country with the appropriate language of your choice.
- Click Visa Fees.
- Select Visa Center
- Select your nationality
- Choose Visa Type “Family Visit” and select “Number of Entries” with Visa validity.
Application Submission in Home Country
Once your family receives the visa document and you have completed the research on the visa fees, now you have to book an appointment with the visa processing center. Tasheer is the global visa-processing website for Saudi Arabia visa processing through Embassies worldwide.
Before booking an appointment with Tasheer, make sure to check the required visa documents page. Make sure you take all the relevant documents before submission of your application otherwise, the processing agent will reject your application until you complete the requirements of the documents.
I hope this article helps you in applying for a family visit visa in Saudi Arabia.
