Saudi Arabia: Visit visa cannot be connverted into iqama
Recently visit visas of expat kids were allowed to be converted into residence permits
Cairo: Saudi authorities have dismissed as incorrect a report on social media claiming that the kingdom’s interior ministry has agreed to transfer the visit visa into a regular iqama or residency permit for foreigners.
“Instructions do not permit to convert a visit visa into a regular iqama for individuals,” the Saudi General Directorate of Passports said, according to the Saudi news portal Al Marsd.
The directorate denied as untrue the alleged circular about an official approval of the conversion and related procedures, the portal said.
Last month, the directorate said expatriates’ children under the age of 18 can have their visit visas to Saudi Arabia converted into a resident ID iqama, provided their parents hold regular iqamas.
The directorate also said the iqama expiry of the expatriate, who applied for dependents’ visit, does not stop extension of the visitor’s visa.
Saudi Arabia is home to a large community of expat workers.