Permanent family visa for Saudi Arabia

The biggest problem facing expatriates working in Saudi Arabia is bringing one's family into the kingdom.
I had already covered the procedure for the same earlier (please click this link). But this was for bringing
one's family on a visit visa. I would now like to mention the procedure for bringing one's family on a
permanent visa.
I have mentioned several times in the past about the profession in the residence permit or iqama (See
this link for more details). The biggest hurdle facing an expatriate working in Saudi Arabia is the
profession in his iqama. It is quite common to find people working in one profession whereas his iqama
would have something else as a profession. In fact, one ex-Principal of an international school here, a
professor with a double doctorate, had to resign in frustration and go back, as he could not bring his
family here. The reason? His profession was mentioned as a painter, and as per the rules, a painter
cannot sponsor his wife! What a pity!
Coming back to our topic, the first thing you should do is to check your iqama profession. If it is
mentioned as "Labor" or "Operator" or "Secretary" or any other non-supervisory category, you can
straightaway assume that you cannot bring your family either on visit or on permanent visa. But if you are
qualified, i.e., a degree holder and yet your iqama profession is in one of those mentioned in the
'restricted' list, then the best way out is to get your profession changed as mentioned here (please click
here) and then apply for a family visa.
Next, you must get the following certificates attested in your home country.
1. Your original degree / diploma certificate
2. Your original marriage certificate
3. Copies of Birth certificates of your children
You also need the following:
1. Arabic translation of your marriage certificate
2. Arabic translation of your degree / diploma certificate
Note that all of these have to be done in your home country. For your degree certificate, you must first get
the same attested by the HRD Ministry or the Ministry of Education (where applicable) of your home
country's government. Once this is done, it has to be re-attested by the Saudi Embassy in your home
country.
Once all the above are ready, they have to be brought to the kingdom by you. Now, you need two more
documents. The first is your salary certificate which has to be attested by the Chamber of Commerce in
your city. The next is an introduction letter from your sponsor in Arabic, complete with all the details of
your salary, your position in the company, etc., in the company letter head with the signature of your
company's authorized representative and company seal.
Approach any of the numerous agents here and get all the processing done through them. This would
save you time and energy. However, you can also get the work done here yourself. In that case, do the
following.
Get an application form for permanent family visa and fill all the details in Arabic. You may need an
Arabic-speaking person next to you to do this. Make sure that there are no mistakes. Next, submit the
following to the Passport Department ( Jawasat )in your city:
1. Original family visa application
2. Copy of your iqama
3. Original salary certificate / introduction letter from your company in Arabic with salary details attested
by the Chamber of Commerce
4. Copy of the passport of each one in your family (eg., wife and each child)
5. Copy of birth certificate for each of your children
6. Arabic translation of the copy of your marriage certificate
7 Copy of your degree / diploma certificate which has been attested.
9. Arabic translation of your degree / diploma certificate.
9. Copy of your passport
10. Copy of your work permit card (the original is normally attached to the passport and will be in custody
of your sponsor)
If you are going personally, keep ready with you the originals of the following:
1. Original degree certificate
2. Original marriage certificate
3. Original iqama
4. Original work permit card
The above may be required for verification and depends on the mood of the officer across the counter :)
If everything goes well, he will give you a so-called 'Yellow Slip' immediately. Get a color photo copy of
this yellow slip for your records and send the original to your family in your home country.
Ask them to submit copies of all of the above documents, along with the original yellow slip and original
passports of your wife and children to the consulate of embassy of the Saudi Government in your home
country. Usually, if it is not Ramadan or Haj season, you should get a permission to proceed for medical
test within 2 weeks. Once this is obtained, ask your family to get the medical test in the authorized place
(mentioned by the Embassy). This medical report must be again submitted to the embassy. That's it. The
visa would be stamped on the passports of your family and they just have to buy their tickets to join you in
the kingdom.
Hope the above post was useful. Do let me know of the same. Your appreciation is my motivation to write
more.



















Family visit visa
There are a lot of expatriates in the kingdom who are currently without their families, but would like to
bring them on a visit visa. This post is meant to guide those.
The most important factor which decides whether you can bring your family or not, is the profession
mentioned in your iqama or residence permit. Note that this may not be your actual job title. For example,
it is quite common for an engineer to be hired on a labor visa.This has already been coveredhere earlier.
But for all government transactions, it is the profession mentioned in your iqama which matters, not your
job title!
Unfortunately, you are eligible to bring your family only for certain types of visas (like engineer, doctor,
technician, etc). If your have arrived on a labor visa, you have absolutely no chance of bringing your
family, and it is better to get the profession changed to some other category - this is not an easy task
though.
Coming back to the visit visa procedure for bringing your family into the kingdom, I would like to clarify at
the outset that the procedure itself is quite simple. The only difficult part is the profession mentioned in
your iqama, as already mentioned above.

Before you proceed to fill in the online form, you must have with you the following documents ready.
1. Your original iqama (keep a copy with yourself for records)
2. Your passport photocopy
3. Introduction letter in Arabic from your employer giving details about your salary
4. Passport copy of the visiting member (parents / children / in-laws) (Note that a separate
application has to be made for each individual family member whom you are going to sponsor)
For sponsoring your in-laws, the following additional documents are required:
Certificate from a hospital in case your wife needs support for any reason, eg., pregnancy
Wife's passport copy - this is to prove the relationship between your wife and her father / mother
Copy of your Marriage Certificate, translated in Arabic and attested by the Saudi consulate /
embassy in your home country

Once you are ready with all of the above, proceed to the next step as below. Have a person who can read
Arabic next to you. Then click on this linkhttps://visa.mofa.gov.sa/VisaFamilyApp/FamilyApp.asp. The
name of your family member AND the name of the sponsor (i.e., YOU) should be filled ONLY in English.
All the remaining data are to be filled in Arabic. Remember, YOU are the sponsor for your family, and
NOT your employer. In case more than one family member is visiting you and are coming by the same
flight, enter their names in the same form, otherwise use separate forms.
In the column asking for the number of days of visa required, type "90". If you are lucky, you will get a 3-
month visit visa, otherwise it will be only a 1-month visa. There is no hard and fast rule. Everything
depends on the mood of the officer who decides the visa validity. However, you can always renew the
visit visa twice, and each extension is for one month only. In the column asking for the purpose of the
visit, type as "famly visit" in Arabic.
Once you fill in this form and submit, you will get an acknowledgement number on the screen. Print two
copies of this. Keep one copy with yourself as a reference. You will be needing this soon. Take a printout
of your filled-in application form, sign it in the place mentioned in the bottom along with the date. Don't
forget to take the signature and stamp of your company sponsor. Once this is done, attach this along with
the remaining documents mentioned above and submit it to your nearest Ministry of Foreign Affairs office
(not to be confused with the passport office (Jawasat, as it is known locally). Renewal can be done in the
Jawasat, but for the first time, you must submit it in the MOFA office.
Most important point: You must submit the above documents within 3 working days of filling in the on-line
form, or else all your effort is a waste. Remember, Thursdays and Fridays are weekly offs for Government
departments in the kingdom, so keep this in mind before filling in the form.
Wait for about a week and the visit the above mentioned link once again. Type in your iqama number and
the acknowledgement number which is mentioned in the printout you took earlier. If you get the same
page after hitting the 'Enter' button on your keyboard, it means that your visa is still under processing.
Otherwise, you should get a so-called 'Yellow slip'. Take two 'COLOR' printouts of this, and keep one for
your reference, and note down the URL address.
You have now crossed half the journey. The next step is to send the following documents to your home
country.
1. The 'Yellow slip' color printout mentioned above
2. Copy of your Iqama
3. Copy of your passport (remember, you are the sponsor)
4. Copy of your marriage certificate (required only when you plan to bring your in-laws to
prove the relationship between your wife and her parent(s) - this is to ensure that the visitor is
really your in-law
5. Printout of your last 3 months' bank statement
6. A letter in English addressed to the Saudi Embassy / Consulate of your home country
stating that you will be present to receive your guest
7. Introduction letter in Arabic from your employer giving details about your salary
Send all of the above by courier to your home country. Along with the above documents, the following
should be attached by your family member and submitted to the Saudi Embassy / Consulate in your
home country:
1. Original passport of each family member who plans to visit
2. Passport copy of your wife (incase your in-laws are visiting - this is to prove that the
visitor is indeed your in-law)
Good luck with your efforts to bring your family to the kingdom. If this post was useful, do send in your
comments. Your appreciation is my motivation to write more.