Apply for Family Visit Visa Online in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is said to be a dry place since there are not too many options for the outdoor activities. In this regard, single people who are living in Saudi Arabia try to bring their family members to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to spend quality time. If your family is here, life becomes a bit interesting. In this regard, there are two options. First option is to bring your family on permanent visa and the second option is to bring them on family visit visa. If the stay is short term, family visit visa is a better option.

Requirement for Family Visit Visa in Saudi Arabia

1. You should have a valid original iqama with validity of at least 90 days
2. Copy of Passport
3. Copy of passport of each member of your family you want to invite for family visit visa
4. Acceptable Profession to apply for family visit visa, Unfortunately, if profession of your visa is not listed in one of the professions listed in the list, you will have to go for change of profession.

Following Persons can be invited on Family Visit Visa   

1. Wife
2. Children
3. Father
4. Mother
5. Brother (under 18)
6. Sisters (It is easier to get it for unmarried sisters)
7. Father in Law
8. Mother in Law

Step by Step Process to Apply for Family Visit Visa

Filing online application

Here we shall provide you step by step guide to apply for family visit visa in Saudi Arabia. First step of applying for Family Visit Visa is to fill an online application on the website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We have provided a detailed guideline offilling online application for Family Visit Visa of Saudi Arabiain this link. I would recommend you to read it and fill the application. In this way, you will be able to avoid many mistakes which cause the rejection of Family Visit Visa application. "Guideline to fill online Application for Family Visit Visa in Saudi Arabia"

Submitting the Application to Chamber of Commerce

Now sign the application and put the date on it. After this, go to your sponsor and ask him to sign and stamp the application. Make sure that the person who is signing your application is one who has authorized signatures in chamber of commerce. Now, you need to go to the chamber of commerce of the city where your employer is registered. Keep in mind, other chamber of commerce will not serve your objective. We have listed down some important points for attestation of documents from Chamber of Commerce. I would recommend you to read them before personally visiting chamber of commerce. Government employees should directly go to MOFA and submit this application there. You need to pay SR 25 fee for application of visa and submit it to the chamber of commerce. They will take copy of your application and give you another print out. Now you are done with the visa application submission.

Submitting the Application in Saudi Embassy

If your family visa is approved, you need to send application number to the relative in your home country. It is better to contact some agent in this regard. He will charge you a little amount but your work will be eased out in your home country. Normally agents who issue Umrah visas have some contacts in Saudi Embassy and they can speed up the process of your family visa application. The visit visa obtained from the procedure mentioned must be stamped from the Saudi consulate or Saudi embassy of the respective country within 3 months of its issuance as per the website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In some countries like Pakistan, Saudi Government has established Etimad Centers. You do not need to contact agents in case Etimad Centers are established in your native country. You directly go to them with the report of medical test. They will process the permanent family visa for you. Charges of Etimad Center are also same as mentioned above. You will have to take an online appointment at Etimad Center and the procedure of taking online appointment at Etimad Center is explained in this link. Following documents need to be submitted to the Saudi Embassy.

1. Original passport
2. Copy of your Iqama (Remember you are sponsor)
3. Copy of your Passport
4. 2-4 passport size photos
5. If you want to apply for visa of your married sister, authorization letter from her husband.
6. If you want to apply for the visa of in-laws. You need to present the marriage certificate and copy of the passport and Iqama of your wife.

Once the visa is processed and stamped by the Saudi Embassy, visa holder will have to travel within 3 months, failure to do so will result in expiration of the visa.

Procedure to Check Family Visit Visa Application Status

Officially they say, it takes 3 days but normally it takes a week to process the visa. Even if it takes more than that, don’t worry. You are dealing with Saudi government department so you should build up some patience. Go to this link, and enter your application number and Iqama number to get the status of your application. If everything goes fine, family visa will be issued. I have explained the in this link the Procedure to Check Family Visit Visa Application Status. Moreover, the meaning of different messages sent by the MOFA to the applicants is also detailed in that link.

If Some More Documents Required

In some cases, your application for family visa is not approved straight forward. They will ask you to submit the application along with some documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now attach all the documents mentioned above with the application and submit it to the nearest office of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You should go to MOFA office at around 11 am. This is the time when MOFA office will be least crowded. Timing of MOFA office is 7am to 2pm with Zuhr prayer break. If you will come in the early morning, you will find it very crowded. Continue the same process mentioned above for checking the online status of application. Soon, you will see good news there.

If Application is Rejected?
If online application for the family visit visa is rejected, do not worry. Apply for it again and in many cases it is accepted in second attempt. Even if it is not accepted that time, you should not lose hope, there is another way. You can apply for the Family Visit Visa through Istiqdam. I have explained the procedure in detail in this link "Apply for Family Visit Visa through Istiqdam". Application of Family Visit Visa for one of our friends was rejected 3 times, than he applied through this way and it was accepted.

Validity of Family Visit Visa

• Once visit visa is issued, it can be stamped by Saudi Embassy in your home country within 3 months of its issuance date.
• Once family visit visa is stamped in your home country by the Saudi Embassy, it is valid for 1 month from the date when it is stamped.

Extension of Visit Visa

• If visit visa is stamped for 30 days, it can be extended 5 more times. It means total stay in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be of 180 days in this case.
• If visit visa is initially issued for 90 days, it can be extended 1 more time. It means total stay in Saudi Arabia will be of 180 days. 
• We have published a detailed article about the process of extending the family visit visa in this article.
• Visit visa can be extended online as well. We have explained theprocess of extending the visit visa online in this article.

Do Not OVERSTAY
It is very important to mention here that expat living in Saudi Arabia on Iqama takes the responsibility of the family members entering to the Kingdom. In case of Overstay of any family member, even if the stay is of a single day, SR 25,000/- fine is imposed on the expatriate with Iqama. In fact, you should plan the departure 3,4 days before expiry of the visa date. You never know, due to flight problem you may have to stay at airport or some other bad thing may happen to you. You can read about this topic in detail in this article, "What to do if Family Visit Visa Expires"