Saudi Arabia grants free 1-month renewal of residency visas of expats abroad

Dubai - September 30 has been set as the deadline for the extension, which will be processed automatically.

A free re-entry visa validity extension of a month for expatriate workers waiting abroad to return to Saudi Arabia was announced by the Saudi General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) on Monday.
The announcement, as reported by local media such as Arab News, included the same extension and grace period for expats in Saudi Arabia who have invalid exit and entry visas that were not used due to the border closure.
The automatic extension also covers the residency permits (iqama) of labourers and domestic workers who have exit and entry visas, but whose iqamas expired while they were outside the Kingdom.
Arab News says the move includes a free-of-charge extension for the final-exit visas of expats who were unable to leave Saudi Arabia during the coronavirus crisis.
The directorate said in a statement that September 30 has been set as the deadline for the extension.
Expats who work in commercial professions waiting to return to the Kingdom with exit and entry visas are also included in the extension. This is on the condition that their iqamas ended in the period between August 1 and August 31.
Visa holders are not obligated to visit local passport departments and the extension process will take place automatically. 
Extensions will be electronically processed in cooperation with the National Information Center.
Saudi Arabia has reported a huge decline in daily Covid-19 cases since its record tally of almost 5,000 confirmed cases on June 16, according to the health ministry.
This was the most since it began recording infections on March 2. Just 768 new cases were recorded on Monday, taking the total infections to 321,456.

• Saudi Arabia