Saudi lifts 3-year entry ban on expats who failed to return before visa expiry: Reports

The ban had been put in place in 2022 with foreign workers leaving the Kingdom and not returning in the stipulated amount of time, barred from entering the country

Published: Wed 17 Jan 2024, 10:14 PM

By
Web Desk

Image used for illustrative purpose. Photo: File

Saudi Arabia has lifted the three-year entry ban on expatriates who failed to return before the expiry of their visas, local media reported on Wednesday.

Saudi newspaper Okaz reported that the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) has instructed all departments to allow expatriates, who failed to return before the expiry of their exit and re-entry visa. According to Okaz, the directive came into effective on Tuesday, January 16.

The ban was put in place in 2022 with the General Directorate of Passports saying that expatriates that leave the Kingdom and do not return in the stipulated amount of time, will be barred from entering the country for a period of three years.

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It had said that expatriates with a re-entry visa must return to the country within the time specified on the visa , else, a new visa must be issued by the employer.

The phrase “exited and did not return” will be put on record for any expatriate after two months of the visa's expiry, the authority had said at that time.

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