To be able to bring your family to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the best option is a MOFA family visit visa. Thanks to this document, family members can visit you for a period and thus enjoy the beauties of Saudi Arabia together.
In this article, you will see all the important information about the MOFA family visit visa in Saudi Arabia. That is all the details about how to apply, eligibility, and the documents you need.
What is the MOFA family visit visa?
A MOFA family visit visa is a document issued by the MOFA. This way, your first-degree relatives i.e. wives, children, and parents can visit you in Saudi Arabia for a while. Therefore, if you have your Iqama and your employment contract you can apply for a family visit visa.
Requirements for a family visit visa to Saudi Arabia
You must meet these requirements if you plan to sponsor your family members:
- Be a legal citizen or resident.
- Make your Iqama valid for at least 4 months.
- Documents required for family visit visa
- These documents will be necessary to apply for a family visa:
- A copy of the visa sponsor’s passport.
- The applicant’s passport is valid for at least 6 months.
- Photocopy of the sponsor’s Iqama.
- Photographs (4) passport size.
- National identity document of the visa applicant.
- To sponsor your spouse you must present your marriage certificate.
Family members eligible for a MOFA family visit visa
The MOFA family visa can only be obtained for these family members:
- Spouse (wife/husband).
- Children.
- Parents.
- Inlaws.
If you have a good Iqama professional status, you will be able to have approval for these family members:
Grandparents.
- Brother, his wife, and children.
- Sister, her husband, and children.
- Sister-in-law and brother-in-law.
Application process for Saudi Arabia family visit visa
The process to apply for the MOFA family visa visa can be difficult, but by following these steps you will be clear about how to do it:
- Go to the MOFA visa platform.
- Select the icon where it says services for citizens and residents.
- You will have to select from the 3 available options: Citizen, GCC Citizen, or Resident according to your status.
- Look for the option that says application for family visit visa and click apply.
- Next, you must log in to the platform using a national single sign-on. Additionally, you can use a unified national visa platform account.
- When you are logged in you will have to click Apply again under the family visit visa application.
- You will be able to see all your data and the application form that must be filled out.
- In the visit objectives column, you must write only a family visit.
- If you visit the country before, provide the entry visa number that appears stamped on the top of the passport.
- If it is your first visit you can leave it blank.
- In the wanted to visit column you will have to click add.
- Then you must provide all the personal information of the applicant, such as name, occupation, etc.
- Please provide all passport information and visa information of the applicant.
- Check if all information is correct.
- If you want to add more applicants click add.
- Click on approval agreement and then where it says save.
- MOFA will then generate an order number and you will see the request form on your screen.
- Once this is completed, click print to directly print the application form.
Final approvals
Once the application form is printed, it must be signed and stamped by your sponsor. If you are a private sector employee, this is done by your sponsor. However, if you are a public sector employee, this request must be approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After sending the request to the COC, you must verify if the request was approved, and for this you will see these changes:
- Visa documents and not applying for a family visa.
- Visa documentation number and order number.
This document should be sent to your family member so that they can send it to the Saudi Arabian embassy or consulate in your country.
MOFA family visit visa processing time
It should be taken into account that many factors can cause delays, such as the volume of requests. However, processing time is generally 4 to 5 days.
Visa duration for family visits
Single-entry family visas are valid for 30 days and can be extended more than once. However, it must have a maximum duration of 180 days.
On the other hand, multiple entry visas are valid for 90 days and allow a maximum of 4 re-entries. In addition, to extend the visa they must leave the country before. Finally, to extend the visa they must have medical insurance that lasts the entire stay.
Cost of a family visit visa in Saudi Arabia
You need to pay the application fee to obtain your MOFA family visa. Thus, for both multiple-entry and single-entry visas, the fee is SAR 200.
In addition, the fee to extend the visa is 100 SAR. In case you renew your family visa within three days of its expiration, you must pay an additional SAR 500 fee.
Check MOFA visit visa vtatus
You can check the status of your MOFA family visa application by following these steps:
- Go to the MOFA visa platform.
- On the right in the query tab select request number in query type.
- Write your application number.
- Provide your identification number.
- Solve the captcha and click search.
At the end of this process, the scenarios that may arise are:
- Not submitted to the COC: The employer has not yet attested to your application.
- Submitted to COC: The employer applied and can see the name of the COC where it was submitted.
- Approved visit visa: You can download and send the PDF document to your family member and thus process the visa in their country of origin.
- Application in process: Must wait for approval.
- No results were found: You probably entered incorrect data.
- Visa Rejection: Your visa was rejected. This can happen due to an incorrectly completed application, insufficient validity of your Iqama, etc.
By residing in Saudi Arabia, you can improve your quality of life. If you want to get more resources for succeeding in this country, you have to visit our blog. You can learn how to do the Mudad KSA login & registration or everything about the Muqeem visa validity.