Saturday, February 24, 2024
Is it possible to arrest an Expat, who is holding expired Iqama in Saudi Arabia?
According to a Saudi lawyer, having an expired iqama or residency permit in Saudi Arabia is not a valid reason to be arrested in the Kingdom. Join Saudi Expatriates channel on Facebook
As the iqama expires, a police officer is not allowed to arrest a resident expatriate, a lawyer named Zyad Al Shalan said in a TikTok video.
- He said that if you do not renew your iqama by the due date, you will be fined, unless there is another reason besides the document expiring for arresting an expat worker.
- People from outside the kingdom who fail to obtain a resident ID within 90 days of moving there are fined by 500 riyals.
- The General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) in Saudi Arabia stated that an expatriate must go through a medical test and pay the necessary fees in order to get a resident ID (iqama) through the government platform Absher or the Muqeem portal for his or her job. Related : Fine for delaying iqama renewal in Saudi Arabia
- Expatriates can get three-month residency permit that can be renewed for the same length of time, and starting from the year 2021, they will be able to save a digital copy of the iqama on their smartphones.
- Since the expatriate's iqama is renewed every three months, they also have to pay the dependent fee every three months for their dependents living in the Kingdom.
- The iqama fee can be paid every three months or every six months, or annually, according to a government payment method.
- Saudi Arabia is home to plenty of foreign workers. The country has about 32.2 million people. A recent census report revealed that about 13.4 million people, or 41.5% of the kingdom's total population, are not from the kingdom, as they are expatriates. Similar : Expats are allowed to carry a digital copy of iqama
- The Saudi government just recently added a set of services for people who live outside of Saudi Arabia. With this new rule, foreigners who are leaving Saudi Arabia on exit/re-entry visas can now come back until the end of their visas.
- The Saudi Jawazat stated that expats with exit/re-entry visas can also have their visas extended online while they are outside of Saudi Arabia, as long as they pay the necessary fees through Absher or Muqeem.
