Saudi Arabia: No change in online visa procedures

Saudi airport customs

There will be no change in the existing electronic systems and procedures related to the process of foreign labor recruitment and dealing with expatriates under the Unified National Visa Platform, according to the recent decision of the Council of Ministers.

As per the decision, taken by the Cabinet on May 17, the hosting of the Unified National Visa Platform will be transferred to the National Information Center (NIC) within a year.

The Cabinet noted that its decision to adopt the platform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a unified platform for visas will not lead to any changes in the existing electronic systems and procedures currently in force at the Ministry of Interior and its platforms.

These include those pertaining to the Border Law, the Recruitment Law, and the rules for dealing with expatriates. The Cabinet decided to transform the Online Visa Platform under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to NIC.

A technical working team will be formed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to ensure that the NIC’s hosting of the platform will be transferred within a period not exceeding one year from the date of the decision issued in this regard.

The Cabinet has assigned a total of 11 ministries and government agencies to develop the Unified National Visa Platform. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development will be responsible — through its platforms — for all work visa applications submitted by natural or legal persons and sent for approval to the Unified National Platform for Visas at MOFA.

The new committee would consist of representatives of 10 ministries and government agencies apart from MOFA.

The committee will be tasked to undertake the procedures to develop the unified platform. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be the owner and technical developer of the platform while NIC will be its host.

SAUDI GAZETTE