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Post by Keith317 on Mar 20, 2014 21:26:12 GMT
Hi,
Stupid question (hopefully). I am arriving late July along with the family. Let's assume that it takes a month or so to get visa/Iqama sorted. That will take us to, say, September.
All fine.
In future years, I will be intending to have the family out of Kingdom during the summer school holidays - returning in time for the school restart. Problem is, if I understand correctly, that the visa/Iqama will need to be renewed in August which presents an inconvenience to say the least.
Is it possible to request an early renewal of visa/Iqama the first time. For example, February or March and then have that annual renewal on that more convenient cycle. I would imagine we would not be the only people to have faced this question.
Many thanks for any advice.
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Wutz
Senior Member
Posts: 143
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Post by Wutz on Mar 21, 2014 2:50:24 GMT
Keith137,
Visa and iqama renewal is definitely something you need to keep on top of. I'm pretty sure that you can renew early as long you have a valid reason like family leaving for summer repeat. And there's a period before iqama expiration where you can apply for renewal (I think it is one month, but it may be three - someone please correct me if that's wrong). But I would not count on being able to move your iqama renewal to a certain month just so it would be convenient for future renewals. In any case, renewals and expiration are things that aren't a huge problem as long as you stay on top of them. And oddly, the folks that I know of that ran into issues usually are people that have been here a while and had grown complacent (i.e. forgot to check the dates of everyone in the family and end up at the airport only to find that everybody but the youngest child has a valid visa!).
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Post by GroveWanderer on Mar 21, 2014 11:54:57 GMT
Last time I renewed our iqamas, I'm pretty sure the reminder from the passport office came 3 months before the expiry date and when I did the renewal there was still 2 months to go.
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derekg
Senior Member
Posts: 107
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Post by derekg on Mar 21, 2014 14:40:49 GMT
An Iqama can be renewed 3 up to months prior to the expiration date. When you renew, it is for another year from the expiry date and not the date you renew it. The only thing to watch when you renew your iqama is any multiple entry visas. These are only for the one year period from the date of issue/activation.
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Post by Keith317 on Mar 21, 2014 21:36:13 GMT
Thanks all. So, to synthesise here. After our arrival in late July, we should hope the authorities d their heels as much as possible (within reason) to enable us a lot more flexibility the following summer?
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Post by Hadia on Mar 22, 2014 6:28:43 GMT
We are US passport family in KSA. The last two times our mult visas were renewed, it was for 6 mos only. We had no choice in the matter. Despite the employer clearing the request for one year, the gov't approved 6 mos only each time. There are a lot of dates, fees and renewals to manage with our scenario. Visa activation and expiration issues, as well.
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Post by Hadia on Mar 22, 2014 6:39:30 GMT
Keith317,
There may be a natural backlog of document processing in August, following the end of Ramadan and long Eid holiday at the end of July.
I would add that I strongly recommend you arrive AFTER Eid Al Fitr holiday. We arrived during a Ramadan and found the new arrival experience to be rather miserable. Offices, stores closed, buses on skeleton hours, no taxis to be had, and most dependent friendly types (wives, new arrival welcomers) were out of Kingdom. If you can delay your departure until mid-August, I think your family will find it a lot easier to settle in.
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Wutz
Senior Member
Posts: 143
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Post by Wutz on Mar 22, 2014 12:04:42 GMT
Hadia,
My understanding is that the 6-month-visa issue was temporary (it lasted a month or two), and apparently has happened before. When I renewed my family's visas this January (also US passports), the visas were good for 12 months.
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Post by Hadia on Mar 23, 2014 4:16:38 GMT
We renewed in Jan. Good for 6 mos.
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Post by GroveWanderer on Mar 23, 2014 12:45:38 GMT
Our multiple exit/re-entry visas were issued in February and are for one year. As Wutz mentioned, the six-month visas were being issued for a short period until the system reverted to "normal." The passport office announced both the beginning and the end of the period when only 6-month visas were being issued.
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Post by Keith317 on Mar 23, 2014 21:49:42 GMT
Thanks Hadia. I have been able to stall until after Eid. However, as a function of my long notice period here in London, any prospect of further delay causes considerable angst to Saudi Aramco. This, we will have to tough it out for the post-Eid al Fitr part of Ramadan. Hopefully, there will be enough friendly souls still around to help us through  |
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Post by UmmRiyam on Mar 27, 2014 11:15:33 GMT
My iqama is under my Saudi husband, and he recently renewed my iqama online, and now it's good until 2017. I don't know if that's something you can do now too, but it's a lot easier than it used to be.
He was also able to get me an exit/re-entry visa online as well, but he said he could only get a single exit/re-entry online, not a multiple.
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