RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced digital services for expatriates to renew their residency permit (Iqama) on a quarter-of-a-year basis and save a copy on their smartphones.
These services available on Absher Afrad (Individual) platform are among a series of electronic services, mainly related to the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) and the Traffic Directorate, launched by Minister of Interior Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Saud Bin Naif.
The Absher Afrad services also included the expatriates’ consent service to allow transfer of his services to a new employer and the registration of dependents and companions of expatriates on the Absher platform on the basis of their border entry number or the Iqama number of expatriates.
This registration service will also be available for the visitors and citizens of other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
Expatriates can have Resident ID electronic card service so as to enable them to keep digital Iqama on their smartphones.
Saudi banks recently started updating their government payments system for the issuance and renewal of Iqamas, which are linked with work permits, for three months and six months.
According to the recently updated government payments system, Iqama fees can be paid on a quarterly or half-yearly basis.
This will facilitate completing the procedures of issuance and renewal of Iqamas for the required period through the online platforms of Absher Business, Muqeem, and Qiwa under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
According to the recent amendments in the government payments system, the banks will accept the payment of the fee for the work permit by the employer for a minimum of three months or up to a whole year. The issuance and renewal of Iqama are linked with the work permit.
The employers will make payment of the expatriate fee for the renewal of the work permit, which is SR800/month or SR9,600/year. The expatriates who have dependents would have to pay SR400/month for each dependent.
The new Absher Afrad services also included renewal of the national ID service, issuance of electronic ID in place of the lost one, passport services for foster families, and Absher reports service.
