Saudi Arabia double cost family visit visa

Although the cost of the visa is said to be low on paper, the family visit visa of Saudi Arabia has to be paid twice as much. Expatriates in Saudi Arabia complain that the cost of visit visas is increasing due to the syndicate. Expatriates have demanded to take initiatives to reduce visa fees.

From 2019, the Saudi government decided to reduce the visit visa fee for families of expatriates. Expatriates living in Saudi Arabia regularly bring their families to visit the country because of the opportunity to come to Saudi Arabia on a visit visa and perform Umrah in the holy Mecca. On paper, the Saudi Arabia visit visa fee is fixed at 300 Saudi Riyals. As such, earlier each passport cost 22 to 23 thousand rupees.

However, the expatriates living in the country complained that the Saudi government has doubled this cost through a Bangladeshi broker syndicate. The expatriates said that since the holy Hajj season this year, the cost of visa for each passport in Bangladesh is from 45 to 50 thousand. As a result, low-income expatriates are deprived of bringing their families to Saudi Arabia.

Before 2019, the family visit visa fee for foreign nationals living in the country was 2 thousand Saudi Riyals. The Saudi government has set a visit visa fee of 300 riyals for the arrival of large numbers of tourists in order to enrich the economy by reducing dependence on oil exports.

Meanwhile, the Saudi authorities are expecting huge investments in the tourism sector. This will increase the tourism sector's GDP from 3 percent to 10 percent by 2030.