Saudi Extends the Period of Residence for Sudanese With Umrah Visas

Saudi Arabia confirmed on Thursday under the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that it has started extending Umrah visas for Sudanese pilgrims who are in the country but unable to leave owing to the persisting conflict.

Additionally, the Kingdom has implemented a program that enables Saudi nationals and expats to host Sudanese pilgrims once they have converted their Umrah visas into visit visas. Information on the terms and circumstances of changing the visa is available on the Absher portal.

The newly introduced online service enables Saudi nationals as well as relatives or friends of Sudanese people in the Kingdom with Umrah visas to convert their Umrah visa into a visitor's visa. The name of the host may be changed in the pilgrim's record, and they are not required to pay the first-time visa fees.

According to the Jawazat, in order to utilize the service, users must enter the Absher Individuals platform online at https://www.absher.sa and select one of the following options:

• My Services, Passports, Communication, and the Section on Visit Visas.
• The next step is to choose the service (Request to host Sudanese pilgrims) and include a copy of the expat's passport and entry visa.
• The request must be filed from the host's account, and a brief description of the request must be entered in the "request description" field.