Procedure to Apply for Business Visit Visa of Saudi Arabia

If you want to visit Saudi Arabia for business purpose, definitely you need to have a business visit visa stamped on your passport. Please be noted that business visit visa is very different from investor’s visa offered by many countries. Generally, governments grant investor visa to companies who want to invest in their country but this is not the case with Saudi Arabia. In order to apply for business visit visa of Saudi Arabia, you must have someone in Saudi Arabia to sponsor you.

This someone can only be an establishment. It cannot be an individual. If you want to apply for business visit visa from your country, you need to follow a certain procedure. In this article, we shall be explaining about the procedure to apply for business visit visa. But you can also hire some agent in your country that will perform all the following mentioned activities on your behalf for the charge of some money. He will charge you from SR 500 to SR 1000 for the visa processing. However, if you want to do it yourself, you will have to follow the following mentioned procedure and have to meet with these requirements. Recommended: Pros and Cons of Working on Iqama v/s Business Visa in Saudi Arabia

Requirement for Business Visit Visa of Saudi Arabia

Passport of the visitors should be valid for at least six months with at least two clear pages adjacent to each other.

One recent photograph is required with white background.

Application form for the business visit visa must be filled with the black ink or filled and printed electronically.
 
Applicant must provide a letter addressed to the Royal Embassy of the country of his residence confirming his position in the local country. The letter should also state that the employee is being sent on the business visit visa of Saudi Arabia.

A copy of the company’s business registration in the native country where the applicant is working is required.

Letter from the sponsor in Saudi Arabia duly attested by the Chamber of Commerce of the city where the sponsor is registered and stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia. We have listed down some important points for attestation of documents from Chamber of Commerce. I would recommend you to read them before personally visiting the chamber of commerce.

A copy of the sponsor’s registration in Saudi Arabia

Copy of the National Identity Card or the residence permit of the country from which applicant is applying for business visit visa

Applicant must need to pay the visa fee online at this website. This is a website of Saudi Government called Enjaz. If you have already hired an agent, he will make this payment on your behalf and take money from you in cash. The visa fee is SR 400 for U.S. passport holders, for both single and multiple entries.  For non-U.S. citizens, check this link. “Nationality Wise New Visit Visa Fee in Saudi Arabia”.

If you want to hire some agent who can help you out in the processing of business visit visa, select one of the authorized agents by Saudi Embassy or Foreign Office of your country. Once you have all these documents, you will have to submit them to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in your country. However, for the third time, I am suggesting to hire an agent for this purpose. Once the visa is processed, you just need to book your air ticket to travel to Saudi Arabia.

Some Considerations for Business Visit Visa: The applicants of the business visit visa of Saudi Arabia should take into account following guidelines before entering to Saudi Arabia.

Applicant should not overstay even a single day after the expiry of business visit visa. We have covered the penalties and punishments he may have to face in case of overstay of business visit visa in Saudi Arabia. “Overstaying after Visa Expiry in Saudi Arabia”

Business visit visa does not give the right to the applicant to work for someone other than the sponsor in Saudi Arabia.
 
It is important to know about the general rules and regulations of Saudi Arabia before entering into it. We have covered some of the rules in this link “General Rules and Regulations of Saudi Arabia”

If you want to bring your family to Saudi Arabia along with you, you will have to bring them on Escort Visa. Please refer to the website of Saudi Embassy of the USA for the Escort Visa.

You cannot open your bank account in Saudi Arabia on business visit visa.

You cannot apply for Saudi Driving License on this visa. However, if you have an international driving license, you can drive a vehicle here for a maximum period of 90 days on that driving license.