Saudi exit and re-entry visas: single, multiple and final exit for expat employees

Written by Site owner Last updated 15 October 2026 How we write and check guides

On a work iqama, you need a visa to leave Saudi Arabia as well as to enter it: an exit and re-entry visa for a trip, or a final exit visa when you leave for good. Your employer normally issues both through Muqeem. Since March 2021 you can also request them yourself in Absher, and the employer is notified rather than asked for approval.

Both visas depend on a valid iqama. If that system is new to you, start with our work visa guide.

Two routes to the same visa

	Employer, through Muqeem	You, through Absher Individuals (HRSD's 2021 guide)
Single exit and re-entry	Yes	Yes
Multiple exit and re-entry	Yes	No
Who pays	Employer (Labour Law, Article 40)	You
Validity	Set at issue, within the iqama's validity	30 days from issue
Extension	Employer, including while you are abroad	Employer only; you cannot extend it
Cancellation	Employer	You; the employer cannot cancel it

The employer column reflects the services Muqeem itself lists: issuing and cancelling visas (single and multiple exit and re-entry, and final exit), and extending an exit and re-entry visa for a resident outside the Kingdom. The self-service column comes from the user guide to HRSD's Labour Reform Initiative (March 2021). HRSD still lists that guide among its regulations and procedures, and Absher still offers residents a visa-request service, but the terms below are the guide's 2021 terms. Check the current terms in Absher before you plan around them.

Requesting it yourself, step by step

HRSD's 2021 guide sets six conditions. You must be a professional worker covered by the Labour Law, with a valid, documented employment contract. Your iqama must be valid and cover the whole trip, and your passport must have at least 90 days' validity left. You must be inside the Kingdom when you apply, and you must have no traffic violations on record.

The guide describes this sequence:

You create the request in Absher Individuals: e-services, then Passports, then the visa issuance service, then a new request for an exit and re-entry visa.
Your employer gets an SMS saying you have applied and will be able to issue the visa after 10 days.
HRSD takes 10 days from the date of the request to check for any rejection or objection. You can withdraw the request in Absher during that time.
You must complete issuance within 5 days of acceptance, or the request lapses.
You travel, and return within 30 days of the issue date.

So, on the guide's terms, allow at least ten days before you can even issue the visa. The guide also closes this route once your documented contract has ended.

Fees and validity

Jawazat's fee schedule:

Visa	Fee	Covers
Single exit and re-entry	SAR 200	One trip of up to two months, plus SAR 100 for each additional month
Multiple exit and re-entry	SAR 500	Trips within up to three months, plus SAR 200 for each additional month
Final exit	Free

Both exit and re-entry visas are issued only "within the limits of the residence permit's validity period". That matters if your iqama is renewed three months at a time: a short renewal limits how long a trip can be.

The Residence Law caps a return visa at six months from departure, and at the time remaining on your residence. Extending a visa while you are outside the Kingdom costs more. Royal Decree M/71, published in Umm Al-Qura on 30 December 2022, doubles the fee for each additional month when the resident is abroad: SAR 200 a month instead of SAR 100 on a single visa, and SAR 400 instead of SAR 200 on a multiple. Jawazat's fee schedule does not show the abroad rate, so confirm the amount in Absher or Muqeem before you pay. Absher's FAQ says an extension runs from the visa's expiry date, not from the day you extend it.

Read both dates on the visa. The official texts count from different starting points. HRSD's 2021 guide gives a self-issued visa 30 days "from the date of issue", while the Residence Law measures a return visa from the date of departure. Check the dates on your own visa through Absher's visa-status enquiry, and plan around the earlier deadline.

Who pays. Article 40 of the Labour Law lists exit and re-entry fees among the employer's costs. HRSD's 2021 guide says that when you request the visa yourself, you pay and the employer pays nothing; it does not say whether you can recover that fee from the employer. If the trip is your contractual annual leave, ask the employer to issue the visa through Muqeem.

If you do not return in time

A delay of a few days. The Residence Law, as Jawazat publishes it, records Council of Ministers Resolution No. 122 of 1409 AH (1989) on late returns. It lets a foreigner back in if the return visa expired no more than seven days earlier, the residence is still valid, there are no adverse notes on file, and the sponsor asks for entry. Jawazat's page records the resolution but does not say how it is applied today. Don't plan around it.
Not returning at all. HRSD's 2021 guide is blunt: a worker who leaves on a self-issued visa and does not return to finish the documented contract is permanently barred from returning to work in Saudi Arabia. Muqeem and Absher both let an employer electronically drop a worker who left and did not return. For the consequences in your own case, ask Jawazat before you decide not to go back.
The iqama keeps running. If it expires while you are away, SAMA rules require your bank to freeze your accounts 90 days after the expiry date.
Resigning from abroad. HRSD's 2021 guide lets you request a final exit yourself only while you are inside the Kingdom. If you don't intend to come back, leave on a final exit, not a holiday visa.

Cancelling an unused visa

On HRSD's 2021 terms, you can cancel a visa you issued yourself; your employer cannot. Absher's FAQ says fees are not refunded once an exit and re-entry visa is cancelled. Jawazat's published cancellation procedure is the office route for companies licensed by the Ministry of Investment, and it does not cover a visa cancelled in Muqeem or Absher. If your plans change, cancel promptly.

Final exit

At the end of a contract, your employer normally issues the final exit through Muqeem. Article 40 makes your ticket home the employer's cost. The exception is in paragraph 2: if you are unfit for the work, or choose to leave "without a legitimate reason", you pay the fare yourself.

Since March 2021 you can also request a final exit yourself in Absher. HRSD's 2021 guide sets these terms:

After the contract ends, the employer is notified, not asked. You can also leave during the contract, but the guide says you are then permanently barred from returning to work in the Kingdom, and HRSD's announcement adds that you bear the consequences of breaking the contract.
Conditions: a documented contract, a valid iqama, a passport valid for at least 60 days, presence in the Kingdom, no vehicle registered in your name, and no unpaid traffic fines.
Timing: the same 10-day processing window and 5 days to complete issuance apply. The visa is then valid for 15 days from issue. For a final exit your employer issues through Muqeem, check the departure deadline on the visa itself before you book.
Staying past it counts as a violation of the labour and residence rules, and the penalties for that apply.
Dependants: you can request a final exit for them through the same service.

Settle your money before you go. SAMA requires banks to close all of an expatriate's accounts on final exit. Make sure your final salary and end-of-service benefit have been paid in (check the figure with the end-of-service calculator), move the balance out, and only then leave. How the benefit is calculated is in our labour law guide.

Where it goes wrong

Flights booked before the visa exists. The self-service route in HRSD's 2021 guide has a built-in 10-day wait.
An iqama that expires before the return date. No exit and re-entry visa can run past it. Get the renewal done before a long trip.
A car or an unpaid fine blocking the exit. Under the 2021 guide, you can't self-issue a final exit with a vehicle in your name or unpaid traffic fines, and any traffic violation blocks a self-issued exit and re-entry. Sell or transfer the car and clear fines first.
A passport too close to expiry. The 2021 guide's self-service route needs 90 days left for exit and re-entry, and 60 for final exit.
A final exit before the end-of-service payment lands. The account it was meant to go into will be closed.

Before you sign

Will you issue exit and re-entry visas for my annual leave through Muqeem at company cost, and are they single or multiple?
Do you issue them for my dependants, and who pays?
At the end of the contract, who issues the final exit, and will end-of-service be paid before it?
Is the return ticket for me and my family included?
If my iqama is renewed quarterly, will it be renewed before my leave dates?

More on contract terms is in negotiating a Saudi job offer.

Sources

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and cases vary by nationality, profession and employer.

Rules change — if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.