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ID cards to be issued next year. (Al Madina)
Saudi Arabia intends to issue national ID cards valid for five years to replace residence visas for expatriates, a newspaper reported on Monday.
The new system will be enforced at the start of 2016 and the card will be automatically extended for one or two years, ‘Al Madina’ Arabic language daily said, quoting Lt Colonel Ahmed Al Luheidan, a spokesman for the Passports Department.
“We will start issuing the new ID card at the beginning of next year. It will replace the residence visa for expatriates,” he said.
He said ID holders can enquire about the remaining residence period online and that the new card could be extended without the need to have a new one issued.
In case any expatriates leave Saudi Arabia and did not return to their employers within the permitted period, they would be deprived from entering the Gulf kingdom for three years, he said, adding that departure fees have been set at SR200 (Dh200).
About nine million expatriates, mostly Asians, live in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter with a total population of nearly 30 million.
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