Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) announced on Thursday details of its newly launched “Awdah” (Return) Initiative under which expatriates, visitors and tourists in the Kingdom can travel to their countries.

The beneficiaries of the initiative include all expatriates who have an exit and reentry visa or final exit visa and those who came to the Kingdom under various types of visit visas and tourist visa.

The Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday this extraordinary initiative in line with a directive issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman.

The Jawazat clarified that the service is available only through the website of the Absher portal of the ministry and not through its App. It is also not mandatory for the expatriates to have their own Absher account for availing of the service.

Jawazat disclosed the steps to be taken to benefit from the initiative. The applicant shall select the icon (Awdah) after visiting the main screen of the Absher portal and fill the following fields: iqama (residency permit) number, date of birth, mobile number, departure city and airport of arrival, and then send the request.

Once the request is approved, the beneficiary will be notified via a text message about the details of the travel such as the date of travel and ticket number. Subsequently, the beneficiary shall purchase the ticket and go to the airport on the specified date.

Jawazat emphasized that the text message of the reservation received on the phone of the beneficiary from Absher is considered as a permit for travel, and it enables the beneficiary to go to the airport for the departure. It also urged to take print out of all the data from the Absher.

The Jawazat also elaborated the terms and conditions for availing this service. These include the applicant must have a fingerprint in the Jawazat system; a valid visa (exit and reentry visa or final exit visa); a valid passport; not involved in any security cases; and the destination should be within the countries included in the initiative.

The Ministry of Interior said that the initiative would be implemented in cooperation and coordination with a number of relevant government agencies.

The ministry said that the departure would be through the following airports: King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.