Saudi King orders 3-month free extension of iqama, reentry visas of expats

News Network
July 5, 2020

Riyadh, Jul 5: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has approved the extension of the validity of the expired iqama (residency permit) and exit and reentry visas of expatriates who are outside the Kingdom for a period of three months without any fee.

The iqama of expatriates inside the Kingdom as well as the visa of visitors who are in the Kingdom of which the validity expires during the period of suspension of entry and exit from the Kingdom will also be extended for a period of three months without any charge.

The validity of final exit visas as well as exit and reentry visas issued for expatriates, who are in the Kingdom, but were not used during the lockdown period will be extended for a period of three months without any fee, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting an official source at the Ministry of Interior.

The ministry source said that these measures were taken as part of the continuous efforts made by the government of King Salman to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on individuals as well as on private sector establishments and investors, economic activities in the Kingdom, following the adoption of the preventive measures to stem the spread of the pandemic.

The beneficiaries of the King’s order include all expatriates who are outside the Kingdom on exit and reentry visas, which expired during the lockdown period and after lifting of the lockdown.

These expatriates are not in a position to return to the Kingdom due to the enforcement of suspension of international flight service and temporary ban on entry and exit from the Kingdom.

The beneficiaries also include those expatriates who are still in the Kingdom after issuance of final exit visas or exit and reentry visas but could not travel because of the suspension of entry and exit from the Kingdom.

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Bilal
 - 
Monday, 19 Apr 2021

Sir can i extend my iqama for 4 months

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News Network
March 14,2024

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The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says at least five people, including a staff member, were killed and 22 others wounded after Israeli forces targeted a food distribution centre in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in a statement on Wednesday said that the strike hit one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the eastern part of Rafah.

“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” Lazzarini said.

“Every day, we share the coordinates of all our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict," he continued.

He said the attack was carried out even though "the Israeli Army received the coordinates including of this facility yesterday."

Lazzarini further urged the protection of the UN, its staff, and its premises and called for an independent investigation.

Israel acknowledged an airstrike on a food aid distribution center in southern Gaza, which it claimed targeted and killed a high-ranking member of Hamas. 

Meanwhile, the statement by the UNRWA head added that since October 7, at least 165 team members have been killed while in the line of duty and more than 400 people sheltering in UN buildings also lost their lives due to Israel's attacks.

More than 150 of the agency’s facilities, including schools and shelters, have been hit in the war, with some destroyed, and UNRWA staff have reportedly been mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli detention centers, according to the UNRWA.

Six aid seekers killed in Israeli attack

Separately, the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said six people were killed in the latest attack on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City.

The Wafa news agency said some 83 people who were wounded in the attack have been transferred to the al-Shifa Medical Complex in the city.

Over the past weeks, Israeli forces have increased their offensives on the Kuwait Roundabout, an area where large groups gather to wait for aid deliveries.

Israeli forces killed 11 people waiting for food aid at the roundabout on Monday night.

The Israeli military has restricted the delivery of humanitarian supplies to northern Gaza for weeks, and thousands of children are going without sufficient food and medication.

The prevention of aid convoys comes as humanitarian officials have already issued a dire warning, stating that unless a ceasefire is implemented and aid is significantly increased, the toll of malnutrition and disease is expected to rise, leading to an alarming loss of lives.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 31,272 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 73,024 others.

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News Network
March 7,2024

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A missile fired by Yemen's Houthi fighters hit a bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, with the crew reporting three people dead and at least four wounded, the US military said.

In protest against Israel’s inhuman Gaza onslaught, the Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting Israel-bound merchant vessels transiting the vital Red Sea trade route for months and have previously hit ships in the area, but the deaths on Wednesday appear to be the first fatalities resulting from such an attack.

An anti-ship ballistic missile struck the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence, after which its crew reported "three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship", the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

"The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation", the military command said, noting that the attack was the fifth time the Houthis had launched an anti-ship ballistic missile in two days.

"These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers", CENTCOM added.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on social media that the True Confidence was targeted with multiple missiles "after the ship's crew rejected warning messages" from the Houthis.

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News Network
March 12,2024

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Congratulating the Muslim world on the occasion of Ramadan, Iran calls on Muslim countries to unite against the Israeli regime's ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip on the occasion of the arrival of the holy fasting month.

"I cordially congratulate the honorable Iranian nation, the entire Muslims of the world, and my counterparts in Muslim countries on the occasion of the emergence of the blessed month of Ramadan," Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.

"Gaza's developments showed that, as the common ideal of all Muslims, the issue of Palestine rests at the top of the Muslim world's [list of] priorities," he added.

The holy month, he added, can serve as a "premium opportunity" for Muslim countries "to effectively take the initiative, under the aegis of all-out unity and convergence, towards stopping the apartheid Zionist regime's genocide and war crimes in Gaza."

Amir-Abdollahian, meanwhile, expressed confidence that "the resistance and the Palestinian people are the main victors of this arena."

Israel launched the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.

Concomitantly with the war, the regime has been enforcing a near-total siege on Gaza, which has reduced the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory into a trickle. Earlier this month, the United Nations warned that in the absence of any changes in the regime’s ongoing genocidal war, the coastal sliver was on course to experience all-out famine.

So far during the military onslaught, the regime has killed more than 31,112 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents.

Also on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Israeli regime to honor the spirit of the holy month by "silencing the guns."

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