Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia will launch a new visa that allows citizens and expatriates to host people under their personal sponsorship for up to 90 days, Saudi Gazette reported on Thursday.

The new visa will be available within the coming few days.

On the other hand, the Directorate General of Passports (Jawazat) and the Ministry of Haj and Umrah are studying the introduction of the “host visa” service through the Ministry of Interior’s portal of Absher.

According to the new visa system, a citizen or expatriate can host from three to five Umrah pilgrims.

Moreover, citizens can host anyone whom he wants to bring in, while expatriates can only bring close relatives, sources told Saudi Gazette.

Later on, both the Jawazat and the ministry will come up with a working mechanism for the host visa, which would costs SR500 per person for a year.

The visa holders can travel freely throughout the Kingdom and participate in tourist activities.