The conversion of a visit visa into a permanent residency permit for family members of expatriates is not a rule and can only be done in the rarest of rare cases only with the approval of the Interior Ministry.
Col. Mohammed Al-Hussain, spokesman of the Passport Department in the Makkah region, said such procedures fall under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry, not the Passport Department.
Al-Hussain clarified the issue after many people approached the department to convert the visit visas of their family members to permanent residency permits or iqamas.
Arab News had accurately reported this situation on Thursday, but some people had misunderstood the report and rushed to passport offices.
Visit visa conversion not a rule
