New Rules Fine Sponsors Over Visit Visa Overstays
New national rules taking effect in 2026 place clear legal responsibility on sponsors of visit visa holders, making them liable if they fail to report an overstay. Penalties can reach fines of up to 50,000 SAR, imprisonment of up to six months, and deportation for non-Saudi sponsors.
Under the updated framework, sponsors who issued a visit visa and do not report an overstay face an escalating scale of penalties. A first violation carries a fine of 15,000 SAR, a second violation raises the fine to 25,000 SAR plus three months in jail, and a third violation reaches 50,000 SAR plus six months in jail. Expatriate sponsors may also face deportation in addition to fines and imprisonment.
Visitors themselves face parallel penalties for overstaying visit, tourist, family or Umrah visas. Fines start at 15,000 SAR for a first offence, rising to 25,000 SAR and three months' jail for a second, and 50,000 SAR with six months' jail for a third, alongside possible deportation and a re-entry ban. A daily component of 100 SAR with a confirmed legal maximum of 50,000 SAR.
How to report an overstay
Sponsors are required to immediately report any visit visa holder who remains after the visa expires. Reports can be made by calling 911 in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, or 999 in all other regions. Queries about overstays and penalties can also be directed to the General Directorate of Passports through its official website.
Authorities also warn that transporting, employing or sheltering any visa or residency violator can trigger the same fines, jail terms and deportation. Standard overstay rules fully resumed on 18 April 2026 for visit, Umrah, transit and final exit visas after earlier grace measures ended. سعودي ليفنج advises both sponsors and visitors to track visa expiry dates carefully and act before any overstay occurs.
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