Saudi residents who cannot personally visit a passport office may authorize another person as a representative through Absher to handle an approved procedure for them.
The General Directorate of Passports has identified 23 services available under electronic authorization.
The service may help residents, employers and family sponsors who need another person to represent them during a government transaction.
The available passport and residency procedures include:
- Issuing or renewing an Iqama
- Receiving a printed Iqama
- Reporting a lost Iqama
- Reporting a lost expatriate passport
- Issuing or cancelling an exit and re-entry visa
- Issuing or cancelling a final exit visa
- Extending a visit visa
- Changing a profession
- Transferring worker services
- Reporting a worker as absent
- Adding or removing dependents
- Transferring passport information
Travel permits, dependent records and other passport procedures are also included.
The available choices may depend on the account holder, authorized person and selected service.
The account holder should sign in through the official Absher Individuals platform.
From the main menu, the user should open Authorizations and select the option for authorizing a sector visit.
The user should then choose Passports, select the required service and enter the authorized person’s identification information.
Absher will display the authorization details for review before the request is confirmed.
The authorized person must have the correct identification and meet the conditions shown for that transaction.
Users may also view or cancel an issued authorization through their Absher account.
The official Absher frequently asked questions confirms that passport-sector authorizations are issued through the Authorizations menu.
What conditions must both people meet?
The national ID or Iqama used for the request must be valid.
Both parties must also be free from violations, financial restrictions or other records that may block the selected transaction.
Some services have additional conditions.
For example, an unpaid traffic fine may prevent the issuance of a final exit visa until the fine is settled.
Issuing an authorization also does not guarantee that the requested government transaction will be approved.
Never give another person your password
An electronic authorization does not require the account holder to share an Absher password, verification code or bank information.
Residents should create the authorization through their own account and enter only the requested details of the authorized person.
They should review the service name and validity of the authorization before confirming it.
Users can consult the Saudi National Platform’s official e-authorization information for general guidance.
What residents should know now is that the authorization gives another person permission to represent them for a named service. It does not give that person full access to their Absher account.