General Directorate of Passports

The General Directorate of Passports, commonly referred to as 'Jawazat', is the government body responsible for providing passport services, as well as arrival, residence, and departure services for citizens and residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was established in 1924 and it is organizationally affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, and its main headquarters is located in the city of Riyadh.

The General Directorate of Passports implements the Travel Documents Law issued in accordance with Royal Decree No. M/24 dated August 28, 2000, and its executive regulations issued by Ministerial Decision No. 7 dated December 8, 2001, and enforces the Residency Law issued in 1951 along with the instructions attached to it.

The Directorate of Passports in the Kingdom provides services for obtaining and issuing Saudi passports, organizes the travel of citizens outside the Kingdom, and the arrival of visitors to the Kingdom through airports, ports, and land ports. It grants residence permits to visitors, receives applications for visas, completes entry and exit procedures for pilgrims from outside the Kingdom, tracks those who fail to return, monitors the legal status of visitors by enforcing Residency Law, combats forgery and the use of forged documents, confronts categories of individuals banned from travel or entry into the Kingdom, in addition to internal organizational tasks within the passport sector, such as drafting regulations, creating departments, and building facilities

Strategically, the Passport Directorate aims to actively contribute to enhancing security in the Kingdom, improving financial operations, services, and the work environment. Additionally, it seeks to strengthen relationships with beneficiaries and enhance human resources development.

In its early stages, the tasks of the General Directorate of Passports were among the responsibilities of the police in the Kingdom, as Jawazat began as an office affiliated with the Police Directorate in Makkah al-Mukarramah, concerned with monitoring and registering foreigners. In 1939, the first passport law in the Kingdom was issued, followed by the issuance of the Residency Law in 1952, consisting of sixty-five articles about organizing the residency of foreigners and visitors to the Kingdom, while still under the police responsibilities until 1960. In that year, a decision by the Council of Ministers was issued to separate the Passports affairs from the General Security Directorate, and to form a General Directorate for Passports and Nationality under the name 'General Directorate of Passports and Nationality', which was directly linked to the Minister of Interior

In 1975, a ministerial decision was issued to transform the General Directorate of Passports and Civil Status into an agency under the name of 'the Agency of the Ministry of Interior and Civil Affairs.' Then, in 1981, the Passports sector separated from the agency and became an independent sector under the name 'General Directorate of Passports.' A year later, the first formation of the passports sector was issued, outlining its administrative organization and geographical distribution.

In line with the ambitious goals of Saudi Vision 2030, the General Directorate of Passports is keeping pace with the rapid digital transformation in the Kingdom through the E-Transactions Committee to facilitate the full electronic transformation of the services it provides. This is achieved via smart devices, the ministry's unified portal, self-service devices, comprehensive service offices, as well as unified call centers.

On February 10, 2022, the General Directorate of Passports launched the Saudi e-passport in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA). It is issued by the Passport Departments in the regions, following a review after making an appointment on the 'Absher' e-platform, and it is delivered to the beneficiary via the Saudi Post 'SPL' within three working days.