In order to facilitate the travel of scholarship students and their companions to all countries of scholarship, the General Directorate of Passports, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia, launched an exceptional permit service through its services on the "Absher" platform for electronic services. Passports directorate confirmed that students wishing to join their foreign missions can benefit from this service by following the following steps:

1. Log in to the Absher platform
2. My services
3. Passports
4. Passport messages and requests centre
5. New application
6. The General Directorate of Passports
7. Exceptional travel permits
8. A travel permit to study abroad - for citizens only
9. Confirm and send the order

Passports confirmed that when submitting the application, the following must be noted:

• Writing the name of the country in which the student studies
• Any application not related to a study permit will not be considered
• The request will be answered within three working days

Sponsored students are also being requested to provide an additional letter (emails may be accepted) from their respective universities to confirm the teaching approach in the first semester.

It is more likely that travel permits will be granted if the teaching is in person or blended (online & face-to-face).

Resumption of the Priority Visa Service and the Five Working Days Priority Visa Service has been resumed in Saudi Arabia. Students seeking to apply to obtain travel permits also need to submit their visa approval letter. They can now avail this service to speed up the visa-issuance process.