Saudi Visit Visa Medical Insurance 2026: Coverage Limits and What to Do in an Emergency

Last updated: 11 October 2026

Every visitor on a Saudi visit visa must have medical insurance, and it covers emergencies only, up to SAR 100,000 per person. If a visiting parent, spouse or child falls ill, go to the nearest emergency department first: hospitals must treat emergencies, and the insurer is billed directly. This guide explains the limits, what is not covered, how to check the policy, what to do in an emergency, and how to claim or complain.

What Visit Visa Medical Insurance Covers

All visitors are covered by one unified policy set by the regulator (visitor policy), so the limits below are the same whichever insurer you bought from:

The Insurance Authority confirms the main limits in its FAQ. Cover starts on the date the visitor enters Saudi Arabia.

What Is Not Covered

• Treatment that is not an emergency or that can wait until the visitor returns home, including routine check-ups, vaccinations and rehabilitation
• Stable chronic or pre-existing conditions, except in an emergency
• A pregnancy that was not declared on the insurance form, and routine antenatal care
• Cosmetic treatment, glasses, hearing aids, dental implants and orthodontics
• Psychological treatment, fertility treatment and transplants
• Treatment or transport that is not an emergency and was not arranged with the insurer first

Check the Visitor’s Insurance Before an Emergency

Do this on the day the visitor arrives, not at the hospital reception. The Insurance Authority’s free Visit Visa Travel Insurance Inquiry shows the status and details of the policy straight away. It was launched on 13 August 2026.

1. Open the service on ia.gov.sa and start it.
2. Enter the passport number used when the visa was issued (the form calls it the identity number).
3. Agree to the terms and click Search.
4. Save the insurer’s name, the policy number and the insurer’s 24-hour phone number from the policy document on your phone and on the visitor’s phone.

If the policy does not show up, or you want other ways to look it up, see our health insurance check guide.

Visiting Parents With Diabetes, Heart or Kidney Problems

Many expats bring parents who already take daily medicine. The visitor policy treats a known illness very differently from a sudden one:

• A sudden emergency, such as a heart attack or a stroke, is covered up to the limits above, even if the visitor had the condition before.
• Routine follow-up of a stable condition, repeat prescriptions and planned dialysis are not covered.
• The visit must not be made to get treatment for a known illness in Saudi Arabia; that is excluded.
• A pregnancy must be declared on the insurance form, and evacuation or repatriation is not covered after the sixth month of pregnancy.

Ask the visitor to bring recent medical reports, a list of medicines with doses and enough medicine for the whole stay, because repeat prescriptions are not covered by the visitor policy.

What to Do in a Medical Emergency

1. Call for help: 911 in Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and the Eastern Province; elsewhere call 997 for an ambulance. Or go straight to the nearest emergency department.
2. Hospitals must treat emergencies until the patient is stable, whatever the nationality. For resuscitation, emergency and urgent cases, the hospital should treat first and inform the insurer, without asking you to pay.
3. Show the passport, visa and insurance details. If you do not know the insurer, look up the policy by passport number with our health insurance check guide.
4. Call the insurer’s 24-hour emergency line straight away if the visitor is admitted, evacuated or dies, and note the reference number.
5. Ask the hospital to bill the insurer directly. For non-emergency items, the insurer must answer the hospital’s approval request within 60 minutes.
6. If you pay yourself, keep the original itemised invoices, receipts and medical report.

For medical advice and help with any government or private hospital, the Ministry of Health line is 937.

How to Claim Money Back

• Submit the claim to the insurer within 60 days of paying.
• Include the claim form, original itemised invoices, receipts, the medical report and the visitor’s travel documents.
• The insurer must pay a valid claim within 30 working days, up to the policy limits and at usual Saudi prices.
• Costs above SAR 100,000 are not covered, so the insurer tells you when the limit is close.
• Keep copies of everything else too: admission and discharge reports, prescriptions, approval or rejection messages and every reference number. You will need them if you complain.

If the Insurer Refuses

1. Ask the insurer for the reason and the policy clause in writing.
2. File a complaint with the Insurance Authority. It is free and open to citizens, residents and foreigners. You do not have to complain to the insurer first; if you did, give its reference number. Phone: 800 124 0551.
3. Disputes that are still unresolved go to the insurance disputes committees.

How to File the Insurance Authority Complaint

1. Open the complaint service on ia.gov.sa and start it.
2. Log in with Nafath or create a new account. If the visitor cannot log in, the resident host can log in with their own account.
3. Choose Submit a Complaint and enter the insurance details.
4. Choose whether you are complaining for yourself or on behalf of someone else; pick the second option for a visiting parent.
5. Enter what happened and upload the hospital report, invoices and the rejection message.
6. Check the details and click Submit.

How to Get Insurance for a Saudi Visit Visa

• For a family visit visa: when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approves the invitation, you get an email. Log in to the KSA Visa platform with Nafath, choose an insurance company and pay. The insurer sets the price, and it is charged separately from the SAR 300 visa fee.
• For the tourist eVisa, the insurance is included when the visa is issued.
• Employers do not have to insure visiting wives or children; the visitor policy is what covers them.
• To extend a visit visa in Absher, the visitor’s insurance must be valid, so buy a new policy if the old one has ended. See how to extend a visit visa in Absher and how to apply for a family visit visa.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: unified visitor health insurance policy (Council of Health Insurance), Insurance Authority FAQ and e-services, Ministry of Health, Saudi Red Crescent Authority.