Schengen Visa from Saudi Arabia 2026: How to Apply, and the Legal Ways to Move to Europe

Last updated: 31 October 2026

If you live in Saudi Arabia on an iqama, you can apply for a Schengen visa from Saudi Arabia yourself, at the visa centre of the country you plan to visit. The fee is EUR 90 for adults, processing normally takes 15 days, and your iqama must stay valid for at least three months after you come back.

Many expats also ask a second question: can I go to Europe on a visit and stay there for good? Social media is full of agents promising “Schengen work permits”, “visit and convert” packages and asylum shortcuts. This guide sets out the official way to visit, and the legal routes that really lead to living and working in Europe, using the rules published by the European Union and the embassies in Riyadh.

Schengen visa from Saudi Arabia: the short answer

• Who can apply in Saudi Arabia: people who legally live here (Saudi citizens and iqama holders). Visitors on a Saudi visit or tourist visa have to apply in their own country of residence.
• Where: the visa centre of the country you will visit (VFS Global, TLScontact or BLS, depending on the country).
• Fee: EUR 90 for adults, EUR 45 for children aged 6 to 11, free under 6, plus the visa centre’s service fee.
• Processing: normally 15 days, up to 45 days in some cases.
• When to apply: no earlier than 6 months and no later than 15 days before you travel.
• Stay allowed: up to 90 days in any 180-day period, for tourism, family visits or business meetings. A Schengen visa never allows work.

Which country should you apply to?

You apply to the country that is your main destination, meaning the one where you will spend the most days. If you split your trip equally, apply to the country you enter first. Booking your first night in a country you are not really visiting, to use an “easier” embassy, is a common mistake: the visa can be cancelled at the border if your plans do not match.

Visa centres in Saudi Arabia by country

For other Schengen countries, check the embassy website in Riyadh first. Book only through the official provider linked from the embassy page, never through a WhatsApp agent selling appointment slots.

Documents iqama holders need

Each country publishes its own checklist, but the German Embassy’s checklist for residents of Saudi Arabia is a good example of what is usually asked:

• Passport valid at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area, with blank pages.
• Iqama valid at least 3 months after your planned return. If it expires sooner, renew it first. You can check your iqama expiry date on Absher.
• Your exit re-entry visa printout with dates that cover the whole trip.
• Bank statements for the last 6 months, stamped by the bank, showing your salary coming in.
• An employer letter with your job title, salary and approved leave, attested by the Chamber of Commerce.
• Travel medical insurance of at least EUR 30,000, valid in all Schengen countries.
• Flight and hotel reservations, and for family visits an invitation letter from your relative.

Many expats in Saudi Arabia are refused because the iqama or the exit re-entry visa does not cover the trip, or because the bank statement shows large cash deposits just before applying. Apply with your normal salary history.

Multiple-entry visas: how expats get longer visas

Under the EU “cascade” rule, once you have got and correctly used three Schengen visas within two years, you can be given a 1-year multiple-entry visa. After that comes a 2-year visa, and then a 5-year visa, never longer than your passport.

Since April 2024 Saudi citizens living in the Kingdom can get a 5-year multiple-entry visa even on their first application. That special rule is for Saudi nationals only. Expats follow the normal cascade.

New border checks in 2026: EES and ETIAS

• Entry/Exit System (EES): passport stamps have been replaced by a digital record of your fingerprints, face photo and the dates you enter and leave. It started on 12 October 2025 and has been fully running since 10 April 2026. It calculates the 90/180-day limit automatically, so overstays are flagged at once.
• ETIAS: the travel authorisation is not running yet and has no confirmed start date. It is only for visa-free nationalities, so it does not apply to Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, Bangladeshi or Egyptian passport holders, who need a visa anyway.
• Saudi citizens: still need a Schengen visa. On 19 October 2026 the EU Council welcomed starting the process towards visa-free travel for Saudi Arabia and four other GCC states, but no date has been set.

Myths: what does not work

“Go on a visit visa and change it to residency in Europe”

A Schengen visit visa is a short-stay visa. Work, study or long-term residence needs a national long-stay visa or residence permit that you apply for before you travel, from the country where you live. In Germany, for example, the embassy states that any stay over 90 days needs a national visa from the Embassy in Riyadh, and processing often takes 3 months or more.

“Overstay a little, nobody checks”

With the EES, every entry and exit is recorded. Overstayers can receive a return decision and an entry ban, normally of up to five years, which is stored in the Schengen Information System that police and border guards in all Schengen countries can see. An overstay record also makes future visas for Europe, the UK and others much harder.

“Apply for asylum, then you can work”

Asylum is protection for people who face persecution or serious harm in their home country. It is not a job route. Since 12 June 2026 the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum applies, with faster border procedures and return decisions for rejected claims.

“Pay an agent for a Schengen work permit”

There is no such thing as a Schengen work permit. Each country issues its own work visa, and only its embassy or immigration office decides. German embassies warn that fake job contracts are a criminal offence. If someone asks for money for a “job plus visa” package, treat it as a scam.

“Portugal job seeker visa, easy entry”

Portugal’s job seeker visa was abolished on 23 October 2025. A narrower replacement for highly qualified people had still not opened in October 2026, so offers based on the old visa are out of date.

The legal ways to live and work in Europe

1. EU Blue Card (skilled jobs with a good salary)

The EU Blue Card is for university graduates, and some experienced IT workers, with a job offer of at least 6 months. Each country sets its own minimum salary. Examples for 2026:

The employer usually starts the process, and you then apply for the visa at the embassy in Riyadh. After some years on a Blue Card you can move towards permanent residence.

2. Germany: skilled worker visa and Opportunity Card

• Skilled worker visa: for people with a recognised degree or vocational qualification and a job offer. Most job-based permits need approval from the Federal Employment Agency, which checks that pay and conditions are fair. Use the official Recognition Finder at anerkennung-in-deutschland.de to see if your qualification is recognised.
• Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte): lets you live in Germany for up to 12 months to look for work, with part-time work allowed up to 20 hours a week. You need a degree or at least 2 years of vocational training, German at A1 level or English at B2 level, and at least 6 points in the points system. You must show about EUR 1,091 a month for living costs (around EUR 13,100 for the year), usually in a blocked account.
• Fee: EUR 75 for a German national visa, applied for at the German Embassy in Riyadh.

3. Study visa

Studying is a common legal route, especially for younger family members. Germany, for example, asks international students to show EUR 992 a month (EUR 11,904 a year) in a blocked account. Admission to a recognised university comes first, then the visa.

4. Employer-led work visas in Spain and Italy

In Spain the employer first gets a work authorisation, then the worker applies for the visa at the Spanish consulate in his or her country of residence. Italy’s work quota (decreto flussi) has 497,550 places for 2026 to 2028, but only Italian employers can apply on fixed dates. Agents cannot buy you a quota place.

5. Family reunification, transfers and remote work

• Family reunification: a spouse or children can join a family member who already lives legally in an EU country, subject to that country’s income and housing rules.
• Intra-company transfer: if you work for a multinational in Saudi Arabia, it can transfer you to its office in Europe.
• Digital nomad visas: Spain and Portugal offer them to remote workers employed outside the country, with income requirements linked to the national minimum wage. Check the current amount on the official consulate page before applying.

6. Permanent residence and citizenship

After 5 years of continuous legal residence you can apply for EU long-term resident status, which comes with stable income, health insurance and integration requirements. Germany ended its 3-year fast track to citizenship in late October 2025, so 5 years of legal residence is now the minimum there.

Applying from Saudi Arabia: paperwork to prepare

• Saudi documents: Saudi Arabia has been part of the Apostille Convention since 7 December 2022, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues apostilles. Germany still legalises Saudi documents the old way, though: MOFA authentication, a German translation, then legalisation at the German Embassy in person. Ask the embassy of your destination which method it accepts.
• Home-country documents: India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh are in the Apostille Convention, so degrees and certificates are apostilled at home. Egypt is not, so Egyptian documents need consular legalisation.
• Police clearance: iqama holders can download the criminal record report from Absher. You will usually also need one from your home country.
• Degrees: get your degree recognised (or at least checked) before you apply. It is the most common reason skilled worker files take long.

Before you move: closing your life in Saudi Arabia properly

• Keep your iqama and exit re-entry valid while you apply. An exit re-entry visa cannot be changed to final exit while you are abroad.
• When you have your European visa, leave on a final exit visa and clear loans, phone contracts and traffic fines first.
• Collect your end of service benefit. Work out the amount with our end of service calculator.

How to check that a European job offer is real

• Search for the vacancy on the EU’s EURES portal or the employer’s own website.
• In Germany, ask the employer whether it has Federal Employment Agency approval or pre-approval for your job.
• Real employers in Germany are not allowed to charge job seekers recruitment fees.
• Only the embassy decides the visa. Nobody can “guarantee” one, and the official fees are small: EUR 90 for a Schengen visa and EUR 75 for a German national visa.
• Never hand over your passport or iqama to an agent who is not an official visa centre.

Official links only: where to apply and where to look for jobs

Use only these official pages. Every visa centre and job portal below is either an EU or government site, or the provider that the embassy itself links to. If a page asks you to pay outside these channels, stop.

EU rules and portals

• European Commission: how to apply for a Schengen visa (fees, where to apply, processing times)
• EU Immigration Portal (work, study and family routes for every EU country)
• EU Blue Card official page
• EURES: the EU’s official job portal

Germany

• German Embassy Riyadh: Schengen visas (links to TLScontact, the official visa centre)
• German Embassy Riyadh: national visas for work and study
• Consular Services Portal (online applications for some national visas)
• Make it in Germany: official job listings and visa guidance
• Recognition in Germany: check if your qualification is recognised
• Federal Employment Agency (job search and work approvals)

Other Schengen countries

• Netherlands: Netherlands Worldwide, short-stay visa from Saudi Arabia and IND (Dutch immigration service) for work permits
• Italy: Italian Embassy Riyadh
• Spain: Spanish Embassy Riyadh and its visa centre BLS Spain Visa Saudi Arabia
• Denmark: Danish Embassy Riyadh and VFS Global Denmark in Saudi Arabia
• Austria: VFS Global Austria in Saudi Arabia
• Portugal: Portugal’s official visa portal
• France: apply through France-Visas, the French government’s official visa site (france-visas.gouv.fr), which directs Saudi residents to its VFS Global centres.

Saudi side

• Absher (absher.sa) for your iqama, exit re-entry, final exit and police clearance report.
• Apostille Convention member list (to see if your documents can be apostilled)

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for a Schengen visa on a Saudi visit visa?

No. You can apply in Saudi Arabia only if you live here legally, for example on an iqama. Visitors must apply in their own country of residence.

How long must my iqama be valid for a Schengen visa?

At least 3 months after your planned return to Saudi Arabia, according to the German and Danish embassy checklists for applicants in the Kingdom.

Can I work in Europe on a Schengen visa?

No. A Schengen visa is only for short visits. Work needs a national work visa or residence permit, applied for before you travel.

Do Saudi citizens still need a Schengen visa?

Yes. The EU has only agreed to start the visa-waiver process for Saudi Arabia (October 2026). Until it is completed, Saudis still apply for a visa, though many get 5-year multiple-entry visas.

Sources: European Commission: applying for a Schengen visa; European Commission: Entry/Exit System; EU Immigration Portal; German Embassy Riyadh: Schengen visas and national visas; Netherlands Worldwide; IND Netherlands income requirements; HCCH Apostille Convention status table.