Saudi Arabia lifts 3-year ban on expats who fail to return before visa expiry

News Network

January 18, 2024

Saudi Arabia has lifted the three-year entry ban on expatriates who failed to return before the expiry of their visas, local media have reported.

Saudi newspaper Okaz reported that the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) has instructed all departments to allow expatriates, who failed to return before the expiry of their exit and re-entry visa. According to Okaz, the directive came into effective on Tuesday, January 16.

The ban was put in place in 2022 with the General Directorate of Passports saying that expatriates that leave the Kingdom and do not return in the stipulated amount of time, will be barred from entering the country for a period of three years.

It had said that expatriates with a re-entry visa must return to the country within the time specified on the visa , else, a new visa must be issued by the employer.

The phrase “exited and did not return” will be put on record for any expatriate after two months of the visa's expiry, the authority had said at that time.

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Modi govt asks HC to direct Karnataka govt to vacate madrasa in Srirangapatna Jama Masjid

News Network

November 14,2024

Bengaluru: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led union government has requested the Karnataka High Court to direct the Mandya district administration and the state government to clear a madrasa operating within the premises of the historic Jama Masjid in Srirangapatna.

The Waqf Board, opposing this move, has claimed the mosque as its property and defended the right to conduct madrasa activities there.

The matter was brought before a division bench headed by Chief Justice N V Anjaria following a public interest litigation filed by a person named Abhishek Gowda from Kabbalu village in Kanakapura taluk. The petition alleged “unauthorised madrasa activities” within the mosque.

Representing the Central government, Additional Solicitor General of India for High Court of Karnataka, K Arvind Kamath argued that the Jama Masjid was designated as a protected monument in 1951, yet unauthorised madrasa operations continue there.

He noted that concerns over potential law and order issues have so far prevented any intervention. Kamath urged the court to direct the Mandya district administration to take action and vacate the madrasa from the mosque.

In defence, lawyers for the state government and the Waqf Board contested this request, stating that the Waqf Board had been recognised as the owner of the property since 1963 and, thus, conducting madrasa activities there is lawful.

After hearing both sides, the bench adjourned the case for further arguments, scheduling the next hearing for November 20.

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