Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant’s interview by a consular officer.  In order to continue  processing your application, the consular officer may ask you to provide additional information. You will receive an email with instructions for submitting the required information.

Please be sure to include all requested information.  Failure to provide all of the information may result in your visa being delayed or denied. Once we have reached a final decision on your application, we will contact you with the decision.

Applicants under 14 years old do not need to appear for an interview if one or both parents have valid U.S visas.

Parents can either bring the following documents with them to their visa interview, or ARAMEX the documents to the nearest Embassy (Riyadh) or Consulate General (Dhahran, Jeddah) in order to apply for their child’s visa.

If you choose to mail your documents, please send them to the location nearest you, as in some circumstances the parents of a minor applicant may be requested for an in-person interview.

More information on how to apply at other locations is available on the U.S. Consulate General Dhahran and U.S. Consulate General Jeddah websites.

Documents required:                                                                                           

• The child’s own passport (family passports are no longer accepted)
• If the child has a valid US visa in an old or expired passport, please send the passport with the valid US visa
• 5x5cm photo of child with eyes open (if uploaded into DS-160, photos must be a .jpg between 600×600 and 1200×1200 pixels, less than 240kb, and cannot be digitally altered)
• A completed DS-160 form
• Visa Fee Receipt from SAMBA
• Birth certificate
• A copy of the valid visa of both parents OR a passport copy from the non-traveling parent with a letter stating no objection to the child’s travel
• If one parent is a US citizen, please include all dates of US citizen parent’s physical presence in the United States AND a copy of a Consular Report of Birth (CRBA) denial letter OR an affidavit from a US Embassy or Consulate General stating that the US citizen parent is unwilling or unable to obtain the documents required to transmit citizenship to the child
• For children of students (F2): a copy of the child’s I20
• Return ARAMEX airway bill

If Embassy Riyadh is your nearest location, please mail your documents via ARAMEX to this address:
U.S. Consulate Jeddah
Attention: Non-immigrant Visas
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Currently, however, nationals of countries that have designated by the U.S. Secretary of State as state sponsors of terror, regardless of age, must appear for an interview.

Please note that the parents of applicants under 14 years old who are holders of passports from countries other than Saudi Arabia (i.e. who are passport holders of another country) are required to appear for an interview on behalf of the child and should bring the documents mentioned above. These appointments should be scheduled in the name of the child on the regular visa appointment website. Currently, however, nationals of countries that have designated by the U.S. Secretary of State as state sponsors of terror, regardless of age, must appear for an interview.

If your passport is expired but it has a valid U.S. visa inside, you can still travel to the United States on this visa.  You may attach the old passport with your new passport and travel. Please make sure that the name, date of birth, and other basic information in the old passport is the same as in the new passport.  You must carry both your expired passport with the valid U.S. visa AND your new unexpired passport when you travel. Alternatively, you can also apply for a new U.S. visa with your new passport, so that you can just travel with one passport.

For more information on staying in status with your student visa, visit this website.

Students may travel to the United States on a valid, unexpired student visa even if they changed schools or had a break in their studies, as long as their SEVIS status is active.

If a student has been out of the United States for more than five consecutive months, a new I-20 and another SEVIS fee payment is required.

For more detailed information about DHS regulations regarding the use of the F-1 visa for an absence of less than five months, please click here.