Saudi Arabia extends validity of entry visas to 3 months
Visitors will now be able to stay for 3 months, rather than the previous one month…
Saudi Arabia is continuing to amend its visa rules to make the country more accessible to visitors. The latest will see the Kingdom extend the validity of single-entry visas from one month to three months, giving visitors three times more time to explore Saudi Arabia on their visit. This will apply to single-entry visit visas for all purposes.
Previously, the duration of stay on single-entry visit visas was up to 30 days, while multiple-entry visas allowed the holder to remain in the kingdom for 90 days.
The changes were announced by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. The National reports that at the same time, the council also announced it approved the decision to extend the length of validity of transit visas to 96 hours without any fee, with a validity of three months.
Both sets of changes to the visas were approved in a session of the Cabinet chaired by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at Al Yamamah Palace.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Chairs Cabinet’s Session at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadhhttps://t.co/tBOlgcq5Sp#SPAGOV pic.twitter.com/g4cbrbgh7y
— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) November 8, 2022
Recent changes
On September 1, a decree signed by the Ministry of Tourism enabled residents of the GCC to apply for a tourism eVisa before arriving into Saudi Arabia via an online portal. The Kingdom’s visa-on-arrival scheme was also extended to permanent residents of the United Kingdom, European Union, and the United States.
This means that millions of tourists will now be able to easily visit the country without having to attend their country’s embassy beforehand.
Holders of a valid UK, US, or Schengen visa (business or tourist) can apply for a Saudi Arabia visa on arrival – provided that they have entered the UK, US or Schengen countries on that visa at least once. This means that you can get a 12-month tourism visa on arrival in Saudi without needing to apply in advance.
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