Saudi Arabia Welcomes Indian Travellers with New Visa Options
Saudi Arabia attracts Indian visitors with several options for the tourist visa, allowing people easy access to visit many destinations within the State: stopover visas, eVisa services, and visa-on-arrival. One can see the dynamic cityscapes in Riyadh, rich cultural inheritance in Jeddah, discreet treasures lined up along the Red Sea, and wonders in AlUla. These new choices in visa are tailored towards varied needs of travel, thus inviting more people to come and get familiar with this multifaceted country.
Mumbai, Delhi, Cochin, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kolkata, and Calicut are the current ten centres. Plans include more centres in other cities. This is part of Saudi Vision 2030 to ensure that India is the number one source market, driven by a targeting of 7.5 million Indian visitors by 2030. Targeted is visitors’ doubling to 2.2 million by the end of 2024.
Indian travellers can apply for a Stopover visa, which can now be granted for up to 96 hours and requested 90 days ahead via the Saudia airline website for a mere nominal administrative and insurance cost.
It will be awarded to Indian nationals only if they have a valid United States, United Kingdom, or Schengen country tourist or business visa with a stamped proof of entry. This also applies to permanent residents in these countries or to a valid residence visa from any GCC country with a minimum validity of three months beyond the date of entry into Saudi Arabia. One can get an eVisa prior to travel through the official portal.
This visa will be issued at the Saudi international airports for those visitors who hold a valid tourist or business visa of the United States, the United Kingdom, or any of the Schengen countries; the entry needs to have an immigration stamp. Permanent residents could apply at self-service kiosks or passport control offices at the Saudi airports.
Others who do not fall in the above categories of eligibility criteria can apply for a visa from the Tasheer Centres spread all over India. The outcomes of this whole process involve preparing documents, making an appointment, submitting applications, enrolling for biometric data, and collecting passports.
All these options are available for those who want to do Umrah.
Please note that the Stopover visa, eVisa, and Visa on Arrival are conditionally admissible and do not apply to all travellers.
