How to Obtain Saudi Arabia Visa Online

Saudi Arabia is much more than a religious haven or a pilgrimage site; in the entire Middle East, no other country features as diverse experience for an avid traveler as Saudi Arabia does. With the issuance of Saudi Arabia visas online, it has become even easier to travel to this remarkable country for tourism purposes. Getting a Saudi Arabia visa online is easy and simple. do you know you can get your visa in 3 simple steps.

Get Saudi Arabia eVisa in 3 simple steps

Submit Online Application Form

Upload Photo and Passport Page.

Pay Visa Service Fee

Using Credit / Debit card or PayPal.

Get e-Visa on Mail

e-Visa Will be sent to your registered e-mail.

Why Visit Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia is truly a tourist’s paradise. It offers a rare glimpse into pre-Islamic civilizations and culture. You can visit the recently discovered 9,000 years old Al-Magar site in the south or check out a human footprint exactly 85,000 years old. If you still crave more, visit the astonishing Ramses III Phironic inscription in the north. Don’t forget to check out Mada’in Saleh, a world-famous site featuring 111 gigantic ancient tombs.

Besides ancient relics and remains, Saudi Arabia is full of delightful entertainment and recreational activities for the entire family. It is quickly emerging as the world’s scuba diving hub as the Red Sea offers an exceptionally rewarding experience for divers. You can encounter rays, sharks, turtles, barracudas, turtles, and an extensive range of vibrant reef fishes with excellent visibility. Saudi Arabian cuisine is incredibly delectable, while the population is known for being the friendliest and hospitable nation in the Middle East.

What is eVisa Saudi Arabia?

Despite the sheer diversity of the country from a tourism perspective, Saudi Arabia had lagged behind other Middle Eastern countries because of its rigid visa policies regarding foreign travelers. However, the country’s visa policy underwent dramatic changes as the government decided to open up its borders to international tourism.

To facilitate foreign travelers, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) launched an electronic visa or eVisa system in 2019. It marks the beginning of a brand new chapter in Saudi Arabia’s tourism history. The eVisa simplifies obtaining a Saudi visit visa, and eligible citizens from around the world, including European Union states, North America, Asia, and Oceania can apply for a visit visa to Saudi Arabia online.

Before the launch of an online Saudi Arabia tourist visa, travelers had to personally visit their local KSA consulate or embassy to obtain travel authorization. Moreover, Saudi Arabia didn’t offer a tourist visa at all. However, in 2019, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially introduced an online Saudi Arabia visit visa system, also called e-Visa, electronic visa, or eVisa.

The electronic Saudi visa is a multiple entry visa that will be valid for one year. Those traveling with an eVisa can stay in the country for up to 90 days for recreation or tourism purposes, visiting family members or relatives, and perform Umrah (outside of Hajj season). This visa doesn’t apply to Saudi citizens or those living in Saudi Arabia.

Travelers from more than 50 eligible countries can apply for a Saudi Arabia tourist visa online to visit the country for leisurely purposes and stay for a maximum period of 90 days on a single visit.

The following countries are offered e-Visa by Saudi Arabia online:

Application Process for Saudi Arabia

To apply for Saudi Arabia visa, you need to follow the following procedure:

Complete the application form: The online e-Visa form for Saudi Arabia will only take minutes to fill out. It is best to double-check the information to avoid any further problems or obstacles in the process of issuance of a Visa.Information such as name, address, work address, bank information and statement, ID card, passport, nationality, passport expiry date, contact details, date of birth, etc is needed to apply for the Visa.

Pay the e-Visa registration fee: The e-Visa payment fee is submitted through credit, debit card, or Paypal to cover the cost of the e-Visa. Without the payment, the Visa form will not be considered for reviewing or processing. It is necessary to complete the payment required to move forward with the submission of the e-Visa application.

Receive the e-Visa online through email: You will be sent an email about your e-Visa issuance at the email address you have provided in the application form. It is necessary to meet the basic requirements set by the Saudi Arabia government to get your e-Visa issued. If there is any spelling mistake or the information does not match the government's data provided to the embassy, the e-Visa will be refused.

A lack of documents or information provided might get your application refused as well.The e-Visa needs to be shown at the airport along with a passport that is not expiring in the next six months and your ID card or bay form if the applicant is a minor to travel to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia Visa Processing Times

The processing time for a Standard tourist e-Visa is up to 5 days. Rush service exists in case there's an emergency in issuing the Visa. The rushing fee generally charges a little more than the average time fee and issues the visa in 1 days.

Saudi Arabia e Visa Validity:

Visa validity refers to the time between the issuance and expiry of your Visa after it has been issued. It is the validity of the time you have to fulfill your visa permission to travel to the country. It depends on your country and your required type of visa to issue either a single entry or multiple entry Visa. You can apply for a Visa extension if your reason is consistent with the original status of your Visa.

If you prolong your stay in the country after the Visa validity has expired, your Visa becomes void. You need to exit Saudi Arabia to request a Visa again. You need to go to your country of nationality to apply for new Visa issuance.

You can ask for a visa extension before your Visa expires and it is said to be a more efficient and time-saving way to do so.

Saudi Arabia Visa Requirements:

To apply for a Saudi Arabia evisa, you need to provide the following:

A passport that isn't expiring in the next six months is preferred.
Photocopy of Passport.
A applicant photo
Application and Processing Fee.
Resident information of the applicant.

You must provide the following documents to process a regular visa:

Filled- Application Form Online
Proof of accommodation for the applicant in Saudi Arabia.
Bank account information.
Bank statement/Financial solvency.
Additional documents if required.
Letter of invitation by the employer if it's a work Visa.
Proof of education and certificates if it's a work Visa.
Letter of invitation by the school or university if it's a student Visa.
4-5 Photographs.
ID card.
Tax receipts or bills of the applicant.
Photocopy of the ID card.
Bay form if the applicant is younger than 18 years.

Types of Visas Offered by Saudi Arabia

There are four main types of Visas offered worldwide. All the visas offered are categorized into the four categories mentioned below.

Tourist Visa: The tourist Visa is the most easily issued visa as it is just for a visit. The tourist Visa mostly allows you up to a 90-day stay at max and it allows you to travel freely without restriction in most areas in Saudi Arabia.
Hajj or Umrah Visa: Hajj or Umrah Visa is a visa that is only applicable to certain vicinities of Jeddah, Mecca, or Medina. This visa is only offered on a religious basis of doing Hajj or Umrah. You can only apply for this visa if your religion is Islam. This Visa type does not allow you to work, extend your stay or even travel to other cities for tourism.

You should contact embassies and consulates if the applicant needs that type of visa:

Government Visa:Government Visa is only issued when the Saudi government's department, hospital, university, or ministry has invited you to come and needs to get approved just like any other Visa. You are required to complete all other steps to get your Visa authorized.
Business Visit Visa:Business visit Visa is offered by an organization to an entrepreneur or a company employee based on learning or researching about opening or starting a business there. Business Visa does not support seeking employment during the visit or extending the visit.
Residence Visa: A resident Visa allows the applicant to stay within the country until a said amount of time which is more than 90 days. This visa can also be issued while the applicant is already within the country. The resident visa allows the applicant to live, or travel freely inside Saudi Arabia if needed.
Employment Visa:An Employment visa allows the applicant to get employed by a company or organization and work for them for a certain amount of time. Employment Visa is also known as Work Visa. Employment Visa only lasts up to your employment and does not approve stay after the work is done.
Companion Visa:The Companion Visa applies only to foreigners who seek to accompany their companions on their work or business visits or stays in Saudi Arabia. Companion Visa applies only to the spouse, parents, or children of an already appointed or employed foreigner in Saudi Arabia.
Student Visa: The student visa allows the applicant to study in Saudi Arabia. This Visa applies to University, College, or completing School Studies. It is required to show the government that the applicant can afford the education til it ends. It requires you to submit bank statements etc for approval of the visa. Some scholarships are offered by the government or universities that foreign students can apply to.
Personal Visa: A personal Visa allows the applicant to apply for a visa that has no connection to any business, or company. It is a type of visa similar to the Companion Visa. a personal visa isn't directed towards tourism as well.
Family Visa: A Family Visa is the visa issued to the family member of a person already residing in Saudi Arabia based on work or business. This type of visa exists only for family reunification. The family visa also allows the applicant, if under the age of 18, to complete their studies in school.
Work Visa: The Work Visa applies to foreigners who are employed in Saudi Arabia by a company or organization. This type of visa can be applied to any job criteria that meet the requirements of the government.
Extension of Exit or Re-entry Visa: Extension of Exit Visa means the applicant has almost spent their said time and is already residing in Saudi Arabia and wishes to extend their visit or stay. A re-entry Visa is issued when you wish to re-enter Saudi Arabia after some time in a year or so. It is issued mainly to foreign workers working there or their companions.

How to apply for a Saudi Arabia Visa?

You can apply for a Saudi Arabia Visa by submitting the required documents to the embassy or consulate of your country, or through the online portal for an e-Visa by scanning and submitting the required documents. Applying through the consulate or embassy takes up a lot of time and effort in submitting and getting your Visa issued. The e-Visa is a better choice to take if you want to save time and apply easily just by putting information into the e-Visa portal.

Apply online or on arrival (if eligible for an eVisa)

There are 49 countries whose residents are eligible to apply for an e-Visa to Saudi Arabia as mentioned above. The e-Visa allows you to enter the country for leisure or tourism purposes only. The application form for tourist Visas is simple it takes up less time to fill and submit making the entire process easier.

There are about 79 countries whose residents are allowed to issue a Visa upon arrival to Saudi Arabia. The on-arrival Visa is issued after you have reached your destination's airport and requested it there. There are some documents you need in hand to apply for an on-arrival Visa. The documents include a duly filled application form, a passport that is not expiring in the next 6 months, a photocopy of the passport, a photo of the applicant, the fee, an ID card, round trip airfare, hotel reservation, evidence of sufficient funds, etc.

How to Apply at an Embassy or Consulate of Saudi Arabia in your country (if the applicant is ineligible for an eVisa)

An embassy is a representative of a country located in the capital city to deal with Visas, issues of their country's residents, etc.

A consulate is usually located in cities that are large and highly populated, and attract tourists' attention. Consulate exists so that embassies don't get a lot of work and traffic from all cities but help in dividing the work of embassy by dealing with their allocated city themselves.

You can apply for a Visa through the embassy or consulate of Saudi Arabia in your country if your country is not eligible for the e-Visa. It takes up to 1 to 4 weeks to process a Visa through the embassy or consulate which depends on the country or your type of visa.

Saudi Arabia Visa Fees

You have to pay a visa fee and service fee to get visa online. The Saudi Arabia visa fee is dependent on the applicant country and the type of visa also depends on the processing time. Which allows you to stay in the country of Saudi Arabia for 90 days.

Saudi Arabia Government Visa Fees:

The government fee is 143.00USD for multiple entry visas, the government fee also depends on the type of visa you have requested to issue and the time of the stay you plan on taking.

Saudi Arabia Visa Service Fees:

The service fee of the e-Visa is 39.00USD for 90 days stay duration which can be used single or multiple times during one year.

Saudi Arabia Visa Status Update

There are 5 Visa Status Updates. Each of them represents the stage of your issuance of a Visa. If there are any problems along the way of issuing, you can check it through a status update.

To check your visa status update you can contact and visit the website and your local embassy or consulate on their allocated numbers as well.

Application Receipt Pending

This status refers to when you have completed and submitted your Visa application form but it is not showing online. This means that it has not been added to the Embassy's system yet. It usually takes up to 5 days at a maximum time to update the embassy's data online. In some cases, your status will remain the same as pending until you appear for the interview/information/document or until your application is reviewed by an officer.

Application Received

This application received status means that your application has been submitted, and your data has been updated to the system but it has not begun processing yet.

Administrative Processing

Administrative processing means that your data and application have been received and are now in the process of reviewing and issuing or refusing the Visa. This process usually takes 1 working day or even more if it is one of work, immigrant, or student visa type.

During this process, your Visa can either be issued or refused. If your application lacks any documents or needs more attention, the embassy's consular will try to contact you by cell phone or email based on the contact information you have provided. It is best to keep checking your email, or texts to avoid further delays and regularly check your status online.

Although there are times your application will get rejected if the information you provided does not fit the criteria or eligibility, or if you provided the wrong information.

Issued

Issued status means that your visa is in the final processing and awaiting issuance. You can check with your embassy, or consulate for further updates on this matter if it has been more than 1 working day and you have yet to receive your Visa issuance.

The status of your visa is checked online by entering your information into the online portal.

Refused

This status usually refers to when an officer has rejected your application. Refused status means that your application can not be processed further for approval. This can also mean that you have to wait a certain amount of time to apply for the visa again if your Visa application is refused.

Sometimes you cannot ask for the issuance of a Visa until 3 months or more have passed by your last Visa Refuse Status to avoid traffic and unnecessary applications.

Sometimes your visa might be refused if you have already booked a flight or schedule so it is advised to wait for the issuance or Issued status to start planning or booking hotels and stays.

Most of the time a Visa is refused because of a lack of information provided or lack of documents submitted or even wrong information provided. If you have been contacted by an officer to submit the remaining documents or information, it is best to follow their instructions and proceed with the Visa process.

If you do not complete the documents or information for the Visa issuance next time, your Visa status will remain the same.

How can we help you Obtain Saudi Arabia visa without any Trouble?

It is important that applicants wishing to visit Saudi Arabia complete the application form correctly without any mistakes or errors. Any misspelling or error while entering your personal information (such as name, date of birth, address, occupation, and contact details) and your passport information (passport number, issue and expiry date, name on passport) can lead to the rejection of your application.

In this regard, we are here to help. With years of experience and a reputation of trust and reliability across the globe, you can confidently hire us to apply for your Saudi Arabia eVisa. Our immigration specialists are well aware of all the intricacies of the visa application procedure and can help you apply in a fool-proof manner. It is a guarantee that if you fit the eligibility criteria for a Saudi Arabia visa, you will surely obtain it with our help and support.

Frequently asked questions

Saudi Arabia offers on-arrival visas to some countries. It is issued after you arrive at the airport in Saudi Arabia. There are 79 countries whose residents can request a Visa upon arrival. Although it is best to get your Visa issued before your arrival to avoid any problems in case of refusal.

The cost of a tourist e-Visa for Saudi Arabia is (683.83 SAR). If you reach Saudi Arabia and request an e-Visa on arrival, its cost is (480 SAR). The multiple entry tourist Visa remains valid for an entire year from its date of issuance. The number of days offered by this Visa type is 90 days. The medical insurance fee is included in the tourist e-Visa fee. The medical insurance is taken care of by the Saudi Government in the tourist e-Visa. The mode of payment is by credit card or debit card only.

You can apply for an e-Visa through an online portal. The process is quite simple. You only have to type in basic information such as resident ID, passport, expiry of passport, applicant's name, date of birth, email address, address, and bank information in the form provided by the website. After you have filled out the form, you will need to make the payment to request the issue of an e-Visa. You have to wait a few days to get your e-Visa issued. The e-Visa is sent through email. You need to show an e-Visa while departing for your journey to Saudi Arabia.

The e-Visa usually gets issued within 1-3 business days normally. It might take 10 business days at max to get your e-Visa issued. The Saudi Arabia e-Visa is easy to apply and about 90% of tourist e-Visas get issued, some forms do get rejected for the e-Visa. There are only 49 countries that are eligible to apply for the Saudi Arabian online e-Visa System. Most of the time, the rejection is due to false or incomplete information provided by the applicant, or their national country not meeting the requirements to apply.

Yes, Indians can apply for the e-Visa. The terms for the e-Visa are the same for the nationality holders of India as they are for the other countries. Indians can also request an e-Visa on arrival at Saudi Arabia airport. In recent years, the Indian government and the Saudi government have coordinated arrangements for the Muslim Indians to perform hajj and umrah pilgrims without difficulties. However, Riyadh does not offer tourist e-Visa holders to come into the city. Indian nationals can also apply for a visa extension of 30 days in Saudi Arabia.

Yes, you can perform the Umrah pilgrimage on e-Visa. It was not allowed by the government before, but in recent years the Saudi Government has allowed visitors to perform the Umrah pilgrimage on their tourist e-Visas. Now the residents of 49 applicable countries can request their e-Visas online with the intention of umrah and visiting Saudi Arabia. The e-Visa can also get issued on arrival at any Saudi Arabian airport. It is better to have Visas that provide medical insurance because of the recent Covid-19 outbreak to cover the cost of treatment or stay at a hospital or hotel if needed.

It is best to apply for an e-Visa a week before your departure to avoid unnecessary delay and affecting your travel plans.

The service fee exists to cover the costs of international operations. This fee is recognized by the Saudi Arabia immigration department.

You can only pay the e-visa fees online. So, the best options are using a debit or credit card, or your PayPal and UnionPay accounts. Any other mode of payment may not work on this website.

Yes, it can be different. The owner of the card and the applicant's name who is applying for the e-Visa can be different.