With Saudi Arabia opening its doors for tourism and entertainment, it doesn’t come as any surprise that travelers are curious and interested in visiting the kingdom. In a new move, Saudi Arabia has now made it easier for tourists to visit or simply travel via the country with a new “transit visa.”
Earlier this week, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that a 96-hour visa will be issued electronically free of cost and immediately for anyone travelling with Saudia and Flynas airlines. The Stopover Visa allows people to enter the Kingdom for four days. The visa will remain valid for three months.
The Saudi Press Agency has stated that applications from the Saudia and Flynas airlines’ websites will “automatically be passed to the Unified National Visa Platform at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for processing, and the digital visa will be issued and sent to the beneficiary via e-mail immediately after.”
The new visa will be predominantly beneficial for people entering Saudi Arabia for their Umrah pilgrimages, and moreover, it will contribute greatly to the kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals.
So how do you get this Stopover Visa?
The first step is to visit Saudia.com and selecting your preferred dates and flight. After confirming these details, you will then receive information about your chosen route which includes the ‘Visit Saudi Arabia’ option. Here, choose between ‘Visit Saudi’ or ‘Perform Umrah’. Saudia also offers a free night stay along with your ticket. Then, select your preferred stopover point from one of Saudi Arabia’s six international airports, and the number of days you are staying, with the maximum being four.
You will then select options from the new set of flights that are available based on your transit details. After that, you will fill out all your personal details required for travelling, choose your seats and then finally click on “Get e-visa” which should then be granted immediately.
