Saudi Arabia expands visitor e-visa facility to eight additional countries – Business Traveller
Saudi Arabia has announced that it will grant visitor e-visa to travellers from eight newly-eligible countries: Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, South Africa, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, for leisure, business and religious (Umrah only) travel.
Nationals of these countries can apply for a visitor visa ahead of their journey via the official e-visa portal.
The visitor e-visa is valid for an entire year, grants multiple entries, and permits a stay of up to 90 days, reported Saudi Press Agency.
Since launching the e-visa programme in 2019, the kingdom has welcomed 93.5 million visits in 2022, a 93 per cent increase compared to 2021, resulting in a tourism spend of SAR185bn ($49bn).
This tourism growth is due to expanding visa initiatives, which now include 57 nations and tw...