Saudi Arabia has authorized transit visit visas for validity periods of 48 hours (two days) and 96 hours (3 days). Each option comes with a standard fee-scale of SR100 and SR300 respectively.
KSA’s Council of Economic and Development Affairs, the Cabinet’s General Committee, and the Shura Council, have all recommended the issuance procedure for short-term visit visas for passengers in lay-over. According to Saudi Gazette, the joint cabinet decided to amend the Schedule of Visit, Hajj and Transit Visas by land, sea or air.
The updated visa policy substantially aims to improve and develop regulations related to entry visas to KSA. In the long run, the Saudi authorities view this amendment as a boost for the Kingdom’s tourism sector. Hundreds of passengers will significantly benefit from this.
Before COVID-19 made headlines as a recurring pandemic, thousands of passengers had passed through KSA’s airport on a daily basis. This was before international air services were suspended in the region. Passengers linked to connected flights were forced to stay within transit areas and weren’t allowed to go out. Saudi Arabia’s amended short-term visa policy aims to help passengers who find themselves in such situations in the future.
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