What Visa Do You Need to Enter Saudi Arabia?

There are six ways into Saudi Arabia, and which one applies to you comes down to three things: your passport, where you live, and what you're coming to do.

The rules have moved a lot in the past year. Some of what you'll read on travel blogs is simply out of date, including a few "rules" that no longer exist. Everything below was verified against official Saudi sources in June 2026.

1. The tourist eVisa, for 66 countries

The default route for most Western travellers. Citizens of 66 eligible countries, covering the UK, US, Canada, all of the EU and much of East Asia, can apply online at visa.visitsaudi.com.

• Cost: SAR 535 (about USD 142), which includes the application fee and mandatory medical insurance covering you up to SAR 100,000
• Validity: one year from issue, multiple entry
• Stay: up to 90 days per visit, with cumulative limits across the year (UK guidance caps it at 90 days in total per 365, US guidance describes a 180-day ceiling per 12 months)
• Umrah: yes, with a free permit booked through Nusuk. Hajj: no, ever. More on that below.

Most applications are processed quickly, often within the hour.

2. Visa on arrival

The same 66 nationalities don't actually need to apply in advance. You can land at any Saudi international airport and get the same one-year, multiple-entry visa at the kiosk for SAR 480, paid by card. Oddly, that's SAR 55 cheaper than applying online.

3. The Umrah visa, through Nusuk

If your country is not on the eVisa list, the route for Umrah is the dedicated Umrah visa, issued through Nusuk-accredited agents. It cannot be issued on its own. The Ministry requires it to be bundled with a service package covering accommodation and transport.

Worth knowing:

• It allows a stay of up to 90 days, single entry
• Since November 2025, you must enter the Kingdom within 30 days of issuance or the visa is automatically cancelled. The old three-month window is gone
• It is not restricted to the holy cities. The Ministry confirms it allows travel between Makkah, Madinah and all cities in the Kingdom
• It can never be extended into the Hajj season or used for Hajj
• There is no fixed price to quote. Because the visa cannot stand alone, what you pay is the agent's package price, which moves with your accommodation, transport and travel dates

The Umrah calendar now runs season to season, with set windows for visa issuance, entry to Makkah and final departure. We've covered the current season's key dates in full.

4. The 96-hour stopover visa

Flying somewhere else via Saudi Arabia? Booking with Saudia or flynas lets you add a stopover visa during checkout. The application takes about three minutes inside the booking flow and the visa is emailed almost instantly.

• Stay: up to 96 hours, single entry, valid for three months from issue, not extendable
• Cost: the visa itself is free, but you pay a processing fee of roughly SAR 39.50 plus medical insurance from SAR 13
• Umrah: allowed, with a Nusuk permit booked before you head to Makkah

Two caveats. flynas limits the offer to itineraries touching a list of 19 countries, so check eligibility in the booking flow. And the complimentary hotel night Saudia promoted at launch no longer appears in its published terms, so don't plan around it.

5. Family and personal visit visas

If you have family in the Kingdom, the host applies, not you, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs platform at visa.mofa.gov.sa. Resident hosts must hold a work iqama and can only invite first-degree relatives, meaning parents, spouse and children. Saudi citizens can additionally invite friends through the personal visit visa, which comes in 90-day and one-year versions and explicitly permits Umrah.

The visa fee is around SAR 300 plus a digital services fee of roughly SAR 39 and insurance. Standard processing is about three business days.

One restriction to be aware of: since February 2025, nationals of 14 countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria, are issued single-entry visit visas only, with the one-year multiple-entry option suspended for those passports.

6. GCC citizens and residents

Citizens of the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar need no visa at all. A national ID card is enough.

Expats living in the GCC have their own route: since March 2023, GCC residents of any profession can apply for the very same tourist eVisa from section 1, regardless of nationality. It is the identical visa, residency is simply a second way to qualify for it alongside the 66 nationalities. The conditions are a residence permit valid for at least three more months and a passport valid for six. The visa covers tourism and Umrah, and applications go through ksavisa.sa or visa.visitsaudi.com.

One difference matters: for GCC residents this route is eVisa or embassy only. Unlike the 66 nationalities, they cannot pick it up on arrival, so it has to be sorted before flying.

The exception that proves the rule: Hajj

None of the visas above permit Hajj. Not the tourist eVisa, not the Umrah visa, not a family visit visa, nothing. A dedicated Hajj visa, allocated by country quota and tied to an official permit, is the only legal way to perform the pilgrimage.

For pilgrims in the 128 "serviced countries" without national Hajj missions, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia and 45 European countries, the sole official channel is the Nusuk Hajj platform, which for 2026 listed 13 authorised service providers. Registering does not guarantee acceptance.

Saudi Arabia now enforces this with real teeth. For Hajj 2026, Makkah was closed to all visit-visa holders from 18 April to 31 May, and attempting Hajj without a permit carried fines up to SAR 20,000, deportation and a 10-year re-entry ban. Facilitators faced up to SAR 100,000 per person and vehicle confiscation.

Rules around Saudi entry change faster than almost any destination we cover. Before booking, check visa.visitsaudi.com, nusuk.sa or your nearest Saudi embassy for the current position.