Saudi Arabia Implements Major Visa Changes for These 12 Countries

A major change to visa requirements for travelers from 12 countries has been announced by Saudi Arabia.

For visitors entering the nation from Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, and other countries, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of the Kingdom will implement updated rules. The new system will eliminate the requirement for passport visa stickers for travelers.

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority, GACA, announced that printed e-visas with QR codes would take the place of the country's current visa stickers.

All necessary data as well as passenger information will be included in the code. The stickers for work, visit, or residency visas will be replaced by the e-visa.

The 12 new nations' visitor passport visa stickers will be rolled out over the following period of time:

• Pakistan - July 24th
• Yemen - July 26th
• Sudan - August 2nd
• Uganda - August 7th
• Lebanon - August 9th
• Nepal - August 14th
• Turkey - August 16th
• Sri Lanka - August 21st
• Kenya - August 23rd
• Morocco - August 28th
• Thailand - August 30th
• Vietnam - September 4th

The new system is a part of the ministry's digitalization of consular services, which also includes work permits, residency permits, and visit visas.