RIYADH/DAMMAM — Saudis wishing to travel to Indonesia for visit or tourism will not need to obtain entry visa, the Interior Ministry has announced. Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Maroul, director of the ministry's department of information and public relations, explained that Saudis wishing to travel to Indonesia on a month's visit do not have to acquire an entry visa. He, however, warned that the exemption will not cover Saudis visiting the country for journalistic or media purposes. "The entry visa cannot be extended or turned into a work or a permanent residency visa," he said. Maroul said those entitled for the visa exemption are holders of diplomatic, special or ordinary passports. He said the exemption of the entry visa for the Saudis became effective from March 10, 2016. In another development, Okaz reported that travel agencies in Dammam stated 19 countries demand the Schengen visa for the entry of Saudi travelers. Travel agency owner Sami Al-Abdulhadi said all 19 countries are European countries including France, Germany and Holland. "The cost of issuing a Schengen visa differs from country to country. To travel to Bosnia, the visa costs SR300. Traveling to Germany, the visa costs SR1,400. Traveling to France, the visa costs SR600. Traveling to Holland, the visa costs SR900," said Al-Abdulhadi. He added countries differ in validity date of the visa. "France grants three months for the first issuance of the visa, and then grants two years for the second issuance. Italy, meanwhile, grants six months visa for the first time, and then grants 12 months the second time round," said Al-Abdulhadi. He also said the United States is much more flexible in its visa processing but tickets to the United States vary from SR3,500 to SR4,000. "During the summer holiday, tickets to the United States reach up to SR6,000 or SR7,000. Tickets to Britain cost SR2,900 or SR3,000, while tickets to France are priced at SR3,500 or SR4,000. Tickets to Bosnia cost SR2,300 or SR2,400," said Al-Abdulhadi. He said the coming summer vacation is the longest summer vacation. "This summer holiday starts at the beginning of Ramadan and ends in Thul Hijjah. People have already booked their tickets. The most popular destination is the United States. The visa for the United States is easy to obtain and only takes a few weeks," said Al-Abdulhadi. He said the United States visa expires when the passport expires. "The next most popular destinations are in Europe, specifically Britain and France. The third most popular destination is East Asia. Flights to Turkey have lost popularity after the instability of some Turkish cities," said Al-Abdulhadi. He added Egypt is gaining back its popularity among Saudi travelers. "No one is going to Lebanon this summer. Saudi banks have stopped allowing the transfer of money to banks in Lebanon and the Kingdom has warned travelers from going to Lebanon due to the unstable political conditions there," said Al-Abdulhadi.
