RIYADH — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a new mechanism for Saudi citizens to obtain personal visit visas to bring in their friends and acquaintances who are living abroad to Saudi Arabia. The visa holders will be allowed to travel in the regions and cities across the Kingdom as well as to perform Umrah, visit the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, in addition to visiting religious, and historical sites, and take part in cultural events. The ministry stated that the visa application process is made much easier and simpler through the eVisa platform of the ministry's website: https://visa.mofa.gov.sa. It indicated that Saudi citizens can invite their friends and acquaintances to visit Saudi Arabia and perform Umrah by submitting a request for a personal visit on the ministry's eVisa platform. The personal visit visa request can be submitted through the Individual Service section of the eVisa platform and logging in through the Nafadh unified national platform, and filling out the data for those to be invited by requesting a personal visit, and approving the necessary undertakings. The request will then be processed and a 'personal visit visa document' will be issued, of which the data can be viewed through the invitation request query service. The ministry indicated that the person who is invited to visit would complete the process of paying fees and medical insurance after filling out the entry visa application form on the visa platform and then submit the application and passport to the embassy or consulate of Saudi Arabia in the guest country or through the centers or offices accredited to the embassy or consulate. They can come to the Kingdom through all the air, land, and sea ports after obtaining the entry visa stamped passport. This step comes within the framework of efforts to increase the number of foreign visitors in line with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, the ministry noted, adding that inquiries can be made about the submitted applications by entering the visa platform, selecting the inquiry icon, filling in the required data, and then click on inquiry icon to know the status of the previously submitted applications.
