Saudi Arabia Visa & Entry Requirements (2026)
There's no single answer — Saudi Arabia's tourist e-Visa (launched September 2019) covers roughly 66 nationalities, including the US, UK, EU/Schengen, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand: apply online, get approved within minutes to a couple of days, and receive a 1-year multiple-entry visa allowing stays of up to 90 days per visit. Several major nationalities are notably NOT on the e-Visa list — including India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Brazil — and need a regular visa through a Saudi embassy or consulate instead. GCC nationals travel visa-free using their national ID card.
Saudi Arabia's tourist e-Visa is a genuinely recent thing — the whole system launched in September 2019, the same year the country opened to leisure tourism at all — and the eligible-country list is more specific and more surprising than most travelers assume. Here's the real breakdown, not a guess.
Last checked 15 July 2026 directly against Saudi Arabia's own official sources — the official Saudi e-Visa portal (the eligible-nationality list and the application process itself), and the Visit Saudi visa regulations page (the Saudi Tourism Authority's official entry-requirements summary) — not just this page's own history. Visa rules like this one change with little notice, so we re-verify against those sources every few weeks rather than trusting our own last edit. Spotted something that's changed since? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.
e-Visa eligibility by nationality (as of mid-2026)
| Passport / group | e-Visa status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| EU / Schengen countries | Eligible — instant e-Visa | Covers essentially all EU member states; apply online, approval usually within minutes to 2 days. |
| United States | Eligible — instant e-Visa | One-year multiple-entry visa, up to 90 days per visit. No embassy appointment needed. |
| United Kingdom | Eligible — instant e-Visa | Same terms as the US — apply entirely online. |
| Canada, Australia, New Zealand | Eligible — instant e-Visa | All three are on the standard eligible list, same online process. |
| India | NOT eligible for the tourist e-Visa | Indian passport holders currently need a regular visa through a Saudi embassy or consulate for tourism. (A separate Umrah-specific visa/Nusuk platform process exists for religious visits and is not the same as the general tourist e-Visa.) |
| Other GCC nationals (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE) | Visa-free | GCC citizens travel within the Gulf Cooperation Council using their national ID card — no passport or visa needed at all. |
| South Africa | Eligible — instant e-Visa | On the standard eligible list. |
| Brazil | NOT eligible for the tourist e-Visa | Requires a regular visa through a Saudi embassy or consulate. |
| Southeast Asia — Philippines, Indonesia | NOT eligible for the tourist e-Visa | Both need a regular embassy visa for tourism. Historically, most travel from these countries has been for labor contracts or Umrah/Hajj under separate visa categories — genuinely different from, and not a substitute for, the general tourist e-Visa track. |
| Southeast Asia — Malaysia | Eligible — instant e-Visa | Malaysia is on the standard eligible list, unlike its regional neighbors above. |
| Other nationalities | Varies — check the current list | Roughly 66 countries are covered in total; if your passport isn't listed above, check the official portal directly rather than assume either way. |
This list changes — Saudi Arabia has expanded e-Visa eligibility multiple times since 2019 (Turkey, Thailand, Seychelles, and Mauritius were all added relatively recently), and could add more nationalities without much advance notice. If your passport isn't in the eligible group above, it's worth checking the official e-Visa portal (visa.visitsaudi.com) again close to your travel dates rather than assuming a 'not eligible' answer from a year ago still holds.
What the e-Visa actually gets you
- A one-year, multiple-entry visa allowing stays of up to 90 days per visit.
- Valid for tourism, visiting family or friends, attending events, and performing Umrah outside Hajj season — but not for work or study.
- Bundled mandatory travel/health insurance is included in the visa fee automatically for eligible nationalities.
- Submit your application at least a few days before traveling — same-day approval isn't guaranteed.
Basic entry requirements for everyone
- Passport valid for at least 6 months from your date of entry.
- You must enter and exit using the same passport used on the visa application.
- An approved e-Visa doesn't guarantee entry — final admission is always at the discretion of Saudi immigration on arrival.
- The tourist e-Visa is entirely separate from the specific Umrah e-Visa (via the Nusuk platform) — if your trip is primarily a religious visit to Mecca and Medina, check whether the Umrah-specific process applies to you instead.
How to actually apply for the e-Visa
- Go to the official portal, visa.visitsaudi.com, and start a new application yourself — there's no need for a third-party agent or an embassy visit if your nationality is on the eligible list.
- Upload a scanned passport bio page (valid 6+ months from your entry date) and a recent passport-style photo.
- Pay the visa fee online — it bundles the mandatory travel/health insurance automatically, so you're not buying that as a separate step.
- Most applications are approved within minutes to 48 hours; save or print the approval, since border staff may ask to see it alongside your physical passport on arrival.
Apply at least a few days before you fly, even though approval is often near-instant — leave a buffer in case your specific application gets flagged for manual review, which happens occasionally and can add a day or two rather than being instant.
Common visa mistakes
- Assuming your nationality is automatically covered because a neighboring or similar-sounding country is — the eligible list is specific and not always intuitive (Malaysia is covered, but the Philippines and Indonesia currently aren't).
- Applying for the tourist e-Visa when your trip is actually a dedicated Umrah visit — use the Nusuk platform's Umrah-specific process instead, since the two have different rules and purposes.
- Not checking your passport's 6-month validity requirement until the last minute — a genuinely easy, avoidable way to get denied boarding regardless of visa status.