RIYADH – Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced a new initiative to scrap the visa sticker on the beneficiary’s passport and instead use electronic visa and read its data via a QR code.
The new leap forward in technology will be in operation initially in the Kingdom’s missions in seven countries which are United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The development comes as Saudi Arabia aims to revamp its visa system to make it more tech friendly besides improving the quality of consular services provided by the country.
The country is on a mission to revolutionize travel and tourism in the country for which a new airline has also been introduced by the name Riyadh Air will will serve more than 100 destinations around the world by 2030. The kingdom is taking rapid steps under the directives of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman who is ambitious in leading the region through soft power.
Saudi Arabia hosts two of Islam’s holiest sites in Makkah and Medinah and welcomes pilgrims round the year for Umrah and Hajj. The kingdom has also introduced applications like Nusuk for issuance of permit for the pourpose of Umrah and has been increasingly relying on technology to facilitate the pilgrims who land there for religious reasons.
It is note worthy that this is the first time Saudi Arabia would be welcoming Hajj pilgrims in large numbers i.e around 2.3m after the pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Around one million people joined the 2022 Hajj season and only those in age bracket 18 to 65 who were fully vaccinated or immunised against the virus and did not suffer from chronic diseases were allowed to visit the kingdom.
