JEDDAH – In what appears to be a bid to diversify income streams, Saudi Arabia has said its citizens can apply for visas to invite their friends to the kingdom and perform Umrah.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry stated that Saudi Arabian citizens can apply for a personal visit visa allowing the invitees to cruise around the kingdom including the holy sites.
The ministry highlighted that people can apply for the visa through the visa platform website: https://visa.mofa.gov.sa. After the issuance of entry visas, the tourists can enter the Kingdom through all air, land and sea ports.
The ministry said that the new visa – known as the personal visit visa – permits tourists to enter the kingdom to visit their Saudi friends, perform religious duties, visit religious and historical sites as well as attend cultural events.
The ministry said the step is part of efforts to boost foreign visits to the kingdom in the backdrop of Vision 2030, a mega scheme designed to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy and open its gates to the outside world.
Saudi Arabia hosts Islam’s holiest sites including the Grand Mosque of Mecca and welcomes around 2 million pilgrims on the eve of Hajj (the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca,). The kingdom has largely been shut to the outside world; however, Saudi Arabia’s incumbent crown prince Muhammad bin Salman is introducing sweeping reforms across the kingdom.
