India has restored the e-visa services for the nationals of Saudi Arabia keen to visit the country with immediate effect. In 2019, India had introduced the Saudi nationals’ e-Visa service, which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Embassy of India in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a tweet said, “The Embassy is happy to announce that the facility of e-visa has been restored for the nationals of Saudi Arabia with immediate effect in all five sub-categories, i.e. e-tourist visa, e-business visa, e-medical visa, e-medical attendant visa & e-conference visa.”
India offers e-Visa services to 166 nations at present. The application and payment of fees are required to be made a minimum of 4 days in advance from the date of travel and wait for the approval.
Earlier, owing to strong ties and strategic partnership with India, Saudi Arabia announced the exemption of Indian nationals from submitting a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) to obtain a visa for travelling to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Embassy in New Delhi said that the PCC will no longer be a requirement for Indian citizens and the decision has been taken as a part of the efforts of the two countries to boost their relations. India-Saudi Arabia relations have strengthened considerably over the past few years including in political, security, energy, trade, investment, health, food security, cultural and defence fields.
