In September 2019, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia introduced the Electronic Tourist Visa to boost the nation’s tourism sector and welcome foreign nationals from 49 countries to explore the Arabian and Islamic culture. Owing to this, the tourism sector of the country is expected to contribute a whopping SAR 412 billion to the economy by 2027, says an article on Invest Saudi.
Documents Required To Apply For A Tourist Visa
Malaysia is one of the countries whose citizens are allowed to use the electronic visa system to enter Saudi Arabia for the purposes of tourism. Here are the mandatory documents required to obtain a visa for Malaysia online.
PHOTOGRAPH
A recent photograph has to be uploaded, along with the visa application form, to complete the application process. Make sure your entire face is clearly visible. Headwear or sunglasses are not allowed. However, religious gear, like a Hijab, is permitted. The dimensions of the photo should be 200×200 pixels and the size should be anything between 3KB and 100 KB. The photo should be in .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif or .bmp format.
EMAIL ADDRESS
You are required to provide a working email address, while creating an account for the application process. The account activation link will be sent to this address. After the completion of the entire application process, if approved, your electronic visa will also be sent to this address. So, make sure you have easy access to this email account.
PAYMENT OPTIONS
Since the payment procedure will be done online, make sure you have a debit or credit card ready to pay the visa application fee.
After submitting the visa application form, the visa is usually approved within 24 to 72 hours. It is then sent to the valid email address that you had mentioned in the form. However, during peak times or when the consulate/embassy is overloaded with work, the process could be delayed.
Documents Required To Enter Saudi Arabia
In order to enter KSA, you will require the following mandatory documents.
PASSPORT
A Malaysian passport with validity of a minimum of six months beyond your intended travel dates. Make sure to have at least one blank page for the entry stamp.
TOURIST E VISA
A copy of the electronic visa that was sent to you via email.
CURRENCY DECLARATIONS
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia allows SAR 60,000 to be carried in and out of the country. If you exceed the cash limit, you will need to inform the officials. In case you fail to do so, you could land up in jail.
HEALTH DOCUMENTS
In order to enter Saudi, you will need to show proofs of vaccinations for Yellow Fever, Polio, Tetanus, etc. Along with this, medical insurance is a must, without which you will not be permitted entry into the country.
Application Procedure For The Tourist Visa
The application process will not take more than 10 minutes to be completed. Here’s how to obtain a Saudi Arabia visa for Malaysia.
STEP 1: VISIT SAUDI ARABIA’S OFFICIAL ELECTRONIC VISA PORTAL
Login to the official e-visa website of Saudi Arabia. Be careful to login to the official one because there can be many other websites that might look like the real thing but are not.
STEP 2: CREATE AN ACCOUNT
You need to create an account for yourself before beginning the process. Once you create an account, you can start filling up the visa application form. You can also check the status of your application here. To sign up for the account, enter your passport type and the name of the country your passport has been issued in.
Fill in basic details, such as your name, email address, phone number, along with your login information, such as username and password. A link will be sent to the email address you had provided to activate the account.
You will need to click this link within 24 hours of it being sent. After this, your account will become active and the next time you log in to your account, you will need to enter the verification code, which would have been sent to you via email.
STEP 3: APPLY FOR THE SAUDI ARABIA ONLINE VISA
The application form consists of many pages, so make sure you take the time to fill in all the details accurately and check it before uploading. All personal details, such as your full name, gender, country of birth, marital status, occupation and residential address are to be entered in the first page.
You will also need to upload a photo of yourself, where your entire face is clearly visible. A photo in bright natural light is preferred.
On the next page, fill in your passport information and your intended dates of entering and leaving Saudi Arabia.
You will also need to fill in the purpose of travel to Saudi Arabia and your place of accommodation in the country. On the following page, enter the purchase details of the mandatory medical insurance. The cost of insurance is SAR140, including 5% VAT.
Finally, the last page provides details of the terms and conditions.
STEP 4: PAY THE VISA FEE
The final step is to make a payment of SAR 463.44. This includes the visa fee of SAR 300, insurance fee of SAR 133, 5% VAT, which is SAR 22, and a transaction fee of SAR 8.44. The payment can be made through credit or debit card.
After all the above steps are successfully completed, you can track the status of your application till you receive the online visa via email.
Following the instructions carefully will reduce delays and prevent any chances of rejection of your visa for Malaysia. If you are a first-timer and unsure of the process, enlist the services of a reputed and experienced visa agency, like Rapid Visa. We will ensure that you have a completely hassle-free experience, taking care of every step of the process on your behalf.
