If you want to see if our relations getting better with Saudis or not, so here is the proof! Saudi Arabia has introduced visa-on-arrival for Pakistanis who have the USA, UK and Schengen visa’s stamp on their passport.
The visitors can stay in the country for 90 days. Yet, they have to collect visas from the airport and they should have credit to pay the fees of SR440 which is equal to Rs 18000 because cash payment is not allowed. Besides, a person should have a valid passport for six months at least from the day a person has applied to come to the day he or she will leave the place.
The Muslims can perform Umrah on this Visa but Hajj will not be permitted. The visitors, who are traveling for the first time, have to travel via Saudi Arabia airlines like Flydeal or Flynas.
The visa will expire after a year but visa holders have the opportunity to visit the country multiple times.
One of the people, Ahmed, expressed his opinions that the experience was amazing and it took 15 minutes to complete the procedure that resulted in the facility to visit the country numerous times for a year on a single visa.
Last year, Saudi Arabia introduced e-Visa in more than 50 countries. It is different from the visa-on-arrival. The purpose of its introduction was to allow travelers to visit the country for tourism. In this system, a person gets an electronic visa. For this, he or she has to apply for a visa online by filling the easy form. Yet, the traveler has to show the visa at the airport when they arrive there. People could travel and stay in KSA for 90 days, yet they should have a credit card for payment, valid visa, and passport of an eligible country. Hence, they should carry a copy of their electronic visa to travel anywhere in the country.
Countries which are eligible for e-Visa includes America, Canada, Austria, Andorra, Bulgaria, Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Holland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Montenegro, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, Japan, China, Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Kazakhstan, and South Korea.
It is good news for Pakistan and Pakistanis that KSA, who is regarded as a good friend of Pakistan, has shown his good friendship by allowing us to visit their country on visa-on-arrival. Yet, it can be seen as well that our country and our neighboring country have the same value in the eyes of KSA, whether King Salman says it or not but action speaks louder than words!
