The Saudi Arabian embassy in Egypt has announced the launch of an e-visa service, effective from Thursday, as part of a similar program introduced for seven countries. This implementation is a part of the initiative recently announced by the Saudi Foreign Ministry to issue e-visas at some of the kingdom's missions abroad.
In the initial stage, the e-visa service will be available at Saudi missions in the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The visa sticker will be replaced with an e-visa that can be scanned via the Quick Response (QR) code, as part of the automation procedures and upgrade of consular services provided by the ministry for granting work, residency, and visit visas.
This move is expected to benefit the expat workers' community in Saudi Arabia, as well as diversify its oil-reliant economy and attract more foreign visitors. The country aims to receive 25 million foreign tourists this year, with 2.4 million visitors recorded in January and 2.5 million in February, as reported by the Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb in March.
