Saudi Arabia opens tourist e-Visa and visa on arrival to 4 more nationalities

From embassy visits to online and on-arrival visas

Saudi Arabia added citizens of Mexico, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia to its tourist visa program, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Nov. 5. Travelers from the four countries can now apply for a multiple-entry tourist e-Visa online or get a visa on arrival at any Saudi port of entry using their national passports. They also qualify for transit or stopover visas, each with its own conditions.

None of the four appeared on the official eVisa portal's list of eligible countries in mid-October, when it covered 68 nationalities.

Until now, citizens of these countries had to go through an embassy or consulate. Mexicans had one shortcut: Mexico was among seven countries in the Tourist Package Visa program, which issues an e-Visa only when a traveler buys a package through approved providers. With the standard e-Visa, Mexican travelers no longer need a package. The program now covers 72 countries.

The terms new applicants get

• Validity: one year, multiple entry.

• Stay limit: up to 90 days, counted cumulatively across all visits on a multiple-entry visa.

• Renewal: not available until the current visa expires.

• Allowed: events, exhibitions and conferences, visiting relatives and friends and Umrah outside the Hajj season.

• Not allowed: working for compensation.

• Passport: valid for at least six months from the planned entry date.

Fees appear during the online application, which runs on the official portal in three steps: form, payment and an emailed visa.

What changes for Mexican, Serbian, Bosnian and Macedonian long-stay travelers

For long-stay travelers from the four countries, the 90-day cap is the binding limit. Those days don't reset with each entry, so a traveler who spends 90 days in the country early in the visa's year can't use the remaining months of validity and can't apply for a new visa until the old one expires.

Planning trips across the year matters more than the one-year validity suggests.

Saudi Arabia has no digital nomad visa and the tourist visa bars paid work. The announcement doesn't address remote work for foreign employers or clients, so it leaves that question where it was. Travelers from countries already eligible see no change. More on entry routes is in our Saudi Arabia guide.