Centers will provide convenient visa and biometric enrollment services for Saudi tourist visa applicants.
Pilgrims can travel for Umrah on a tourist visa outside of Hajj season.
VFS TasHeel, an authorized visa service provider for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced that it has launched tourist visa services at its centers across 30 countries worldwide. Applicants will also be able to travel for Umrah on a tourist visa, but not during the Hajj season, according to the official Saudi visit visa website visa.saudivisit.com.
According to Saudi Arabia’s new visa policy, nationals of UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Algeria, Bahrain, Cameroon, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Maldives, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan can apply for a tourist visa. The visa process is open to applicants from all nationalities, except the 49 that are eligible for a visa on arrival or e-visa.
Acting as a trusted service provider between visa applicants and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, VFS TasHeel’s visa services centres, spanning Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, provide full array of visa services including, dissemination of accurate visa information, application guidance, fee management, identity management with biometrics enrollment and application submission for all available visa categories. Biometric enrollment includes a highly secure collection of fingerprints, a facial image and biographic details, such as passport information.
On 27 September, VFS TasHeel started serving customers under the new type of Tourist Visa in most of its countries of operations.
A spokesperson of VFS TasHeel said, “The increasing openness of international markets brings immense opportunities to the tourism sector – and Saudi Arabia’s new policies acknowledge that tourism has an important role to play the kingdom’s social and economic development. In support of the government’s initiatives, we are pleased to offer tourist visa services in 30 countries, and make the entire process more seamless and convenient for potential leisure travelers and pilgrims for Umrah.”
SOURCE : ALBILAD
