SAUDI ARABIA VISA

[cashmeremypuppydog]

 

Hello all,

This will be our 1st SilverSea cruise: Nov 16-25 from Dubai. We are going to be in India & Nepal for a month before the cruise. It is time for me to work on getting my eVisa for Saudi Arabia.

After reading a lot on cruisecritic, I found out some people applied for their eVisa through visa.mona.gov.sa for only US$10. It is a special eVisa for cruise ship (called maritime and available only since 2021). Others applied for their eVisa through visitsaudi.com but there is no option for cruise ship and the price is closer to US$100. I contacted SilverSea and the young agent told me to visit visitsaudi.com. After mentioning visa.Mona.gov.sa, she put me on hold for a long time. She later told me my issue was escalated but I should still use visitsaudi.com.  I reinforced the fact that maybe SilverSea was not aware of this new eVisa when cruising…

I really hope Silversea will investigate this new maritime eVisa which costs only $10. Anybody knows anything about this?

Thank you

 

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[cashmeremypuppydog]

Hello all,

After much research, I would like to share with you the following to help others obtaining their Saudi Arabia’s eVisa. 

I just obtained my eVisa through Saudi Arabia MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affair)  http://visa.mofa.gov.sa as they do have the new option ‘eVisa for cruise tourist’. If you are not familiar, please read this article:

https://www.handyvisas.com/news/saudi-arabia-launches-e-visa-service-for-cruise-tourists/  

 

It was not easy due to the photo issue but I succeeded (Google photo specification for Saudi Arabia eVisa). it cost me US$26.52 and hubby US$30. The difference is due to the cost of medical insurance as he is older than me. You can not opt out of medical coverage.

You have to select: ‘Transit visa’ and not ‘tourism visa’ (this last one would cost you over $100).

Good luck with the process.

Chantal 

P.S. the 2nd photo is from MSC cruise line.

[Gk9]

We also approached Silversea for advice about the Saudi maritime visa and they didn't know it existed.

We successfully applied and visited Jeddah in April.this year

The transit visa wasn't issued until the cruise was underway.We wre l told that it was because they required the ship's manifest first.

[Wayfairers]

We will be doing a day trip into Saudi Arabia from Jordan on a cruise next year.  I am trying to figure out how to get an electronic photo.   It appears I can take a pic with my phone and then upload it to an app that checks the photo to resize and make sure it meets passport photo requirements before adding it to the visa application.   How did you get your photo?

[cashmeremypuppydog]

Hello Wayfairers,

You are correct. I just used one of my photo. However, you need resolution 200x200 and it is very tricky. Google “requisite for Saudi Arabia eVisa photo”.

 

Also, I wrote a lot about how I obtained my eVisa on this roll call. See link below. It should really help you.

Chantal

Lover of Africa 🦍🦏🦛🐘🦓🦒🦁🐒

 

 

[Wayfairers]

7 hours ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

Hello Wayfairers,

You are correct. I just used one of my photo. However, you need resolution 200x200 and it is very tricky. Google “requisite for Saudi Arabia eVisa photo”.

 

Also, I wrote a lot about how I obtained my eVisa on this roll call. See link below. It should really help you.

Chantal

Lover of Africa 🦍🦏🦛🐘🦓🦒🦁🐒

 

 

Thanks!

[cashmeremypuppydog]

Hello all,

I promised I would update this discussion. Here it is:

Yesterday, we just boarded SilverSea Spirit. As we were in line to check in at noon, my husband received his 'Transit by Sea' e-visa. I did not. When ask for our Saudi Arabia visa, we both showed our photocopy of our applications. This was accepted and kept by SS. Then, we boarded.

 

Last night, we received this letter (see attachment) in our suite. I am not worried at all as the worst case scenario would be hubby going on a shore excursion and me staying on the ship when we are docked in Damman, Saudi Arabia.

[cashmeremypuppydog]

Last update

We boarded Nov 16. Hubby received his Saudi Arabia e-visa on Nov 16 and I received mine on Nov 17. We will visit Saudi Arabia on Nov 20. I am a happy girl! I did not order the regular visa but the ‘Transit by Sea’ e-visa which cost us about US$25 each including insurance. Go for it people instead than buying the regular visa at US$150.

[Kauaijim]

Thank you , that’s what we will do for the 1/6 trip on the Moon