zm093

Lived in Khobar for 12 years. I really miss Saudi! Btw, the Caprice is one of my favorite cars of all time!

flyerdxb

Hi Daniel,
So...I went for my Saudi Transit visa appointment and was told that they cannot accept the documents because transit visa can be given only to people residing in / citizens of the intended destination country.

My destination was Bahrain and they asked if I have a a Bahraini residence visa (which I did not). Only option suggested was go to the consulate and get an approval for VFS tasheel to accept the documents. In the mean time, my confirmed appointment goes 'no show' and I cannot apply for another 2 weeks under normal category...have to pay another Dhs200 ($55)to apply under urgent/ walk in/ lounge category!

Off I went the next day to Saudi Consulate in Dubai. The gentleman at the counter heard my case and I explained how I was planning to travel to Bahrain for an upcoming long weekend via Dammam. He took my documents and asked me to come back in the afternoon. Showed up in the afternoon and he had the documents with a hand written approval on it. Nice...

Then I went to VFS and paid the additional $55 and with their system going downs 3 times during my stay in their lounge for 2 hours, I managed to submit my documents.

What an experience.... 'the mystical Saudi visa process...full of surprises always'....plus its like Mr. Murphy has full time employment with them to keep the suspense going!

Waiting for the visa to show up.....

P.S.....Loved your Everest TR

DanielW

Success! All's well that ends well.

I had an initial issue with VFS too. I brought all the documents they listed on their website, but they wanted a company trade license too. Hence I had to 'no show' too and wait another 2 weeks.

I found this link useful too. Just lays out the steps when you cross the border (exit-entry procedures, buying insurance etc.):

http://www.qnhg.org/files/wpro_share...0by%20road.pdf

powerup25

Thanks for the TR, Just curious , how does it go with the car insurance? do you have to buy insurance for each country? and how much does it cost?

DanielW

Yes, you just buy it at the border as part of the paperwork formalities. About $20-25 per week.

flyerdxb

Thanks very much Daniel...I finally received my visa similar to yours; 3 days duration of stay with a validity of a month.

Also thanks for the above link, it will be useful for the drive. I plan to go this weekend as everyone is expecting a long weekend in UAE...

Will keep you guys posted...

romana2

Does this still work? We'd love to make a trip from Qatar (residence) to Bahrain or UAE. Can anyone give me some recommendations on this? We'd need to buy a car (and sell afterwards again) specifically for this as we only have a company car, which is a lease vehicle. Thus buying a car and then finding out it's not possible anymore would be a bummer. Does anyone know if a woman with husband accompanying friends doing this trip is allowed or not? Thanks a lot.

Siddyboy

Hi DanielW,

Is this transit visa duration of 3 days for the whole round trip or for each direction of travel.

Thanks

Siddyboy

DanielW

Hi Siddyboy, I'm not 100% sure on this. It appears for normal multi-entry visas "...30 days stay for every visit or entry to be calculated effective from the date of entry to the Kingdom". Not sure if similar applies for transit visas, probably best to give the consulate a ring to confirm.

http://embassies.mofa.gov.sa/sites/P...s/default.aspx

hauteboy

Mine was 72-hrs each way, but I gone mine in the USA and supposedly they don't issue anymore.

Fa Hz

Pretty cool report! thanks for sharing