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Old Dec 12, 2012, 11:54 pm
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MatthewLAX
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Originally Posted by dunk
I don't believe this will be easy. KSA doesn't issue visas unless there is a clear requirement, e.g. business, pilgrimage, long transit, and they don't issue tourist visas except for rare organised tours. There is definitely no concept of visa on arrival.

Since there you don't appear to need a transit visa (i.e. your transit is <18 hours) I doubt they will issue one. However, this is Saudi and there are always exceptions, so it's worth checking the embassy website and perhaps calling them. Transit visas are free so you could just apply and see what happens, if you can be without your passport for up to a week or more.

If your friend is senior enough, it's possible for his company to create the appropriate invitation to support a business visa. There is however a lot of paperwork and I wouldn't expect this to cost less than USD200 if using a visa agency to handle the application for you.

Another point worth considering: it can take a very long time to get through immigration - anything between 10 mins and several hours. It can be an uncomfortable experience, especially (and I'm treading on eggshells here) if you are a south Asian national and have brown skin.

All in all, this is not for the faint hearted, but IMO definitely worth it for the cultural experience

hth
Agree fully, My recent experience bore this out precisely.
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