Saudi Arabia Visa and Entry Requirements

The short version

You must get a visa to visit Saudi Arabia. Which one depends on why you are going and how long you want to stay. For an ordinary leisure trip the route is an electronic travel authorisation obtained before you fly, and your passport has to have at least six months left on it counted from the day you arrive.

The electronic authorisation

An ETA is valid for 730 days from the date it is issued. It permits multiple entries, but only 180 days in total across that two-year period, which is a distinction worth understanding if you expect to come back. It covers tourism, attending an event, visiting family and friends, and Umrah outside the Hajj season.

Because it lasts two years, an authorisation obtained for one trip will usually still be good for the next one. Because the 180 days are cumulative, a long first visit eats into a second.

Your passport

It must have an expiry date at least six months after the date you arrive. Counted from arrival, not from the day you applied and not from the day you booked. This is the single most common reason a traveler is stopped before they reach a desk, and it is entirely avoidable.

Overstaying

The FCDO is blunt about this and it is worth repeating in its own terms: if you overstay your visa you could face large fines, detention and deportation, and you could be banned from returning to Saudi Arabia. Keep the arithmetic of the 180 days in your own head rather than assuming a border officer will do it for you.

Hajj season, and a restriction people do not expect

During the Hajj season the Saudi authorities have stopped visitors who are not performing Hajj from flying to Jeddah, Madinah and Taif. That is a genuine constraint on an ordinary tourist itinerary, because Jeddah is the gateway to the Red Sea coast and to Historic Jeddah. If your dates fall near the pilgrimage, check before you book domestic flights, and expect the western airports to be working at a different rhythm.

What we do not tell you

We do not publish a visa fee. Fees change, they differ by nationality and by application route, and a number quoted here and stale in six months is worse than no number. Take the fee from the official portal on the day you apply.

Next: when to go, and the travel safety guide, which explains the one part of the country a visa is not worth having for.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Saudi Arabia entry requirements: the visa requirement, the electronic travel authorisation and its 730-day validity, six months of passport validity and the penalties for overstaying. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Saudi Arabia travel advice: the FCDO advises against all travel to parts of Saudi Arabia and against all but essential travel to further parts. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Travelers’ Health, Saudi Arabia: the recommended vaccines, and malaria transmission confined to the Asir and Jazan regions near the Yemen border. Accessed 14 September 2026.