India announces restoration of E-Visa services for Saudi Nationals
Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV
Riyadh, Mar 11, 2023: India announced that the facility of e-visa has been restored for nationals of Saudi Arabia with immediate effect.
"The Embassy is happy to announce that the facility of e-visa has been restored for the nationals of Saudi Arabia with immediate effect in all five sub-categories i.e e-tourist visa, e-business visa, e-medical visa, e-medical attendant visa & e-conference visa," tweeted the Embassy of India in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
It is worth noting that India launched the e-Visa service for Saudi nationals in 2019, however, it was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has now been reinstated, effective March 9, 2023.
It is worth noting here that the Application and payment of fees are required to be made a minimum of 4 days in advance from the date of travel and wait for the approval.
For online filling and submission of the application, applicants may go to the link https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html and apply in 4 easy steps - Apply online and Upload a photo and passport page; Pay eVisa fees online using a credit/debit card /payment wallet; Receive Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) online (ETA will be sent to the Email) and Fly to India - Print ETA and present at Immigration Check Post where eVisa will be stamped on Passport.
Earler, owing to strong ties and strategic partnership with India, Saudi Arabia announced the exemption of Indian nationals from submitting a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) to obtain a visa for travelling to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Embassy in New Delhi said that the PCC will no longer be a requirement for Indian citizens and the decision has been taken as a part of the efforts of the two countries to strengthen their relations further.
India-Saudi Arabia relations have strengthened considerably over the past few years including in political, security, energy, trade, investment, health, food security, cultural and defence fields.