Saudi Arabia tourist visa

[vale.braun]

This seems still a quite obscure topic...I found some infos on the web, but still few and confused. I know they issue tourist visas since January 2018.
I am a single solo female cyclist, aiming to get a tourist visa (possibly double entry, possibly e-visa->I read it would have been active a couple of weeks after april 2018, but nothing else then).
Any reports from single women/non married couples? Or anyone who cycled through?
My itinerary for that area would be Iran-UAE-SA-Bahrein-SA-Egypt.

Thanks

[Lovetheworld]

To me it would seem one of the worse countries to do solo as a female, but hopefully I'm wrong.

Did not know they have already been giving tourist visas, it thought it was not sure yet.

Good luck!

[sebhoff]

As far as I know, tourist visas to Saudi Arabia were announced a while ago and were supposed to start some time in 2018 (April, I think), but this never materialised. There were going to be some restrictions for women - I think you were supposed to be at least 25 to get a tourist visa without a "male chaperone". I've checked a few times since and haven't found any updates.
Here's a recent thread on TripAdvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g ... rabia.html

[Milad]

They do issue Tourist visas currently only if you book a super-expensive all-inclusive tour, of which there is very limited supply, and by super-expensive I don't mean Turkmenistan or North Korean prices, but €4000+ for a week. Some relaxation of the rules is planned for the near future, but as a solo female cyclist, you might want to or have to postpone your trip for the next 10 or maybe 100 years. It's still Saudi Arabia.

[sebhoff]

OK - just for the heck of it I contacted Saudi Tourism on Facebook and got the following reply:

Hello sebastian .. we thank you to contact us ,, in regard to the visa, its procedures have not yet ended and soon to be released and will be announced immediately. Please visit our website to discover more about our wonderful country http://www.sauditourism.sa/en/Pages/default.aspx

Let's see what "soon to be released" will translate into...

[satika]

I checked the status in November at the Saudi Embassy in the Hague (Netherlands). The woman was very strict in her answer: there is no possibility for a tourist visum application. No possible way to visit Saudi Arabia if you are a non-muslim, female tourist. Even with my partner it was not possible. Only if you have family or a working invitational letter it is possible...

[mnfiveb]

You can get some kind of tourist Saudi e-visa only if some event will be, such as Formula-E in Dec2018. It's price about 170USD for 30 days single entry. But also you need to buy ticket for this event - without it you aren't allowed to get visa. So, ticket for event + sharek visa = appx 300-350USD (that price was for Formula-E). The best you can do with this visa - enter/exit through any border crossing. Mecca too, because airport not in the city. And you may go in all cities you want (except Mecca and Medina for non-muslims).

That is one Russian had said, who got the visa last month.

https://www.sharek.sa/

[steven]

Yup, I also heard this recently. This is the best way in at the moment.

[sebhoff]

The Formula-E in December 2018 was apparently some sort of trial event. However, they seem to be opening up in a much more comprehensive way - or at least they are claiming that the will do so soon: https://www.saudiarabiavisa.com
Here's some more information: https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/s ... 1.61556417
Let's see when (and whether) it actually materialises...
Sebastian

[Lovetheworld]

Currently there is a media campaign to show the unknown side of Saudi Arabia.
And the Dakar rally in 2020 will also be in Saudi Arabia.

I guess we are not far from them opening up.