Saudi Visit Visa for UAE Residents 2026: eVisa Eligibility, Cost and Processing

Can UAE Residents Get a Saudi Visa? (2026 Quick Answer)

Yes. A Gulf residence permit is itself a ground for the Saudi tourism e-visa. The official KSA Visa platform, run by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lists residents of GCC countries among the categories that can get the tourism e-visa online, alongside holders of Schengen, US or UK visit visas and permanent residents of the USA, the EU or the UK.

The nationality route is closed to most UAE expats: the Saudi eVisa portal opens it to 68 eligible countries, a list with no Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Filipino or Egyptian passport, so those expats apply on their residence. Visit Saudi's visa checker sends a GCC resident on one of those passports to ksavisa.sa, not to visa.visitsaudi.com.

What the official portal publishes, as of October 2026:

• Single entry - validity 90 days, stay duration 90 days
• Multiple entry - validity 1 year, stay duration 90 days

How the 90 days count is set in the Ministry of Tourism's published visa regulation: the multiple-entry visa is valid for one year "provided that the duration of the stay does not exceed 3 months during its validity period" - a total for the visa year, not a per-entry allowance. Visit Saudi caps any single stay at 90 consecutive days, and the eVisa terms rule out extensions. The visa covers events, family visits, leisure and Umrah, not Hajj or study.

Who Qualifies Under the GCC Resident Route

The eligibility card is short: residence in a GCC state puts an applicant in the category. The other conditions sit in the service requirements tab, the Ministry of Tourism terms and Visit Saudi's visa requirements page.

• Age - at least 18, unless accompanied by a legal guardian
• Passport - at least six months of validity remaining, counted by the eVisa terms from the date of entry to Saudi Arabia rather than from the application date
• Funds - enough to cover accommodation, food and transport for the whole stay
• Residence - a GCC residence visa valid for at least three months beyond the date of entry into Saudi Arabia, per Visit Saudi

The Gulf route does not include visa on arrival. The portal lists that only for holders of Schengen, US or UK visit visas and permanent residents of the USA, the EU or the UK. For most passports, Visit Saudi's checker offers a GCC resident two options, the e-visa and a transit or stopover visa of up to 96 hours, so the e-visa is obtained before travel. Visarun helps to check whether a residence permit and passport fit this route before anything is filed.

Profession, Salary and Residency Conditions

Old guidance does the most damage here. The immigration firm Fragomen reported on 15 March 2023 that the approved-profession list had been removed and that all Gulf Cooperation Council residents became eligible for a Saudi e-visa for tourism or Umrah regardless of profession. Gulf News reported the same change, noting that in the past only certain categories of professions were allowed to apply. The live official eligibility card carries no profession wording at all, and its Arabic version describes the category simply as people holding lawful residency in a GCC state. Neither platform publishes a salary threshold. Judged against that reporting and the live card, 2026 pages still listing qualifying professions are out of date.

Residence validity does have an official answer. Visit Saudi's visa requirements page tells GCC residents they "must provide a residency visa from one of the GCC countries with a minimum validity of at least three months beyond the date of entry into Saudi", and the KSA Visa application lists the condition as valid GCC residency of no less than three months. Fragomen (2023) and Gulf News (December 2025) report the same threshold.

Dependents have an official route too. Visit Saudi's GCC-residents FAQ says a resident can apply for first-degree family members - husband, wife, parents and children - from the same account after submitting their own application. No official statement covers a "No Work" or housewife designation, and no agency can promise an outcome.

An applicant report on Reddit dated 22 September 2026 describes one such case: a homemaker on her husband's sponsorship, filed with "No Work" as her status and about three months and 19 days left on her residence visa. The poster suspects those two details caused the delay. Counted from an entry more than about 19 days after filing, that margin falls below three months.

How to Apply on the Official Portal Step by Step

Applications go through the unified platform at ksavisa.sa, registered with the Digital Government Authority under number 20250831089. Visit Saudi's checker redirects GCC residents there, and the old visa.mofa.gov.sa page links to it.

• Register and open the visit visa, then pick the tourism purpose
• Enter personal and passport details exactly as in the passport
• Upload the documents
• Choose an insurance company - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs user guide puts this step just before payment, so the policy is bought inside the application
• Pay, then keep the application number for the tracker

Reddit posts of 17 and 19 October 2026 describe CAPTCHA, SMS and error 500 failures on ksavisa.sa. One family moved to visa.visitsaudi.com, but that portal serves the 68 eligible nationalities and keeps the fee after a refusal. If ksavisa.sa fails, its contact page offers a technical support case and the call centre, and the platform warns against unauthorised individuals or companies.

Gulf News lists what UAE expatriates upload: a white-background photo, a passport copy and the residence visa page. Check every field before paying, since the FAQ allows amendments only until payment.

Fees, Insurance and What the Visa Includes

The KSA Visa platform publishes the fee in US dollars. As of October 2026 the tourism visit visa breaks into three lines plus the insurance premium:

• Visa fee - $80, refundable
• Visa digital services fee - $10.5, non-refundable
• Insurance digital services fee - $10.5, non-refundable
• Insurance premium - based on the provider selected inside the application

The insurance line carries no fixed figure because the portal prices it by provider. Fragomen puts the requirement plainly: the e-visa is only issued after the applicant buys health insurance valid for the entire stay. Riyal figures do appear on official pages: the Ministry of Tourism regulation fixes the tourist visa fee at SAR 300, and Visit Saudi prices the GCC-resident route at SAR 339.44, about USD 90.50, with the application fee included and medical insurance not - in line with the first two lines above.

Refunds differ between the two Saudi platforms. A Gulf resident applies through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs platform, whose FAQ states that on rejection or cancellation an automatic refund request is submitted and processed within 45 to 60 business days, and that a rejected applicant gets a refund for the fees paid. Once the visa is issued, nothing is refunded and it cannot be cancelled. The Ministry of Tourism eVisa terms rule out refunds and the Visit Saudi FAQ calls the fees "non-refundable in any case", but that wording governs visa.visitsaudi.com and the nationality route, not the application a UAE resident files. A Reddit post of 19 October 2026 shows what it means in practice: a family of ten filing on visa.visitsaudi.com had three members refused within a minute, with fees that portal does not refund.

Processing Time and Application Statuses

Two official figures exist. The service card gives a processing time of one minute to three business days, so a one-minute approval or refusal falls inside the published range. The central FAQ states that once the application is submitted and paid for, processing may take a maximum of three working days, and in some exceptional cases longer. Those are the only timings with an official source behind them as of October 2026.

Approval or rejection is notified by email, and extra documents may be requested by email or through a visit to the embassy. Status goes through the Track your application option, which asks for an application or visa number plus the passport number. After a rejection, the card says the applicant can reapply at any time. A Reddit poster who filed on visa.visitsaudi.com wrote on 19 October 2026 that support called instant refusals automatic and said some become approvals 24 hours later. No official page says so.

What "Sent to Embassy" means

The portal explains the mechanism without naming the status: where visa service centres are not available in the applicant's country, visitors apply through the platform and then proceed directly to the Saudi embassy in their country of residence. No official page defines the wording or sets a time limit for it.

Applicant reports fill that gap as single experiences. According to a Reddit post dated 22 September 2026, a multiple-entry application filed on 25 August 2026 had been showing "Sent to Embassy" ever since, and the same poster wrote that two family applications sat at that status for 14 days in July 2026 before being processed. A Reddit thread from 28 September 2026 describes a self-filed application decided after 42 days, and a transit applicant on Reddit reported "Send to the representative office" on 19 October 2026.

When a file goes quiet, the platform contact page publishes a case complaint form, a call centre on 920011114 and a customer care email with a one-business-day response target. Visarun helps to resolve stalled applications by preparing the follow-up, while the decision stays with the Saudi authorities.

Tourism, Umrah and Family Visits - What the Visa Allows

The official activity guidelines cover attending events and tourist activities, visiting family or friends, and performing Umrah. Travellers are not authorised to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage on this visa.

Umrah needs no second visa, so a UAE resident can arrange it without an agent: the tourism e-visa on ksavisa.sa, then an Umrah permit on Nusuk. The tourism visa FAQ answers "Can I perform Umrah?" with a plain yes for Muslim tourists, and Nusuk, run by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, says holders of visit, tourism and work visas may perform it. Visit Saudi tells GCC applicants to book the Umrah appointment through Nusuk, where a date and time are chosen.

The separate Umrah visa follows the ministry's season calendar. For 1448 AH, the last visas are issued on 9 March 2027, the last entry is on 23 March and pilgrims must leave by 7 April 2027. Its stay is 90 days, and the ministry's FAQ says the system cannot extend it beyond that.

Ramadan 2027 follows straight after the AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, dated by the AFC 7 January to 5 February 2027. The Umm al-Qura calendar puts 1 Ramadan 1448 on 8 February 2027, subject to the moon-sighting announcement. A match ticket is not a visa, and nothing on the AFC's tournament pages links tickets to entry.

A family visit visa is a separate visa that starts with the host in Saudi Arabia. On the KSA Visa platform the host logs in with Nafath, a resident host has the invitation attested by the employer or sponsor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approves it, and the guest then visits an authorised office or the embassy to submit the passport. A Reddit post of 2 October 2026 reports a family visit visa refused over an address the system had autofilled.

Non-Muslims may not enter the Holy Mosque in Makkah or the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. Umrah pauses for the Hajj season, 15 Dhul Qa'dah to 15 Dhul Hijjah, and the eVisa terms bar visit-visa holders from Makkah from the start of Dhul Qa'dah. The dates printed there are still the 1446 AH ones, 29 April to 11 June 2025.

Arrival in Saudi Arabia and Entry Checks

A visa is permission to travel, not guaranteed entry: the eVisa terms leave entry to the discretion of an immigration officer at the border.

• Same passport - arrival on the passport used for the application
• Biometrics - captured on arrival, on a mandatory basis
• A copy of the eVisa - carried at first arrival
• Means of support - enough for the traveller and any dependents

The visa regulation binds a tourist to "the validity of the Visa granted to them, and the permitted duration of stay", and the eVisa terms rule out extensions, so plan to leave before expiry. Two Reddit posters on 17 and 19 October 2026 had visas lapsing mid-trip and could not get a new one early, and the KSA Visa FAQ allows one only after expiry. The Ministry of Interior warned in April 2026 that overstayers face a fine of up to SAR 50,000, prison and deportation. In March 2026, after regional disruption, the Interior Ministry let stranded holders of visas expired since 25 February leave without fines, and the Passports Directorate took enquiries on 992. Hajj-season entry is limited to designated ports.

Recent Changes (2025-2026)

According to Fragomen's March 2023 alert and Gulf News, the approved-profession list for GCC residents was dropped in 2023, the year Gulf News gives for the unified ksavisa.sa platform. Older guides still point UAE residents to visitsaudi.com or the old Ministry of Foreign Affairs portal.

• On the portal in 2026 - a Package Visa bundling a single-entry tourism e-visa with flights and a hotel from an approved agent, and an Electronic Travel Authorization among the "Other" visa types.
• 20 July 2026 - the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah launched a multiple-entry Umrah visa, valid 365 days with a cumulative stay of up to 90 days.
• 25 August to 4 October 2026 - Reddit posts report tourism e-visas stuck at "Sent to Embassy" for weeks.
• 2 October 2026 - a Reddit user said the ksavisa.sa assistant called the 90 days a per-entry allowance. The published regulation still caps the stay at 3 months during the visa's validity.
• 10 and 12 October 2026 - GACA suspended operations at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport after an attack, then extended the suspension, giving no end date.
• 17 to 20 October 2026 - Reddit posts report ksavisa.sa login failures, one-minute refusals on visa.visitsaudi.com and visas lapsing mid-trip.
• Ahead - the AFC Asian Cup runs 7 January to 5 February 2027, and Ramadan 1448 is due to begin on 8 February 2027.

FAQ

Can a UAE resident get a Saudi visa on arrival instead of applying online?

The official portal lists visa on arrival only for holders of Schengen, US or UK visit visas and for permanent residents of the USA, the EU or the UK. Gulf residence alone is not on that list, before or after an e-visa refusal, so the e-visa is obtained beforehand. For most passports, Visit Saudi offers a GCC resident only the e-visa or a transit visa.

How much does the Saudi visit visa cost for a UAE resident in 2026?

Three lines in US dollars on the official platform: a refundable visa fee of $80, a non-refundable visa digital services fee of $10.5 and a non-refundable insurance digital services fee of $10.5. The insurance premium comes on top, priced by the chosen provider. Visit Saudi quotes the route at SAR 339.44, about USD 90.50, before insurance.

Is the 90-day stay counted per entry or per year?

In total, on the published rules. Article 3 of the Ministry of Tourism's tourist visa regulation, issued by ministerial decision on 13 December 2022 and still posted on the ministry's site, makes the multiple-entry visa valid for one year "provided that the duration of the stay does not exceed 3 months during its validity period". Visit Saudi adds a cap of 90 consecutive days on any single stay. A Reddit user reported on 2 October 2026 that the ksavisa.sa assistant answered 90 days per entry. We found no published amendment behind that, so plan on 90 days across the whole visa year. A visa that lapses mid-trip cannot be extended under the eVisa terms.

How long does the application take?

Officially one minute to three business days, so an approval or refusal within a minute is within the official range, and the central FAQ adds that exceptional cases may take longer. Applicant reports on Reddit in 2026 describe 14 days and several weeks at "Sent to Embassy" and one self-filed application decided after 42 days - individual experiences, not a timeline.

Does my UAE residence permit need at least three months of validity left?

Yes. Visit Saudi's visa requirements page asks GCC residents for a residency visa valid at least three months beyond the date of entry into Saudi Arabia, and the KSA Visa application lists the same three-month condition. Fragomen and Gulf News report the same threshold.

Can a dependent with a "No Work" status on a UAE residence visa apply?

The designation itself has no official answer. Visit Saudi's GCC-residents FAQ says a resident can apply for first-degree family members - husband, wife, parents and children - from the same account after submitting their own application. An applicant report on Reddit from 22 September 2026 describes a "No Work" case still unresolved weeks later.

Can I perform Umrah on the tourism visit visa?

Yes. The official tourism FAQ answers that Muslim tourists can perform Umrah, and Nusuk states that holders of a visit, tourism or work visa may perform it. Hajj is not authorised. Visit Saudi tells GCC applicants to book the Umrah appointment through Nusuk. For Ramadan 2027 the Umm al-Qura calendar gives 8 February as the first day, and the last separate Umrah visas are issued on 9 March 2027.

If my application is rejected, do I get the money back?

On ksavisa.sa, the platform a UAE resident uses, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs FAQ states that on rejection or cancellation an automatic refund request is submitted and processed within 45 to 60 business days, and that a rejected applicant gets the fees paid back. The two digital services fees are non-refundable, and once the visa is issued nothing is refunded or cancelled. On visa.visitsaudi.com, the nationality route, the Visit Saudi FAQ calls the fees non-refundable in any case.

My application has been at "Sent to Embassy" for weeks. What can I do?

The platform contact page publishes a case complaint form with an application-number field, a call centre on 920011114 (00966920011114 from abroad) and a customer care email with a one-business-day response target. A rejected application can be refiled at any time.

We are relocating to Jeddah for work. Is this the right visa?

No. The eVisa terms grant the visa solely for tourism or Umrah and rule out paid employment during the visit. A UAE thread on 18 September 2026 shows the confusion, with a Pakistani couple asking whether they can fly from the UAE to Jeddah after cancelling their UAE visas for the husband's relocation.