How long the Saudi eVisa takes, and when to apply

The short answer. Many Saudi tourist eVisa applications are decided within minutes of being submitted; others take a few days. Apply at least a week before you travel. On our side, a Regular application is checked and submitted within 72 hours of receiving it complete, and a Same-day application within 24 hours. The decision itself, and how long it takes, is made by Saudi Arabia.

Two clocks

There are two parts to the waiting, and only one of them is ours.

Our handling time

The clock starts when we have a complete application: your details, both files for every traveller, and your payment. From then, a Regular application is checked and submitted within 72 hours, and a Same-day application within 24 hours. The clock runs every day, including weekends and holidays.

If something needs fixing, a passport too close to expiry, a page that cannot be read, a photo that does not meet the rules, we email you before anything is submitted. The clock starts again when we have the corrected file, so the fastest applications are the ones that arrive complete. Our requirements guide lists the problems a review catches.

The Saudi decision

Once your application has been submitted, the decision belongs to Saudi Arabia. Many applications are decided within minutes. Others take a few days. We cannot speed up that part, and we cannot promise a date for it.

When to apply

Apply at least a week before you travel. That leaves time to correct a document if we ask, and time for a decision that takes days rather than minutes.

Applying earlier is fine. The eVisa is valid for one year from the day it is issued, so an application made now works for a trip in nine months; the only rule on the form is that your arrival date is within the next year.

Allow two or three weeks in busy periods: Ramadan, the weeks before the Hajj season, and school holidays, when the airlines and the hotels are busy too.

Same-day: who it is for

Choose the Same-day lane when you travel within the next few days. It moves your application to the front of our queue, so that it is checked and submitted within 24 hours of arriving complete. It does not change the Saudi decision time, which is the same for both lanes, and it is not a promise of a same-day visa.

If you travel tomorrow, the Same-day lane gives the best chance, but the decision may not arrive in time, and the fee is not refundable once your application has been submitted. Send a complete application, watch your email, and reply quickly if we ask for anything. US, UK and Schengen passport holders also have a visa on arrival at Saudi Arabia's main airports, at a higher fee than the eVisa, as a fallback.

What slows an application down

• A passport that expires within six months of your arrival date. This cannot be fixed by us; the passport has to be renewed first.
• A passport page that is blurry, cropped, sideways or hidden by glare.
• A photo with a coloured background, a filter, or part of the face hidden.
• A request from us that waits in your spam folder. Check it if you are expecting a message from saudivisavisit.com.
• The Saudi decision itself, which sometimes takes days. This is outside our control.

An example