Saudi Arabia has opened its doors for tourists from 49 countries since Sunday (Aug 1), by simplifying procedures in obtaining a multiple-entry electronic visa for a period of one year and allowing stay up to 90 days in the kingdom.

According to a report by Saudi Gazette, a global news website covering the news on Saudi Arabia, the terms and conditions for obtaining a tourist visa and entering Saudi Arabia include full immunization with one of the approved vaccines in the Kingdom.

“This is in addition to a negative PCR test conducted within 72 hours from the time of departure and registration in the country’s Muqeem portal,” said the report.

After a gap of almost one and a half years since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic early last year, the Kingdom has dedicated a website to register those who want to obtain tourist visas through the fast and easy-to-use online portal.

Tourists and visitors who belong to nationalities of 49 countries including Malaysia are eligible to apply for e-visa, enabling them to perform Umrah (small pilgrimage) and experience diverse activities related to tourism across the Kingdom.

Apart from Malaysia, citizens of the following countries are eligible to obtain tourist visas: The United States, Canada, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Switzerland, San Marino, Spain, Brunei, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), as well as Japan, Kazakhstan, Singapore, South Korea, Oceania, Australia, and New Zealand.

Saudi’s Ministry of Tourism had announced the decision to open the Kingdom’s doors to tourists and lift the suspension of entry for tourist visa holders, starting from Aug 1.

According to the ministry, tourists to the Kingdom are required to register their data related to vaccination doses in the new electronic portal https://muqeem.sa/#/vaccine-registration/home, adding that data is recorded through the Tawakkalna application and must be shown when entering public places.

Meanwhile, Haramain Sharifain, an English social blog reported that all visitors arriving in the kingdom must provide evidence of a full course of one of the four vaccines currently recognised in the kingdom: two doses of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, or Moderna vaccines or a single dose of the vaccine produced by Johnson and Johnson.

Those who have completed two doses of Chinese Sinopharm or Sinovac’s vaccines will be accepted if they have received an additional dose of one of the four other vaccines approved in the Kingdom, the report added.