WEB DESK
Saudi Arabia has officially stopped issuing visa stickers and replaced them with e-visas in seven countries. According to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, the decision to issue e-visas with QR codes came into effect from May 2023. Countries that will benefit from this initiative include Jordan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The move to introduce e-visas is aimed at digitizing the consular services by the Saudi Foreign Ministry and creating a new way to issue work, residency, and visit visas in the countries mentioned above. The move comes as part of efforts to automate consular services and “develop a mechanism for granting different kinds of visas, including work, residence, and visit visas”, according to a report in the Saudi Gazette.