A Saudi visa service centre has been opened at the Bahrain Financial Harbour. Saudi Embassy Charge d’ Affaires Riyadh bin Saud Al-Khenini inaugurated the facility, which will issue 23 types of visas to residents, including visit and residence visas.
Residents planning to perform the Hajj and Omra rituals have to secure the necessary visas via accredited agencies. However, they will still have to report to the newly-opened Saudi visa service centre for their biometric identity features, including fingerprints and facial recognition.
Residents planning to get visas to enter Saudi Arabia are required to book an appointment online first via the website before reporting to the centre to finalise procedures.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry has to-date opened similar hi-tech visa-issuance facilities in UAE, Oman and Jordan, in addition to Bahrain, as part of a plan to upgrade consular performance.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the first country in the Middle East to launch this hi-tech visa service”, Embassy Charge d’ Affaires Riyadh bin Saud Al-Khenini said.