Saudi Arabia's visa system for UAE residents changed twice this year. In July, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah launched a standalone multiple-entry Umrah visa. Underneath it, the GCC-resident eVisa that most Dubai-based travellers actually use has not changed since 2023, and the internet still gets its stay limit wrong.
Everything below is sourced to the official platforms and the government bodies that run them. Where an official page and a well-known secondary source disagree, we say so rather than pick one and move on.
Two ways UAE residents enter Saudi Arabia
There are two separate doors into Saudi Arabia, and mixing them up is the single most common source of a rejected application.
The nationality door. If your passport sits on Saudi Arabia's eligible-nationality list, you apply for the standard tourist eVisa on your passport alone. UAE residency is irrelevant to this route.
The GCC-residency door. If your passport is not on that list (most Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Bangladeshi passport holders living in the UAE fall here), your UAE residence permit itself qualifies you for a separate GCC-resident eVisa category. This is the route this guide covers.
The GCC-resident eVisa: eligibility and cost
Saudi Arabia removed the profession restriction on the GCC-resident eVisa in March 2023. Before that date, only residents in a listed profession could apply. Since then, eligibility runs on residency status alone, not job title. Both Fragomen and Deloitte's regional tax and immigration teams confirmed the change at the time, and it still holds in 2026.
| Requirement | Official condition |
|---|---|
| UAE residence permit validity | At least 3 months remaining at the time of application |
| Passport validity | At least 6 months from the date of entry |
| Minimum age | 18 to apply directly; minors are sponsored on a parent or guardian's application |
| Profession | No restriction since March 2023; all professions qualify |
| Accompanying family | First-degree relatives (spouse, parents, children) of the resident may apply on the same route |
| Domestic workers | May accompany their GCC-resident sponsor on the eVisa |
Cost. The base visa fee is SAR 300, roughly AED 294, and is refundable if the application is rejected. On top of that, ksavisa.sa lists a visa digital-services fee and an insurance digital-services fee, each commonly reported around SAR 39–40 and non-refundable, plus the mandatory medical insurance premium itself, which varies by provider and is selected during the application. Most online applications land around SAR 380 to SAR 535 all in once insurance is added. Visa-on-arrival pricing is sometimes reported lower, around SAR 480, which is why the honest answer is to check the exact figure at checkout rather than budget to the riyal.
How long you can actually stay
This is where UAE-based advice most often gets it wrong, because the official platform and foreign-government advisories describe the same visa differently.
| Source | What it says about stay duration |
|---|---|
| ksavisa.sa (KSA Visa platform) | "Stay duration up to 90 days per visit": read literally, up to 90 days on each entry within the 1-year validity |
| UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office | The e-visa is "valid for multiple entries, but only for 90 days in total across the 365 day period": 90 days cumulative for the whole year |
| Canada travel advisory | Describes the same eVisa the same way: a single 90-day allowance spread across the year, not reset per trip |
A foreign government's official travel advisory contradicting the visa portal's own wording is unusual, and we cannot resolve it from outside either system. The safe approach: track every day spent in the Kingdom across the full 365-day validity and stay under 90 total, rather than assuming each entry resets the clock. If your trip is close to that line, confirm your specific visa's wording before you fly rather than after.
The base eVisa also comes in a single-entry form. Secondary sources consistently describe it as 90 days validity with a 30-day stay, not the 90-day stay the multiple-entry version carries. ksavisa.sa does not publish the two variants side by side, so treat the single-entry stay as 30 days until your own approval says otherwise. Multiple-entry is the default most UAE residents apply for, and it is what the fees above assume.
Umrah on a tourist eVisa, and the Nusuk permit
The GCC-resident eVisa permits Umrah as one of its listed purposes, alongside tourism and visiting family. Hajj is not covered. That requires a completely separate process run through the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
What catches people out is that holding an eVisa that allows Umrah is not the same as being cleared to enter the holy sites. Nusuk, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah's digital platform, runs three separate routes into the Kingdom for Umrah purposes:
| Route | Who it is for |
|---|---|
| Visa on arrival | Tourists from around 49 eligible nationalities, plus holders of a valid UK, US or Schengen visa |
| eVisa | GCC residents; the route this guide covers |
| Dedicated Umrah visa | Everyone else, applied for through a Nusuk-approved travel agent or Umrah operator |
Regardless of which of the three got you into Saudi Arabia, a Nusuk Umrah permit, booked in the Nusuk app and tied to a specific visit window, is required separately before you can enter Masjid al-Haram or Masjid an-Nabawi. And as of the current Nusuk rules, a confirmed hotel booking made through the platform is required to issue the permit; you cannot apply for the permit first and sort accommodation later.
New in 2026: the multiple-entry Umrah visa
On 20 July 2026, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced, via the Saudi Press Agency, a new multiple-entry Umrah visa, separate from both the GCC-resident eVisa and the old single-entry Umrah visa route.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Validity | 365 days from the date of issuance |
| Entries | Multiple, not capped at a fixed number |
| Stay allowance | Up to 90 days cumulative across all visits in the validity period |
| Per-visit requirement | A Nusuk service package must be purchased for each visit, and its duration cannot exceed the days remaining on the visa |
| Entry mechanism | An Umrah permit must be issued through the Nusuk app before each arrival |
| Between visits | The visa deactivates when you leave Saudi Arabia and reactivates for the next visit once the Nusuk requirements are met again |
| Hajj season | Not valid for entry during the annual Hajj period |
The National reported the visa as part of a broader easing that has included year-round Umrah access for Gulf citizens and residents, announced back in July 2025. Neither the SPA announcement nor The National's coverage specifies a separate fee for this visa distinct from the standard eVisa and Nusuk package charges. Treat the total cost as the Nusuk service package price plus whatever visa fee applies to your route, and confirm both in-app before paying.
For most UAE residents making one or two Umrah trips a year, the standard GCC-resident eVisa with a Nusuk permit per visit remains the simpler route. The new multiple-entry Umrah visa is built for people making frequent, repeat visits within a year without wanting to reapply for a full eVisa each time.
What an overstay actually costs
Saudi Arabia does not publish one single overstay tariff, and this is the part of the topic where secondary sources are least reliable. Two things are officially documented. The Ministry of Interior, via the Saudi Press Agency, has set the ceiling for visa overstays at up to SAR 50,000, up to six months' imprisonment and deportation. Separately, a KPMG GMS Flash Alert dated 26 June 2026 covers one narrow case: overstaying an expired final exit visa, fined at SAR 1,000. Everything between those two points comes from press reporting rather than a published tariff, so the table below labels each figure by how well it is sourced.
| Situation | Penalty | How well sourced |
|---|---|---|
| Visa overstay, maximum penalty | Up to SAR 50,000, up to six months' imprisonment, and deportation | Official: Ministry of Interior, via the Saudi Press Agency |
| Final-exit-visa overstay (failing to leave before an exit visa expires) | SAR 1,000 | Official: summarised in KPMG GMS Flash Alert, 26 June 2026 |
| First visit-visa overstay | Reported at around SAR 15,000 and deportation | Press reporting only; not in any official tariff we could find |
| Repeat or aggravated visit-visa overstay | Reported as escalating toward the SAR 50,000 ceiling with jail time | Press reporting only |
Read that as a warning to build in margin, not as a menu of options. If a trip is running close to your visa's validity or stay allowance, extend or exit before the deadline rather than testing which category you fall into.
Applying, step by step
- Confirm which door you're usingNationality-eligible tourist eVisa, or the GCC-resident route on your UAE residency. They have different eligibility checks.
- Check your residence and passport validityAt least 3 months left on your UAE residence permit, at least 6 months on your passport from your entry date.
- Apply on ksavisa.sa or visa.visitsaudi.comUpload your passport scan and photo, select single or multiple entry, and pay the visa, digital-service and insurance fees.
- If Umrah is the purpose, register on Nusuk separatelyDownload the Nusuk app, book your hotel through the platform, then request the Umrah permit. It will not issue without a confirmed booking.
- Track your days against the strictest readingTreat the 90-day allowance as cumulative across the year, not reset per entry, until you can confirm otherwise for your specific visa.
- Exit before any deadline, not afterOverstay penalties in Saudi Arabia range from SAR 1,000 to SAR 50,000 depending on the situation. There is no flat, published daily rate to budget against.
Side by side
| GCC-resident eVisa | New multi-entry Umrah visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Tourism, visiting family, Umrah outside Hajj | Umrah only, outside Hajj season |
| Validity | 365 days (multiple-entry) or 90 days (single-entry) | 365 days from issuance |
| Stay allowance | 90 days: per visit per the portal, or cumulative per FCDO (disputed) | 90 days cumulative across all visits |
| Fee | SAR 300 base, ~SAR 380–535 all in with insurance | Not separately published; Nusuk package cost applies per visit |
| Nusuk permit still required? | Yes, for the holy sites specifically | Yes, before every single entry |
| Launched / last changed | Profession restriction removed March 2023 | Announced 20 July 2026 |
Before you book
MSM checks your UAE residency and passport validity against Saudi Arabia's current eVisa rules, handles the ksavisa.sa or Visit Saudi portal typing, and walks you through the Nusuk hotel-and-permit sequence before you pay for anything. See Saudi tourist and Umrah visa services for the full process, or our GCC visas for UAE residents guide if Oman or Qatar are also on the itinerary.