Unlike other countries of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council -- Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman), Saudi Arabia does not issue tourist visas nor is it possible for a hotel to sponsor a visitor.

Other than the two types of visas discussed above which are only available to Muslims, there exist visitor's visas, residence visas or transit visas.

In all cases, a person entering the Kingdom must have a Saudi sponsor, which means an individual or a company to vouch for the individual's conduct while he is in the country.

Visitor's visas

A visitor's visa, which is in actual fact a business visa, is obtained upon a formal invitation from the company or individual sponsoring the visitor. The invitation will include a visa number and it is primarily a statement that the sponsor has obtained a visa for the visitor and that authority to issue the visa has been sent to the appropriate Saudi embassy.

With the visa number in hand, the individual can go to the embassy BUT as visas are issued only by number and not by name, if one has no number, there is absolutely no point in going to the embassy.

If, on the other hand, the visitor is at the embassy in the morning with his number, he can usually collect his visa in the afternoon.