Saudi Arabia has expanded promotion of its transit-stopover visa that grants passengers on Saudia or Flynas up to 96 hours in the Kingdom—enough time to complete Umrah or visit tourist sites—at no charge beyond a small insurance fee. Business Standard’s 14 November report notes that Indians have become one of the largest user groups, leveraging the visa on Europe- and U.S.-bound routes.
Travellers receive the e-visa automatically when booking an eligible ticket and must schedule their Umrah slot through the Nusuk.sa platform. The pass is single-entry, valid for travel within 90 days of issuance and strictly capped at four days in-country. Women may travel without a mahram, reflecting wider reforms to pilgrimage rules.
![Saudi Arabia’s free 96-hour stopover visa lets Indian flyers perform Umrah during transit]()
For Indian corporates, the policy creates new duty-of-care considerations: employees routing through Jeddah can now request a brief pilgrimage stop, potentially extending trip durations. Mobility teams should update travel-approval workflows to flag Saudi stopovers and remind staff of the hard 96-hour limit—overstays trigger fines and future-visa bans.
Travel managers can also leverage the visa as a perk: airlines allow multi-city Saudi itineraries within the time window, enabling client meetings in Riyadh or NEOM before onward flights. However, the visa cannot be used for Hajj, repeated ‘visa-run’ stays or travel on other carriers.
Because the offer is issued only at booking, passengers changing flights later must re-apply or risk denial at check-in. Advisers recommend locking itineraries early and printing the e-visa confirmation to avoid confusion at Indian departure gates.
Travellers receive the e-visa automatically when booking an eligible ticket and must schedule their Umrah slot through the Nusuk.sa platform. The pass is single-entry, valid for travel within 90 days of issuance and strictly capped at four days in-country. Women may travel without a mahram, reflecting wider reforms to pilgrimage rules.
For Indian corporates, the policy creates new duty-of-care considerations: employees routing through Jeddah can now request a brief pilgrimage stop, potentially extending trip durations. Mobility teams should update travel-approval workflows to flag Saudi stopovers and remind staff of the hard 96-hour limit—overstays trigger fines and future-visa bans.
Travel managers can also leverage the visa as a perk: airlines allow multi-city Saudi itineraries within the time window, enabling client meetings in Riyadh or NEOM before onward flights. However, the visa cannot be used for Hajj, repeated ‘visa-run’ stays or travel on other carriers.
Because the offer is issued only at booking, passengers changing flights later must re-apply or risk denial at check-in. Advisers recommend locking itineraries early and printing the e-visa confirmation to avoid confusion at Indian departure gates.
