Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia has reduced visit visa fees drastically for Pakistanis effective from Feb. 15, according to a press statement of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Islamabad.

According to the new fee structure, visit visa fee for single entry has been slashed from SR2,000 ($533) to SR338 ($90) while the fee for multiple entry visa reduced from SR3,000 ($800) to SR675 ($180), the statement added.

This gesture is announced ahead of the first official state visit of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, to Pakistan, beginning from Sunday.

This move will be highly beneficial for hundreds of thousands of Pakistani nationals working in the Kingdom to bring in their family members on visit visas.

Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy historic relations. “We are tied with Saudi Arabia in economic and social ties, based on Islamic brotherhood,” he said on Saturday.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are expected to sign a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding in diverse sectors, including investment, finance, power, renewable energy, internal security, media, culture and sports during the high-profile royal visit.