Saudi passport holders do not need a visa for the United Kingdom, but they do need an ETA before travelling. Saudi Arabia joined the scheme in February 2024 — two years of validity, multiple entries, up to six months per visit.
6 months
Maximum stay per visit
2 years
ETA validity
Multiple
Entries permitted
3 working days
Typical decision time
100% online
No embassy visit
Overview
Britain has long been one of the most-visited destinations for Saudi travellers, and the connection extends well beyond tourism. Saudi students form one of the largest international cohorts at British universities, London has been a summer fixture for Saudi families for decades, and the medical, commercial and educational links between the two countries are dense and long-standing. A Saudi trip to Britain is typically longer than the international average and often involves several family members travelling together.
Saudi Arabia was in the first wave of countries brought into the ETA scheme, from February 2024, alongside its Gulf neighbours and nearly a year ahead of Europe and North America. Saudi travellers therefore adapted to the requirement early. The ETA replaced the Electronic Visa Waiver that Saudi nationals had used previously, and the change was firmly for the better — the EVW covered a single journey, while the ETA covers two years of unlimited travel.
The practical consequence is worth stating plainly, because habits formed under the old system persist. You no longer need to apply before every trip. One approved ETA covers the summer in London, the autumn business trip and the winter half-term visit to a son or daughter at university, all without repeating the process — provided the passport it is linked to remains valid throughout.
At a glance
Eligibility
You do not need a visa, but you do need an ETA. Saudi Arabia is a non-visa national country for UK purposes, so Saudi citizens travel to Britain as visitors for tourism, family visits, business, private medical treatment or short study without a consular application. The ETA is the digital permission preceding that, and it replaced the Electronic Visa Waiver Saudi nationals used before February 2024.
The move from EVW to ETA is the main thing to internalise. The EVW was valid for one journey and had to be obtained each time. The ETA is valid for two years with unlimited entries. Families who visit Britain two or three times a year now complete the process once rather than every trip, which removes a recurring cost and a recurring piece of admin.
Every traveller needs their own, at any age. Children and infants need an ETA against their own passport and cannot be added to a parent's application. Saudi citizens who already hold a UK visa do not need an ETA — this is particularly relevant for the large Saudi student population in Britain, whose Student visa already carries the permission to travel, and for their families where a visa route has been used.
Residents of Saudi Arabia who are not Saudi citizens are not covered. The rules that apply are those of the passport held, so an Egyptian, Indian, Pakistani, Sudanese or Filipino passport holder living in Riyadh or Jeddah must follow that nationality's requirements — usually a Standard Visitor visa applied for weeks in advance. Employers arranging travel for mixed-nationality staff should check each person separately.
Stay & validity
An approved ETA lasts two years from the date it is granted, or until your Saudi passport expires, whichever comes first. Within that window you may enter the UK any number of times, with each visit lasting up to six months. For families with a child studying in Britain, this comfortably covers the pattern of visits across an academic year and beyond with one approval.
The passport-expiry rule is where the two-year figure becomes misleading. The ETA attaches to the passport number you enter and ends when that passport does. A passport with seven months remaining produces an ETA with seven months remaining. Renewal does not transfer it and there is no refund, so check the expiry date before anyone in the family applies.
Britain requires only that your passport covers your stay, not the six months of onward validity many countries demand. Saudi travellers who combine London with Paris, Geneva or Vienna should be aware that the Schengen area does want three months beyond departure, so a combined European trip is governed by that stricter requirement rather than the British one.
Six months per visit is a per-visit maximum rather than an annual allowance, and Saudi travellers use more of it than most nationalities do. Border Force considers the overall pattern across entries: repeated long stays that account for the majority of each year look like residence rather than visiting, and eventually generate questions on arrival. Where the genuine intention is to spend substantial parts of the year in Britain, a different visa route is the right conversation to have.
Pricing
Live fees for Saudi passport holders, shown all-in — the Home Office charge and our service fee together, with nothing added later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Saudi Arabia
Requirements
Everything Saudi passport holders need before starting an application. The first five items apply to every applicant; the rest are specific to your nationality.
Passport bio-data page — a clear colour scan or photo showing your photograph, full name, date of birth, passport number and expiry date
Recent digital photograph — full face visible against a plain background, taken within the last six months, with no headwear other than for religious or medical reasons
A valid email address, which is where the approval is sent and which you should keep accessible while travelling
A credit or debit card to pay the Home Office ETA fee and our service fee together
Your travel and accommodation details — Border Force can ask about the purpose of your visit and where you are staying
Simple process
Four steps, entirely online, with our team checking every field before anything reaches the Home Office.
Enter your passport details exactly as printed, answer the suitability questions and upload your photograph. Most applicants finish in under ten minutes.
Our team checks your photo, passport number, name spelling and declarations against Home Office requirements before anything is submitted.
Your application goes to UK Visas and Immigration with the government fee paid, and we track its status until a decision is issued.
There is no sticker, label or document to print. The authorisation is held digitally against your passport number, and we explain exactly what to show at check-in.
Applications from Saudi Arabia are decided automatically in most cases, and a majority of applicants receive approval within minutes. The Home Office asks for up to three working days to be allowed, and a proportion are referred to a caseworker — most commonly where a photograph fails the automated check or where the name has not been entered exactly as printed on the passport.
Apply at least a week before travelling, and much earlier for the summer. June through August is the heaviest Saudi travel season to Britain, flights are full and expensive, and a problem discovered close to departure is hard to recover from when there are several family members booked on the same itinerary. Complete everyone's ETA as soon as the flights are confirmed.
A note for the Saudi market specifically: because the scheme began here in February 2024, the earliest Saudi ETAs have now passed their two-year mark. If you obtained one during the first wave and have not travelled recently, verify its status rather than assuming it is live. Check the linked passport at the same time, since a renewal in the interim will have ended the ETA regardless of the date.
On arrival
An approved ETA gets you on the plane. This is what happens once you land, and how to make the arrival as quick as possible.
Your nationality is not currently in the ePassport gate cohort, so you join the queue for a staffed desk on arrival. Your ETA is exactly the same document and carries exactly the same permission — only the arrival process differs.
The officer may ask where you are staying, how long you intend to remain and how the trip is funded. Having your hotel booking, return ticket and, if you are visiting family, their address to hand makes this a thirty-second conversation.
Desk queues at Heathrow can be long at peak arrival banks, particularly early morning. If you are connecting onward to a domestic or European flight, allow more than the airline's minimum connection time.
Unlike the automated gates, a staffed desk stamps your passport with the date of entry. That stamp is your evidence of when your six-month permission began, so do not let it be obscured or removed.
Getting there
Saudi Arabia has strong direct links to Britain from all three main gateways. Saudia and British Airways operate the flagship routes from Riyadh and Jeddah to Heathrow, and Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad and Turkish Airlines provide extensive one-stop alternatives through their hubs that are often cheaper and offer more departure times.
Best time to go
The Saudi summer sets the pattern, and the logic is straightforward: June to September is intensely hot at home and mild, green and long-lit in Britain. That is why London fills with Saudi families every summer, and increasingly why the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands do too. It is the established season and it works, though it coincides with Britain's own peak for prices and crowds.
May and September offer most of the same weather advantage at materially lower cost. The British spring is at its best in May, September often holds warm and settled, and both months sit outside the school-holiday windows that drive British prices. For families not tied to the academic calendar, these are the two best months of the year to travel.
Winter deserves more consideration than it gets from Gulf travellers. Britain from November to February is cold and the days are short, but it is also inexpensive, uncrowded and at its strongest for shopping, restaurants, theatre and football. For a shorter city-focused trip, particularly one built around visiting a student, the value is considerable.
Two calendar factors to plan around. Ramadan and the Eid holidays move through the year and reshape the timing of family travel each cycle, so a window that worked one year may not the next. And British school holidays — late July to early September, plus Christmas and Easter fortnights — are when Britain itself is busiest and dearest. Travelling in British term time is consistently better value, even within the summer months.
Avoid these
Refusals are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on applications from Saudi Arabia — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Eligibility follows the passport, not the iqama. Egyptian, Indian, Pakistani, Sudanese and Filipino passport holders living in Saudi Arabia are not covered by the Saudi arrangement and generally need a Standard Visitor visa with several weeks of processing and a biometric appointment. Employers arranging travel for mixed-nationality staff must check each traveller individually.
Saudi passports typically print a name comprising the given name, father's name, grandfather's name and family name. The ETA must reproduce the Roman-letter name in the machine-readable zone in full. Entering only the first and last elements — a very common shortcut — creates a mismatch between the authorisation and the travel document that can be flagged at the departure gate.
Under the old Electronic Visa Waiver, a fresh application was needed for each journey. Many Saudi travellers retain the habit and pay repeatedly for an ETA they already hold. One approval covers two years and unlimited entries — check whether you already have a valid one before applying again.
Saudi Arabia entered the scheme in February 2024, so the earliest ETAs issued here have now reached the end of their two-year life. Travellers who have not needed to think about it since should confirm their ETA is still valid, and check whether the linked passport has been renewed in the meantime — a renewal ends the ETA immediately.
The ETA permits study of up to six months. A full undergraduate or postgraduate programme, a foundation year or a pre-sessional course running beyond six months requires a Student visa applied for before travel. Saudi students arriving on an ETA intending to switch after arrival will find that route is not available from within the UK.
The ETA is bound to a passport number and ends when that passport is replaced, with no transfer and no refund. Families who renew several passports together before a trip should assume every ETA linked to the old documents has gone, and reapply against the new numbers before booking.
Passport number mistyped
By far the most common problem. The authorisation attaches to the number you enter, so a single wrong character produces an ETA that does not exist as far as the airline's check is concerned.
An undeclared conviction or refusal
The Home Office asks about criminal convictions and previous immigration refusals or removals. History found later is treated far more seriously than the original matter would have been if declared.
A photograph that fails the check
Shadows across the face, glasses, a patterned background or a cropped chin all cause the automated check to reject an image, which turns a routine approval into a manual review.
Conditions
These conditions are set by the UK Home Office and do not vary by nationality. The passport-linking rule in particular catches out a great many otherwise well-planned trips.
Your authorisation is held digitally against the passport number you enter. There is nothing placed in your passport and nothing to print for the border. If you renew or replace that passport, the ETA does not transfer — you must apply for a new one on the new document.
Every person travelling needs their own ETA, including babies and children. A child cannot be added to a parent's application, and each traveller needs their own valid passport to apply against.
An approved ETA lasts two years from the date it is granted, or until the expiry date of the passport it is linked to, whichever comes first. This is the single most misunderstood rule in the scheme — a passport with eight months left produces an ETA with eight months left.
Within its validity you can travel to the UK as many times as you like. Each individual visit can be up to six months. There is no formal annual cap, but repeated long stays that add up to the majority of the year will attract questions at the border.
One ETA covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and it is also accepted for travel to Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. You do not need a separate authorisation for the Crown Dependencies.
An ETA lets you board your flight, train or ship. The decision to admit you is made by Border Force on arrival, who can ask about your funds, your accommodation, your onward plans and the purpose of your visit.
Consular services
The United Kingdom maintains an embassy in Riyadh and a consulate-general in Jeddah, but neither has any role in issuing an ETA. The application is completed online and decided digitally — there is no interview, no appointment and no passport submission. These missions handle consular assistance, Standard Visitor and Student visa services for those who need them, and support for applicants whose circumstances require a human decision.
FAQs
The questions Saudi passport holders ask most often about travelling to the United Kingdom.
No. Saudi citizens do not need a visa for tourism, business, private medical treatment, short study or transit in the United Kingdom. They do need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), required from Saudi nationals since February 2024. The ETA replaced the earlier Electronic Visa Waiver and is applied for entirely online.
No. Eligibility follows the nationality of the passport you travel on, not your iqama. Egyptian, Indian, Pakistani, Sudanese, Filipino and most other passport holders living in Saudi Arabia must apply for a Standard Visitor visa, which requires several weeks and a biometric appointment. This distinction matters greatly for employers arranging travel for mixed-nationality staff.
The ETA. The EVW covered a single journey and had to be obtained before each trip. The ETA is valid for two years and permits unlimited entries within that period, with each visit lasting up to six months. Families visiting Britain two or three times a year now apply once rather than every time.
Up to six months per visit. The ETA lasts two years, or until your Saudi passport expires if that comes sooner, and allows unlimited separate trips. Six months is a per-visit maximum rather than an annual allowance — spending most of each year in Britain across repeated long visits will lead Border Force to question whether you are visiting or residing.
Check before booking. Saudi Arabia was in the first wave of the scheme in February 2024, so the earliest Saudi ETAs have now reached the end of their two-year validity. Your ETA will also have ended early if the passport it was linked to has since been renewed. Verify both the ETA and the passport expiry date.
Exactly as printed in Roman letters in the machine-readable zone at the bottom of your passport photo page, including every element — given name, father's name, grandfather's name and family name where all four appear. Entering only the first and last parts is a common error that creates a mismatch between the ETA and the passport.
Only for courses lasting up to six months, such as a short English language programme or a summer school. A full undergraduate or postgraduate degree, a foundation year, or a pre-sessional course running beyond six months requires a Student visa applied for before travel. You cannot switch to a Student visa from within the UK after arriving on an ETA.
Yes, for private treatment you have arranged and are funding yourself, provided it fits within a six-month visit. Treatment expected to extend beyond that, or involving ongoing care with repeated returns, may need a Medical Visitor visa instead. Confirm the correct route before booking flights and appointments for anything more than a short course of treatment.
Yes. Headwear worn for religious reasons is permitted, provided your face is fully visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead with both edges of the face clear. The photograph must be recent, in colour, against a plain background, with no shadows across the face and nothing obscuring your features.
Yes. A single ETA covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is also accepted for Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. There are no internal immigration checks between the four nations, so a trip taking in London, Manchester and the Scottish Highlands needs only one authorisation.
Your nationality is already set to Saudi Arabia. Complete the form in under ten minutes, and our team will check every detail before it reaches the Home Office.
Other nationalities
Requirements, routes and border formalities differ by passport. Here are the guides for other eligible nationalities.
