LONDON: A new smartphone app that makes it easy for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims to apply for visas to enter Saudi Arabia is now available in the UK.
The Saudi Visa Bio app allows applicants to register their biometric data prior to travel and saves them having to visit visa issuance centers. On arrival in the Kingdom, they will only have to match their data with the information stored on the app, which speeds up the border control process.
The app was launched last year by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and is in line with the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to offer the best possible services and facilities for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.
Saudi Arabia is the first country in the world to allow registration of biometrics via smartphones for the issuance of electronic visas.
The service was developed in cooperation with several government agencies, including the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Presidency of State Security, the National Cybersecurity Authority, and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority.
A launch ceremony was held in the presence of Saudi Deputy Ambassador to the UK Hassan Al-Jamee’ and the Head of the Consular Department at the Saudi Embassy Ammar Al-Ammar.
