Saudi Arabia’s big announcement for Indian citizens, easy to get visa

In a tweet, the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi, citing the “strong relationship and strategic partnership” between Saudi Arabia and India, said that a police clearance certificate was a condition for obtaining visas for Indian nationals. It is being dismantled.

An immediate benefit of Riyadh’s move to remove the police clearance requirement for visas would be faster processing of applications for Indians seeking Saudi visas. This will also make it easier for tourism companies to organize their tours while visitors will also be spared the hassle of collecting travel documents.

A Police Clearance Certificate is a document that if countries make it a condition for visa, then those who want to go abroad for employment, residence or long-term visa are not granted visa without this certificate.

This travel document helps in detailing the criminal record of citizens. However, obtaining such a certificate from the police authorities in India is tantamount to gambling and almost impossible to obtain without bribery.

On Thursday, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in India, while announcing the end of this condition, also referred to the good relations between India and Saudi Arabia in a tweet.

It said: “In view of the strong relationship and strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and the Republic of India, the Kingdom has decided to exempt Indian nationals from submitting a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC).”

In its statement, the embassy added: “Indian citizens will no longer need a PCC to obtain a visa to travel to Saudi Arabia. This decision has been taken as part of efforts to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries. The Embassy also appreciates the cooperation of more than 2 million Indian citizens living peacefully in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Indian authorities have welcomed this decision. In its response, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said that India, “thanks the government of Saudi Arabia for its decision to exempt Indian nationals from the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) coming to their kingdom.” This will create a lot of ease for the Indian community of about 2 million people in Saudi Arabia.

India-Saudi Arabia relations have strengthened significantly over the past few years and cooperation in political, security, energy, trade, investment, health, food security, cultural and defense sectors has increased significantly.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman was scheduled to visit India this month to meet his counterpart Narendra Modi. However, the tour was canceled due to scheduling issues. He was on his way to the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.