Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relaxes quarantine rules for Indian immigrants

Riyadh: In a huge relief for Indian travellers who plan to return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced that the Saudi Arabian government has relaxed travel guidelines for Indians who have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the Kingdom.

“Indian nationals who have travelled to India after receiving both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia will be able to return to the Kingdom directly without the need for quarantine in a third country,” the embassy wrote in a tweet.

It also mentioned that more details are awaited from India’s foreign ministry.

Embassy is pleased to inform that Saudi Authorities have announced that Indian nationals who have travelled to India after receiving both doses of the vaccine in Saudi Arabia will be able to return to the Kingdom directly without need for quarantine in a third country.

— India in Saudi Arabia (@IndianEmbRiyadh) August 24, 2021

src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">In February 2021, Saudi Arabia suspended entry of people from twenty countries, excluding diplomats, Saudi nationals, medical staff, and their families, to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The list of 20 banned countries included India, the US, Egypt, Pakistan, Argentina, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Portugal, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Lebanon, UAE, and Turkey

On June 6, Saudi Arabia lifted the travel ban from eleven countries (United Arab Emirates, Germany, United States, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, France, and Japan).

Earlier on July 19, 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia banned the direct entry of expatriates from nine countries facing travel bans unless they spend two weeks in a third country after leaving these countries.

As of August 23, Saudi Arabia has administered more than 34 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, including 21.3 million first does and 13 million second doses, according to the health ministry.