No more visa on arrival for foreign tourists visiting Oman

The local police have announced that foreign tourists visiting Oman in and after November 2019 need to apply for their visa in beforehand.
Prior to this rule, tourists visiting Oman enjoyed the benefit of getting visa on arrival on the borders of the UAE and Oman. However, the Oman Police has recently tweeted to declare that visas on arrival will be an exception to the rule going forward. This rule is applicable to the visitors of all countries visiting UAE’s neighbour.

The tweet also revealed the objective behind making e-visas compulsory. The reason behind this move is to “facilitate easy and structured processing at the border posts.”

In order to apply for an Oman eVisa in advance, tourists have to visit the online government portal, upload the copy of passport picture and pay 5 Omani Rials (Dhs50) in order to complete the online booking form. This is the procedure for getting a 10-day unsponsored tourist eVisa to visit Oman. Overall, it may take four days for visas to be sanctioned by the officials.

Tourists visiting Dubai are also eligible for a free tourist visa to enter Oman. All that is required to avail this benefit is to have a minimum of six months validity on the passport.

Citizens from 71 countries, including the members of the European Union as well as Australia and the USA can apply for eVisas. Citizens of the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia need not apply for a visa.