The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Council of Ministers took a landmark decision on Sept. 27 to issue long-term and short-term educational visas, targeting male and female students, researchers, and academics from across the world for their higher studies in the Kingdom under ‘Study in Saudi Arabia’ programme. 

The long-term educational visa will be granted to students, researchers and experts for the purposes of academic study and research visits, while the short-term visa will be granted to students or visiting scholars for the purpose of training or participation in short study programmes. The students do not require a sponsor for pursuing their studies under the program; the ministry cited as one of the most important features. Any student in the world meeting the conditions for an educational visa can now apply for one of these visas and benefit from the Kingdom’s numerous advantages.

According to the ministry the advantages of the visa scheme are to serve students from 160 countries, register data in nine languages, link applications with the relevant authorities, and facilitate the procedures for enrolling in universities in Saudi Arabia.

Under the ambitious scheme Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to develop the kingdom and move beyond an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based one and transform the KSA education sector to raise the efficiency bar of Saudi educational institutions, elevate educational standards and globally improve Saudi university rankings in areas such as international students and international perspective. Additionally, the ministry’s motto is to highlight the status of Saudi Arabia as an inspiration for progress in the Middle East and to spread the values of moderation and modernisation.

The Saudi Ministry of Education and Saudi universities participated in the four-day event at the 18th International Education Show in Expo Centre, Sharjah in October 2022, co-hosted by the UAE Ministry of Education and the Sharjah Private Education Authority to promote ‘Study in Saudi Arabia’. More than 50,000 international students registered their interests for this educational programme, The Ministry of Education confirmed. The ministry said that the registration process would continue through the ‘Study in Saudi Arabia’ platform (https://studyinsaudi.moe.gov.sa) until mid-January 2023.