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I am an Indian citizen and hold a normal Indian passport. I am travelling to Schengen area with an entry in Netherlands and have a return flight from Vienna, Austria to Mumbai, India via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I wanted to know if I'll need a transit visa for KSA.

Details:

Nationality: India

Passport: India (normal)

From: Vienna, Austria

To: Mumbai, India

Transit: Riyadh, KSA

Vienna to Riyadh Flight:Wizz Air

Riyadh to Mumbai flight: Saudia

Arrival in Riyadh: 28 October at 18:05

Departure from Riyadh: 29 October at 00:20

Leaving airport during the transit: No

I have tried searching about this but the information is very scarce. I read that you do not need a transit visa for KSA, if the transit time is less than 12 hrs and the airline is approved by Saudi Arabia. Found that Wizz Air is not approved by Saudi Arabia.

I entered my details on TravelDoc website, but they don't have an option to add transit arrival departure time, so when I entered arrival as 28th October and departure as 29th October, the web's says that I need a transit visa for more than 12 hours. If I add the departure as 28th as well, it says that it's not required for transit of less than 12 hours. There is no mention about the airline being approved.

I also tried checking Timatic, but it doesn't let you enter my specific details.

I have tried contacting the airlines but have gotten no response. Can someone please help me out with this?

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    This question is similar to: I am transiting through Saudi Arabia. Do I need a visa?. If you believe it’s different, please edit the question, make it clear how it’s different and/or how the answers on that question are not helpful for your problem.
    – mlc
    Commented Sep 15 at 2:22
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    Try inputting your itinerary into IATA. You may not be leaving the airport but your itinerary is a self-transfer with a low-cost carrier, which means you will need to clear Immigration.
    – Traveller
    Commented Sep 15 at 7:08
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    Also note that WizzAir flies to North terminal, while Saudia flies from Terminal 1. These terminals are not connected, so you will have to exit the airport and take a taxi to Terminal 1.
    – Oliver Lopez
    Commented Sep 15 at 12:23

1 Answer 1

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Wizz is a low-cost carrier and does not interline with other airlines, so you do not have a transit, you have two separate tickets with a "self-transfer" in Riyadh. This means you need a transit visa. As far as Wizz is concerned, you have a one-way flight to Saudi and they will not let you board without one.

The good news is, since you have a previously used Schengen visa, you can apply for an e-Visa instead of needing to go to a Saudi embassy for a transit visa.

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  • Thanks. But this is my first time travelling to Schengen area and I haven't used one before. Although I have the Schengen visa now, it's not used before. How do I apply for a transit in Saudi Arabia with the Schengen visa?
    – Arnav_05
    Commented Sep 15 at 2:50
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    As your transit in Saudi Arabia is after you have left the Schengen area you will have a previously used Schengen visa by then.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Sep 15 at 4:34

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