My car and I will arrive in Durban in a few weeks, plan is to drive North from there. I'm considering once I get to Sudan to cross into Saudi Arabia then UAE then Iran. Where do I start with regards to getting a visa to enter Saudi Arabia? Is there a Saudi embassy in sudan or Addis?

Thanks
CM

There is one in Sudan, don't know about Ethiopia.

I have been told to save my breath until reaching Khartoum in Sudan, it is the only embassy to issue them etc

i recently left UAE and am now in Iran having a great time

I originally tried to get a transit visa for my wife and I to cross Saudi to Jordan and on to Syria. I have done this twice before some years ago but this time I was told by the visa issuing office that Transit Visas were no longer being issued to non Arabs because of personal security risk after the spat of Al Qaida attacks a few years ago.

So,I have come to Iran instead and we are having a great time. Warm friendly people where ever we go and massive things to do and see.

Yes, I read that it's no longer possible to get transit visa to go to Jordan overland because some people were killed in that region. Hopefully there no such ban for travel from Sudan to UAE. I guess that Roaming Yak is correct and I'll only find out when I get to Sudan and visit the Embassy.

Hi, any update on this?
Cheers.

I spent the last year in Saudi and looked into this. Unless you're from one of the neighboring countries, Saudi won't give transit visas or tourist visas.

I offered my place to a couple bikers making their way up Africa. They said all the Saudi embassies said no problem. When they got to the last embassy, they were told no.

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Not Ted Simon since 1970!
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I got one in Khartoum 2 weeks ago after some stress - seems as long as you are going Jeddah to Jordan it is possible etc

Where you working in Saudi? I'm sure if I bought a bike there I could take it out. Have you actually used the visa? How did the bike make it to Jeddah?

Asking in Saudi got me nowhere, and neither did other motorcyclists who tried.

__________________
Not Ted Simon since 1970!
http://nokilli.com/rtw

No, just a dumb tourist on a trans africa thingie. But I had a 4x4 not a bike.

If you have a bike they won't give you a visa. If you have a RHD car then you must transport it on the back of a truck for many dollars.

Khartoum is the only embassy that might give you a 3 days transit.

Saudi sucks ;-)

Thanks. I was working so I didn't look very hard on how to bring a bike in. Maybe I'll see you in Portugal. I just received dual citizenship with Portugal and once I get my citizenship card and passport, I'm riding out that way. I guess a month or so.

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Not Ted Simon since 1970!
http://nokilli.com/rtw

Biker from Norway was refused a Saudi transit visa at the Khartoum Embassy a few days ago.

Roamingyak - could you go into a bit more detail about the stress you had with the Saudi embassy in Khartoum please? And how you convinced them to give you the visa?
We're headed in the same direction and will be needing a transit visa for Jeddah-Aqaba (I had been hoping to get at least 5 days as we're so slow and it's over 1000km).

Anyone else with recent Saudi South-North transit visas?

Thanks,
Ian

Thoughts from my own experiences and research:

- You must have a LHD car. If RHD they will make you transport it on the back of a truck, and you are vulnerable to be ripped off as I was. The embassy don't care about this, but the port certainly does. It is very professional there, I almost managed to slip through, but they are very aware and everybody checks.

- All woman must be married to somebody in your party - possible exception if they are over 45 years old?

- They seem to only give a 3 day visa to drive to Jordan (it is written in Arabic that your visa is only to drive to Jordan). You need to get a Jordanian visa in advance, available in Khartoum in 24 hours. This guy tried to get a 5 day visa to get to Dubai, but got turned down:
Melbourne to Moscow - News

- They are not friendly or helpful in the embassy, they will always say yes to your face but its just a yes so you will go away. They ask you to come back the next day hoping that you won't.....

- Some people manage the visa in 2-3 days, you need to use an agency outside -(200-300 Sudanese pounds seems the going rate), but sometimes the agency will send you inside (2 hour wait in the sun) to get your paperwork checked out before they will accept it from you. Once your paperwork has been approved, then you must pay the agency to submit it for you (as the Saudi visa is free, this is a way for the embassy staff to cream off some money for themselves).

- I tried for 5 days to get a permit for my RHD car, they always say it is ok, but it is not when you get to the port. I managed to get inside the embassy and meet many of the staff behind the scenes, but it did no good. Quite interesting though!!

- Asking for a 5 or 7 day visa falls on deaf ears, they can't and won't....

- When you submit a photo copy of your carnet, make sure it shows what model of car it is - so submit both the front page and a page that gets stamped that shows the make and model of your car. This held me up for two days as they thought it might be a motorbike.

- The embassy is only open Sunday to Wednesday.

- Just be a normal boring tourist! Don't show any signs of having a website or anything to do with the media etc. The Aussie guy above got turned down because of this it seemed...

Smile and politely don't take no for an answer. Seems most people manage a 3 day visa to Jordan in 2-3 days, plus a day to get the Jordanian visa first. Though the embassy staff away from the visa section seemed shocked that visas were being given to us when we asked for help....

Good luck!

PS: Stay at the Youth Hostel (air con rooms cheap, or camping) which is in a great location, and the Ozone Cafe is in-between it and the embassy, great for relaxing after embassy hassle. I've posted details elsewhere on here. Also visit Abdulsalem at FarBest Auto - a great friend to all overlanders, he will help with any problem - no bullshit or money making scams etc - knows many good people. Sudan is great, try and get the 2 month tourist visa!!!!

Thanks for the info Roamingyak, it gives me a great deal more confidence to start the long trek north!
We seem to tick all the boxes - LHD Unimog, married, over 45 etc etc. And we only want to get to Jordan, nowhere else!
We're aiming to be up there by next Jan/Feb to avoid the real heat.

Ian