Saudi Arabia is lifting the travel ban on expats arriving from six countries, including India, from December 1. The kingdom had banned the entry of international travellers in February to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections.

People from Pakistan, Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia and Egypt will also be allowed to directly travel to Saudi Arabia, Arab News reported.

As per the directives of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior, fully-vaccinated passengers from these six countries will be allowed to enter the kingdom directly without having to spend 14 days in transit outside their countries.

However, a five-day quarantine outside Saudi Arabia is mandatory for entrants irrespective of their vaccination status, the ministry said.

All procedures and measures would be continuously evaluated by the kingdom’s health authorities.

As a preventive measure, expatriates should undergo all health measures to make sure they are free from the infection.

Entry to Saudi Arabia had resumed on January 3, 2021, before it was banned again in the wake of a global surge in COVID-19 cases linked to variants detected in Britain, South Africa, and Brazil. In February, Saudi Arabia had banned the entry of travellers from the US, Britain, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, UAE, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Ireland, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Japan to prevent the COVID-19 infection from spreading. However, medical staff, diplomats and their families were exempted from the ban and allowed to enter the kingdom.

Travellers, who transited in any of these 20 countries in the 14 days before coming to Saudi Arabia, were also banned from entering the country.

The kingdom had first banned flights to and from the country on March 14, 2020, following the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the coronavirus outbreak was a pandemic.