1. With the Saudi Arabian government having completed its domestic procedure for the effectuation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the Facilitation of the Issuance of Visit Visas for the Nationals of the Two Countries, which had been signed in 2018, the MOU was brought into force on February 1, 2019.

2. Pursuant to the now-effective MOU, nationals and entrepreneurs of the two countries with valid passports can now obtain multiple-entry visas of five-year validity, which will allow them to stay in the other country for up to 90 days every time they enter the country for tourism and business purposes.

° Previously, for the entry into Saudi Arabia, ROK nationals had to pay a fee of about 1.8 million won for a multiple-entry visa of one-year validity. Under the MOU, they will shoulder much lower fees.

3. The now-effective MOU is expected to help to resolve a number of challenges ROK nationals have faced in building presence in Saudi Arabia, including complicated processes and high fees for visa issuance; and to boost people-to-people exchanges between people and enterprises of the two countries.

* unofficial translation