The German Consulate General in Jeddah will start issuing visas for Saudi citizens, starting Saturday. This will considerably streamline the visa process for Saudis.
Applications will still have to be submitted to the Joint Visa Application Center in Jeddah (http://de.vfsglobal.sa.com/).
This follows the announcement of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle earlier this year during his visit to Riyadh that he wanted to back up the positive development of bilateral relations with a simplified visa issue procedure.
To this end a visa section would be established at the German Consulate General in Jeddah before the end of this year, to make things easier for business travelers.
Since April 2011, the Joint Visa Application Center in Jeddah has been accepting applications for German Schengen visas. However, the applications and passports had to be forwarded to Riyadh and processed at the German Embassy.
With the implementation of the new procedure, visa applications will be processed faster, said an official press release.