Hello all,

My boyfriend and I are planning a trans africa trip and are hoping to get the boat from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to skip on the egyptian carnet & visa costs. I've heard we will not be issued a visa unless we are married, does anybody know if this is true? I've had a lot of trouble getting through to the embassy here in the UK. Also has anybody crossed from port sudan to Jeddah, any tips and advice greatly appreciated!!

Jemma

I think you will struggle to get a visas for Saudi for a man and woman travelling together if you don't have a marriage certificate. I know other travellers have got fake ones to get round this and chances are you would get away with it but does introduce a further level of risk using fake documents.

It appears to be alot easy to get visas for countries in this part of the world in neighbouring countries than trying to sort in Europe. I know other travellers who were repeatedly unsuccessful over several months in trying to arrange in advance but then got visas in 24hours in khartoum for example. The downside to this is that you are already close before you know whether you have it so if you get refused then then its harder to re route. However if you are planning coming through anyway there aren't lots of options, so if you can't get the Saudi visa, its back looking at Egypt.

The other factor is that unless its changed recently, you can't get a Jordan visa in Saudi and I would assume the same for the other countries you could potentially exit into - amongst other factors Saudis normally only issue a 3 day transit visa to cover getting from Jeddah to Jordan so doesn't allow enough time to go anywhere to try and get one and also the Saudis are likely to want to see the next visa before they will issue the transit visa - eg proof that you will be able to exit.

Hi Jemma

You'd have more chance of travelling with NASA via the moon.

PS Good way of getting him to pop the question.

Regards

Red

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'Peaches are better than Tanks'

So it looks like we're destined to get married in Ethiopia on the way through, that could be exciting?! Or pay up for expensive Egyptian carnet costs. Thank you for the advice on needing a Jordan visa before entering Saudi, I presume we maybe able to get this in Khartoum also...?

This might depend on your nationality. When I went to the Jordanian Embassy in Dubai last summer to get a visa before getting my Saudi visa, they wouldn't issue me one. They insisted that, as I was British, it wasn't necessary and would be done at the border. I explained that I'd feel happier having it in advance but they refused. The Saudis also did not raise any issues about not having a Jordanian visa when I obtained my 3-day transit visa.

My experience may possibly be due to having residency in the UAE but it wasn't explained to me that way. The basic message was that the king likes Britain so they weren't going to issue me with a visa in Dubai but only at the border.

So follow the advice above but you may be told the same.
Stephan

Thanks Stephano, I've heard it is possible to obtain the Jordanian visa at the border but wasn't aware we'd need it in advance to get the Saudi visa. We'll have to wait until Khartoum to see if we can get either. I painted some woodwork in a Saudi princes' house in London last year, perhaps that will help convince them to give us a visa?!

Did you ask for cash in advance...?
Saudi princess runs up £15 million shopping bill

kayamtom,
Still planning on crossing from Port Sudan to Saudi Arabia? And if yes, did you get some news? When are you planning to cross?