Dummy ticket for Saudi visa: what Indians are asked for

A dummy ticket for Saudi visa files is a flight reservation with a PNR, held in the airline's system without paying the fare. Whether you need one is not confirmed: no official Saudi page we could open, as of September 2026, lists a flight ticket, reservation or itinerary as a required document for Indian applicants. Ask the embassy, or your sponsor in Saudi Arabia, for the current list before you order anything.

Two points are confirmed. Indian passports are not on the 68-country list for Saudi Arabia's tourist eVisa, and the Umrah packages with a visa included that Nusuk sells come with their flights. This page is for Indian passport holders applying for a Saudi tourist or family visit visa from India. Dummy Tickets Visa (DTV) supplies the flight reservation, where your file calls for one.

Is a flight ticket required for a Saudi visa?

We could not confirm it either way. Saudi Arabia's eVisa portal describes the tourist visa and its payment step but lists no flight document, and it publishes no checklist for the embassy route that Indian applicants use. We looked for an official document list for Indian applicants and did not find one, so we will not guess.

The practical answer is to get the list from whoever handles your application (the embassy, a consulate or your sponsor) and follow its words. Some lists ask for a travel plan, some for a ticket, and some say nothing about flights. Our explainer on why embassies ask for a reservation rather than a ticket gives the background.

How Indians apply: eVisa list, embassy route and visa on arrival

Indian passport holders apply through the Saudi embassy route. The eVisa portal serves "68 eligible countries", India is not among them, and its instruction for everyone else is: "If your country is not in the list contact the nearest Saudi Arabia Embassy". In India that means the Saudi embassy in New Delhi or a Saudi consulate. We could not confirm from an official page which visa application centre or agent currently takes submissions, so ask the embassy how and where to apply.

A narrower route is reported. Visit Saudi's visa regulations page has been reported to say that holders of US, UK or Schengen tourist or business visas "are eligible for Saudi tourist visa on arrival". The page did not display that text when we re-checked it in September 2026, so treat it as reported, not confirmed. Conditions quoted on other websites, such as the visa having been used once or arriving on a Saudi airline, are not confirmed by any official page we found.

What the Saudi tourist visa allows

For the countries on its list, the eVisa portal describes the tourist visa as "a one-year, multiple entry visa, allowing tourists to spend up to 90 days in the country". It covers "tourism-related activities such as, events, family & relatives visits, leisure, and Umrah (excluding Hajj)".

Those are the eVisa terms. A visa issued to you through the embassy route carries its own validity and permitted stay, printed on the visa, so read yours rather than assuming the eVisa terms apply. Two details affect the flight dates you choose. The 90 days is a limit on your time in the country, so a return date more than 90 days after arrival does not fit a tourist visit. And Hajj is excluded, so a trip planned as Hajj needs the separate Hajj process, not a tourist visa.

For a visit to relatives, the purpose line matters too. The eVisa wording lists "family & relatives visits" as a tourist activity for eligible passports. If a relative living in Saudi Arabia is arranging a visa for you instead, ask them which visa type they are applying for, because the document list comes with that type.

Umrah and Hajj: where a reservation does not belong

Nusuk describes itself as "an official platform under the supervision of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah". Its comprehensive packages include the visa, and list visa issuance, flights, accommodation in Makkah and Madinah, meals, intercity transport and guidance, from providers licensed by the Ministry. The flight is part of what you pay for, so a separate reservation has no role.

Nusuk also sells packages without a visa for "holders of all types of visas". If you plan to perform Umrah on a tourist visa, you book your own flights, and your airline or Umrah provider may ask for a paid return ticket. Ask them, and if they ask for a ticket, buy one. Hajj sits outside the tourist visa altogether and follows its own process, which a flight reservation does not fit.

Family visit, business and transit trips

We did not find an official checklist for Indian applicants for any of these trip types, so the same rule applies: get the list from the embassy or your host, and follow its wording.

• Family visit. Ask the relative who is sponsoring you for the exact list their visa request needs. Our family visit visa page covers the letters and proof of relationship that such files often carry.
• Business. Ask the company inviting you. Our business visa page explains how to match flight dates to meetings.
• Transit. If you are only changing planes in Jeddah or Riyadh, ask your airline whether your connection needs a Saudi visa at all. Our transit visa page covers onward-ticket rules.

Saudi visa fee and processing time for Indians

Neither is published for Indian applicants on the official pages we could open. The eVisa portal shows a "Pay the Visa fee" step with no amount, and it only applies to the 68 listed countries. No official page gave a processing time in working days for the embassy route.

Ask the embassy or consulate for both when you apply, and do not budget from a figure on a comparison website. If an agent or centre quotes you a total, ask for the visa fee and their service charge as separate lines. Because the processing time is unknown, apply early; our guide on how early to apply for a visa gives lead times by country. Order a flight reservation only once you know your submission date, so it is issued the day before.

Using a dummy ticket for Saudi visa files

Say your sponsor's list asks for a flight itinerary for a two-week family visit: Mumbai to Riyadh on 14 November, Riyadh to Mumbai on 28 November. On the booking form you enter both flights, each name exactly as in the passport, and the day before your submission in the "When do you want to receive it?" field. The return trip costs ₹699 per passenger, so a family of three pays ₹2,097.

Our booking desk chooses the airline and flight, and you can name a preferred airline in the notes box as a request. You receive a PDF itinerary with a PNR by email or WhatsApp, typically 10 to 20 minutes after payment, or on the date you picked. One order covers up to 9 passengers on the same itinerary. If your list also asks for accommodation, we can add a hotel reservation voucher for the same dates at ₹699 per hotel, per passenger.

It is a reservation, not a ticket, and it cannot be used to board a flight. DTV is not affiliated with any Saudi embassy, consulate, visa application centre or airline, and no document can decide your visa. For other countries, see our visa guides by country.

Before you apply: checks to make

• Your passport is not on the eVisa list if it is Indian; plan for the embassy route
• You have the current document list from the embassy, a consulate or your sponsor, and you follow its wording
• If you rely on a US, UK or Schengen visa for visa on arrival, you have checked visitsaudi.com and asked your airline
• For Umrah, your flight is part of a Nusuk package or a paid ticket, not a reservation
• Flight dates fit inside the stay your visa allows
• Any reservation is issued the day before submission, and its PNR is checked on the airline's website

Frequently asked questions

Last reviewed 27 September 2026 by the DTV Editorial Team. Visa requirements change, so confirm the current checklist with the embassy, consulate or official application centre before you apply. A reservation supports a visa file and cannot guarantee a visa decision.