Oman Visa for Indians
Getting a tourist visa to Oman for Indian citizens is not a straightforward concept. Unlike filling a form, paying the fee and submitting it at the local embassy, to get a Omani visa, the Indian national has to go through a local sponsor (a local authorized body or a local resident of Oman). There are three main options to get a local sponsor.
Option 1: Find a friend or family who is a resident of Oman and ask them to vouch for your stay in Oman. Give them your hotel bookings and a fee of RO 6 and they will apply for your visa from the Oman Royal Police. You will get your e-visa copy in 2-3 days.
Option 2: Go through a tour operator and do all your hotel bookings through them as part of a Oman tour package. Pay them the visa fee of RO 6 and you will get your e-visa copy in 2-3 days.
Option 3: Make all your bookings on your own and go through the tour operator just for your visa. In addition to the visa fee, the tour operator may charge their visa processing fee. This will vary with tour operator.
Irrespective of the 3 options, you will have to send a scanned copy of your passport front and back pages for the visa processing.
And once the visa is ready, you can either receive a copy by email or a hard copy by post.
If you get your visa soft copy over email, do ensure that your visa sponsor has submitted your visa at the airport or point of entry and that you get a ‘ok to board’ approved message on your flight ticket. While flying, you can carry your e-visa along with your passport and once you land at your airport in Oman, someone will hand you the original visa. You can carry this original e-visa and proceed to immigration for stamping.
If you get your original e-visa by post, you can carry that along with your passport to the airport while boarding and board your flight without any additional requirements. Though, sometimes, the airlines ask for a ‘ok to board’ message on your ticket. Once you reach your port of entry in Oman, you can show this visa and get your stamping done.
Generally, a single entry tourist visa is valid for a single entry of 30 days in a 6 month period. And a multiple entry tourist visa is valid for multiple entries of 30 days each in a 6 month period.
For my visa, I went through Tour Oman and the entire Oman trip was courtesy of Oman Tourism.
Option 1: Find a friend or family who is a resident of Oman and ask them to vouch for your stay in Oman. Give them your hotel bookings and a fee of RO 6 and they will apply for your visa from the Oman Royal Police. You will get your e-visa copy in 2-3 days.
Option 2: Go through a tour operator and do all your hotel bookings through them as part of a Oman tour package. Pay them the visa fee of RO 6 and you will get your e-visa copy in 2-3 days.
Option 3: Make all your bookings on your own and go through the tour operator just for your visa. In addition to the visa fee, the tour operator may charge their visa processing fee. This will vary with tour operator.
Irrespective of the 3 options, you will have to send a scanned copy of your passport front and back pages for the visa processing.
And once the visa is ready, you can either receive a copy by email or a hard copy by post.
If you get your visa soft copy over email, do ensure that your visa sponsor has submitted your visa at the airport or point of entry and that you get a ‘ok to board’ approved message on your flight ticket. While flying, you can carry your e-visa along with your passport and once you land at your airport in Oman, someone will hand you the original visa. You can carry this original e-visa and proceed to immigration for stamping.
If you get your original e-visa by post, you can carry that along with your passport to the airport while boarding and board your flight without any additional requirements. Though, sometimes, the airlines ask for a ‘ok to board’ message on your ticket. Once you reach your port of entry in Oman, you can show this visa and get your stamping done.
Generally, a single entry tourist visa is valid for a single entry of 30 days in a 6 month period. And a multiple entry tourist visa is valid for multiple entries of 30 days each in a 6 month period.
For my visa, I went through Tour Oman and the entire Oman trip was courtesy of Oman Tourism.
