Oman is in the final stages of testing new e-visa procedures, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) announced at Get Connected, a forum held to boost tourism in Oman.

An ROP official said: "We have been trying and testing every bit of the e-visa for more than 12 months. 

We are going to introduce it gradually. Once we are sure and have confidence in the security of the system and once the test is confirmed, we will start. There needs to be safety in the payment system. Currently we are only offering visa on arrival.

The fees will be the same and if there is an addition it will be announced earlier."

During the presentation, officials revealed:

“Manual entry system will be removed, users will be enabled to apply online and make payments through ITA’s ePayment Gateway and other bank channel payment modes. The system will have an automated visa application submission review and approval process,” the presentation revealed.

Additionally, the enhanced e-visa system will be linked with departments concerned with visa processing, provide online notification facilities for users and also allow an option to print international standard visa stickers.

The presentation also revealed that the e-visa system will allow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to process diplomatic visas online.

“The enhanced system will also allow ROP to archive applications and supporting documents electronically,” the presentation revealed.

The Get Connected forum is being organised to facilitate direct communication between various entities and institutions in the Omani tourism sector.

At the forum, Ahmed Bin Nasser Al Mahrizi, the Minister of Tourism, said that they hope that the 2nd Get Connected forum has achieved its goal of effectively communicating the initiatives and projects that reflect the on-going development in the tourism sector, as well as the new services that the sector will provide for citizens and tourists.

The agenda of Get Connected included identifying the progress made by the Ministry of Tourism in cooperation with concerned authorities, regarding the challenges discussed in the forum’s first edition.

During the forum, topics related to Oman’s Tourism Strategy 2040 were reviewed and discussed.

Source: Timesofoman