Turkey and Saudi Arabia agree on visa-free travel for diplomatic and green passport holders

The agreement, signed by President Erdoğan, covers entry, transit, and temporary stays but does not extend to service or regular passport holders

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have agreed to waive visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and green (special) passports, allowing qualifying officials from both countries to travel freely between the two nations. The deal permits stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period and covers entry, exit, transit, and temporary residence, according to an official gazette on the website of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey.

The agreement was signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and is designed to smooth out government-level travel between Ankara and Riyadh by removing the need for officials to go through the visa application process each time they cross borders.

Who qualifies and who does not

The waiver is limited to two specific passport categories. Diplomatic passports are issued to senior government figures, ambassadors, and accredited officials who carry out international relations and state duties. Green passports, sometimes called special passports, go to certain categories of civil servants and government employees.

Anyone traveling on a service passport or a regular passport is excluded from the arrangement. Those travelers will need to continue applying for visas through the existing process, with no changes to their requirements.

What the agreement is designed to achieve

The visa waiver is aimed at strengthening coordination between the government institutions of both countries. By letting qualifying officials make repeated short visits without filing separate visa applications each time, the arrangement cuts down on administrative delays and paperwork.

At the same time, both governments have kept the scope deliberately narrow. Restricting the waiver to diplomatic and green passport holders ensures that official travel becomes easier without opening up broader access that could create security concerns. The agreement balances smoother mobility for government personnel with continued control over who enters each country.