Oman's New Zero-Fee Visa and the Last Days of Khareef 2026

On 2 September 2026, Oman's state news agency confirmed that Dhofar Governorate is about to "lower the curtain" on this year's Khareef season — the ten-week monsoon window that turns the hills around Salalah green and draws crowds from across the Gulf. The season ran more than 300 events this year and channelled marketing opportunities to 1,742 small and medium enterprises, according to Dhofar Municipality's own figures released to Oman News Agency. If you're only hearing about Khareef now, this year's window is closing within days; the season runs again roughly June through September 2027.

That's not the only thing that changed in Oman this year. A month earlier, on 3 August 2026, Royal Oman Police Decision No. 109/2026 quietly added a brand-new entry category to the country's Foreigners' Residence Law regulations: a tourist visa that costs zero Omani rials for a 14-day stay, sourced directly from Gulf News's report on the decision. It's a genuinely new legal category, not a rebrand of Oman's existing visa-free arrangements — and as of this writing, Royal Oman Police has not published which nationalities it actually covers. That single gap is the most important thing to know before you book.

What the new zero-fee visa actually is — and isn't

Gulf News's reporting on Decision 109/2026 describes a visa "for nationals selected by immigration authorities" that was added to Article 10 of the regulations and listed in the official fee schedule under Article 29 at zero Omani rials. Before it expires, holders can convert it into any other tourist visa category, subject to the normal fees and requirements. What the decision does not do is name the countries it applies to. Until Royal Oman Police updates its own e-visa portal with that list, the honest answer for most travellers is: check the portal directly before you book flights, rather than assuming your passport qualifies.

This is separate from Oman's older, larger visa-free system, which predates August's change and is unaffected by it. Citizens of roughly 100 countries — most of the EU, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and others — already enter Oman completely visa-free for 14 days with no application at all, provided they carry a valid passport, a confirmed hotel booking, a return ticket and proof of funds, per a breakdown of Oman's visa-free groups. A second, smaller group — including India, Mexico, Egypt, Jordan and several others — gets the same 14-day visa-free entry only if they already hold a valid US, UK, Canadian, Schengen, Australian or Japanese visa, or GCC residency. Citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE need no visa at all.

If you don't qualify for either free route

Everyone else applies for a standard e-visa through evisa.rop.gov.om. Three independent visa-agency breakdowns — visarun.ai, BTW Visas and CSP Group — agree on the same fee ladder: OMR 5 (about US$13) for a 10-day single-entry visa, OMR 20 (about US$52) for 30 days, and OMR 50 (about US$130) for a one-year multiple-entry visa allowing stays of up to 30 days per visit. Travellers arriving overland or on visa-on-arrival routes see the same OMR 5 figure, corroborated by Gulf News's UAE-to-Oman road-trip guide. The Omani rial is pegged to the US dollar, so these conversions don't drift with exchange-rate swings the way a floating-currency country's would.

Whichever route applies to you, print or screenshot the confirmation. Land-border and airport officers in Oman have been known to ask for it even when a visa is technically issued electronically.

Muscat first, then out to the fort and the dunes

Most first trips land at Muscat International Airport and start with the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque — free to enter, but only open to non-Muslim visitors Saturday through Thursday, 8:00 to 11:00am, per a dedicated visitor guide to the mosque. Dress code is enforced: women need loose, opaque clothing covering arms and legs plus a headscarf; men need covered shoulders and knees. Arrive right at opening — tour buses fill the car park fast, and the mosque closes to visitors entirely on Fridays.

From Muscat, most itineraries head inland to Nizwa, Oman's former capital and still its best-preserved fort town. Nizwa Fort's entrance fee is OMR 5 per adult (about US$13), open 8am to 8pm daily except Friday, when hours shrink to 8-11am for the goat market that takes over the town centre — figures corroborated across Travel Saga, Tripadvisor and a local price-list thread after no single official ticketing page returned fetchable pricing.

An hour or two beyond Nizwa, Wahiba Sands is the desert-camp stop most first-timers build a night around. Pricing swings widely by operator and inclusions: a private overnight package with transport, meals and a dune safari runs around US$200 per person according to Oman Spirit's own booking guide, while budget group-tour camps list from roughly US$114-166 a night on Trip.com's Wahiba Sands listings. Whichever end of that range you book, confirm whether the price includes the return transfer — Wahiba's dunes require 4WD, and few travellers rent one just for a single overnight.

Salalah, if you can still make it

If you're reading this in the first half of September 2026, Khareef season is closing but hasn't fully ended — Oman News Agency's 2 September report describes the shutdown as imminent, not immediate. Salalah in the last days of monsoon still has waterfalls running through Wadi Darbat and green hillsides that vanish for the rest of the year. Miss it, and the next window opens around June 2027; airfares and hotel rates climb fast once word gets out, so travellers eyeing next year's season are already the ones who should start watching flight prices in spring.

Getting connected once you land

Every physical prepaid SIM in Oman requires passport registration at the point of sale — there's no walk-in, no-ID option, per TravelTomTom's Oman SIM guide and a separate airport-arrivals breakdown of Omantel and Ooredoo counters at Muscat International. An Oman eSIM skips that queue entirely and gets you connected before you've cleared the mosque's opening hours the next morning — useful if your flight lands late and you want maps and messaging working immediately, rather than hunting for an open SIM counter after midnight. Roameo is a reseller of local network capacity, not a network operator, so coverage and speed follow whatever the underlying Omani carrier delivers in a given area — solid across Muscat, Nizwa and the main highway corridors, patchier out in the dunes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I qualify for Oman's new zero-fee 14-day visa?

Royal Oman Police has not published the list of eligible nationalities for the visa created by Decision No. 109/2026. Check evisa.rop.gov.om directly before booking flights — don't assume the new zero-fee category applies to your passport just because you've read about it.

Is this the same as Oman's existing visa-free entry?

No. Oman already lets roughly 100 nationalities — including most of the EU, the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea — in completely visa-free for 14 days with no application, a system that predates August 2026's change and continues unaffected by it. The new zero-fee category is a separate, additional visa product for nationalities Royal Oman Police has not yet named.

Is Khareef season already over for 2026?

As of Oman News Agency's 2 September 2026 report, the season's programming is closing "in the coming days" — it hadn't fully ended at the time of reporting, but the window is closing fast. The next Khareef season runs roughly June through September 2027.

How much does a standard Oman tourist e-visa cost if I don't qualify for either free route?

OMR 5 (about US$13) for 10 days, OMR 20 (about US$52) for 30 days, or OMR 50 (about US$130) for a one-year multiple-entry visa allowing stays of up to 30 days per visit, applied for through evisa.rop.gov.om.

Do I need a local SIM registered to my passport, or can I use an eSIM instead?

Physical prepaid SIMs in Oman require passport registration at the point of sale. An eSIM installed before departure skips that step and activates as soon as you land.