Syrian authorities have issued a law under which visitors will now need a visa to visit the country, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
The law requires "any person entering or leaving Syria to hold a valid passport" which "would need to be stamped with a visa from one of our diplomatic missions or consulates abroad," the news agency reported.
In June 2013, the regime issued a law stipulating that anyone who illegally enters Syria will be sentenced to jail from one to five years and will pay a bail that ranges from 5 to 10 million Syrian liras, Al Arabiya reported.
The punishment could be either or both, according to pro-regime Syrian newspaper al-Watan.
Previously, citizens of most Arabs states would not require a visa to enter Syria.
Since the anti-regime uprising erupted in March 2011, the Syrian government has repeatedly blamed violence in the country on "terrorists" entering Syria illegally.