Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is set to introduce a joint tourist visa that will enable travelers to visit six Gulf states without having to apply for separate visas. The GCC’s brainchild is said to be modeled on the Schengen system that allows unrestricted travel between European nations.
The GCC grand tourist visa will offer visitors a single visa cover for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait. Travelers will simply apply for the visa once and, if approved, they can use it to travel to any of the six Gulf countries.
The GCC secretary general Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi has stated that the technical preparations for the visa launch are almost complete. He added that the GCC is ready to put the system in place soon, but a launch date has not been disclosed. Information on the visa’s cost, duration, application process, and other related details is yet to be released by the GCC member states’ interior ministries.
The joint visa system is expected to make it much easier for travelers to visit the Gulf region as opposed to dealing with multiple entry visas. In addition, the move will also simplify the process of traveling between these countries as visitors do not have to worry about getting multiple visas from different authorities.
The GCC is not alone in its efforts to make traveling within the region seamless. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have both launched a biometric single-point control system to clear passengers traveling between the two countries. According to a press release by the Ministry of Interior of the UAE, the system has been in place between the Abu Dhabi International Airport and the Kingdom of Bahrain. The control system enables passengers to arrive at their destination ports of call without having to go through the traditional immigration check-in procedures. This is done by allowing travelers to complete the procedures at the embarkation port and then being cleared at the destination port. The system is expected to make the process of entry and exit more efficient, hence saving time, especially at the borders.
