The Gulf Cooperation Council’s unified tourist visa is moving closer to reality. According to GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, the project has reached its final technical and regulatory stages following coordination between passport authorities across all six GCC states.
Albudaiwi announced the development while speaking at the “Security and History Dialogue” conference in Riyadh on Sunday. He described the unified visa as an important step toward strengthening Gulf integration and facilitating the movement of visitors among GCC countries. The initiative is expected to support the tourism sector and enhance the GCC states’ position as an integrated regional destination.
The groundwork for this project began in November 2023, when GCC interior ministers approved the unified Gulf tourist visa project at a meeting in Muscat. Since then, the necessary technical and regulatory arrangements for implementing the project have been progressing.
Once launched, the unified visa will allow tourists and visitors to travel seamlessly between Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. This single visa system aims to streamline entry procedures across the region rather than requiring separate visas for each country.
While an exact launch date has not been announced, Albudaiwi’s statement that the project has reached its final stages suggests the rollout could happen in the coming months. The coordination required between all six nations’ passport authorities represents a significant administrative undertaking, but officials appear confident in moving forward.
What This Means for Expats: When implemented, the unified GCC tourist visa could make it easier for expats in Kuwait to sponsor visiting family members or friends from abroad, as visitors would gain access to multiple Gulf countries with a single visa rather than navigating separate application processes for each nation.
Source: Times of Kuwait
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