The GCC Unified Visa launch misses its 2025 deadline and is expected to launch sometime in 2026, officials confirmed. This slight delay is due to the complexity of aligning immigration rules, security procedures, and data-sharing frameworks across the 6 Gulf nations.
As a result, Gulf travellers need to wait a bit longer to visit their favourite Gulf destinations on a single visa.
TheGCC Grand Tours Visa is inspired by the European Schengen Visa, which allows travellers to travel across the 6 Gulf countries with just a single permit. These 6 countries are as follows:-
The goal of the GCC Unified Visa is to allow tourists to explore more than one Gulf country during a single trip without any inconvenience.
After the GCC interior ministers' approval in November 2023, the Grand Tours Visa was expected to enter the pilot phase by the end of 2025. However, according to the officials, the delay is due to technical integration difficulties.
Aligning the immigration process, security rules, and a secure data sharing system among the six countries, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is a challenge and will take time.
The project is in progress and still in the research stage, said Salem Bin Mohammed AI Mahrouqi, Oman’s Minister of Heritage and Tourism.The discussions between the countries are still ongoing.
The GCC Unified Visa, once launched, will lead to strong tourism across the 6 Gulf nations. This highly impactful decision will make travelling to the 6 Gulf nations easier, faster and more convenient.
The Unified Grand Tourist Visa will be a boon for tourists visiting their favourite Gulf destinations, resulting in easier travel, an economic boost, and longer stays.
The GCC welcomed over 68 million international visitors in 2023, according to UN Tourism data. However, only over a quarter of travel took place in the region itself.
The officials estimate a minimum rise of at least 20% thorough the GCC Unified Tourist Visa. The average stays might also increase from 2.5 to around 7.
Following the GCC Unified Tourist Visa launch, the six Gulf nations will soon be working to implement smooth single-visa entry procedures and highly secure delivery.
Although the delay might disappoint some travellers, it allows GCC to strengthen its security procedures and improve cross-border coordination among the 6 countries, resulting in a smoother, safer unified visa experience for travellers.
IMPORTANT NOTICE - For more details on the current Kuwait visa policy, please visit the Kuwait eVisa portal.
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