Gulf Cooperation Council approves Schengen-like visa for 6 Gulf countries, to roll out soon

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) recently approved the GCC Grand Tours Visa, a Schengen-style visa which will allow its holders entry to six Gulf nations, as per reports.

Informally called ‘GCC Grand Tours Visa’, it offers entries to – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), without separate visas.

This will add to the tourism and hospitality industry of the region, providing it a well-deserved boost, experts believe.

The announcement was made by UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri as he was speaking at the UAE Hospitality Summer Camp, as per reports.

“The GCC countries involved are currently finalising the logistics and regulatory framework for the visa, and although the full details of the visa are not available, it is thought that the Unified GCC Tourist Visa will offer extended validity, allowing travel across multiple countries for longer periods,” says GCC visa website.

The visa is modelled after Schengen visa, which allows the holder to travel freely in the Schengen area in Europe for short stays of a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period. 

The visas are not purpose-bound, but they do not grant the right to work. 

The Schengen area consists of 29 European countries (of which 25 are EU states) – Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden, along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. 

(with inputs from syndicated feed)