The Single Visa Era in the Gulf Approaches: Travel to Six Countries with One Permit

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been working on a unified tourist visa project for a long time, and preparations for its implementation are continuing. The system, referred to as the "GCC Unified Tourist Visa" or "GCC Grand Tours Visa," aims to allow international visitors to travel across six Gulf countries with a single permit.

When the project is implemented, it is expected to facilitate multi-destination travel between the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman. However, as of September 2026, the system has not yet been opened for use; final information regarding the official application portal, fees, validity period, and exact start date has not been shared.

Six countries, one tourist visa

The countries expected to be covered by the unified visa application are as follows:

• United Arab Emirates

• Saudi Arabia

• Qatar

• Bahrain

• Kuwait

• Oman

The project aims to allow visitors to travel to multiple countries through a single application, similar to the Schengen system in Europe. This could make planning regional routes that include cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha, Manama, Muscat, and Kuwait easier.

GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi stated in July 2025 that technical work was being carried out among member countries' passport and relevant security units for a common tourist visa. The statement indicated that coordination was ongoing to facilitate visitor mobility and comply with technological and security requirements.

Why has the launch date been delayed?

The unified tourist visa was initially expected to be implemented in 2024 or 2025. However, the integration of national immigration, passport, security, and data-sharing systems has pushed the project's timeline forward.

Reports published in November 2025 indicated that the implementation had been postponed to 2026 and that technical preparations for the system were ongoing. Saudi Arabia's Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, also pointed out that coordination among member countries was necessary for the project's implementation.

The GCC Secretary-General's statement in September 2026 that the visa would "soon be implemented" shows that the project remains on the agenda and that the implementation process is progressing. However, no specific launch date was provided in the statement. Until an official timeline is announced regarding when the visa will be available for application, existing national visa procedures remain valid.

Fees, validity, and application conditions are still unclear

Previous draft information reported in the public domain indicated that the unified tourist visa could have a validity period ranging from 30 to 90 days. However, this period has not yet been officially confirmed.

Similarly, the following issues are expected to be clarified:

• Whether the visa will be single-entry or multiple-entry

• Total validity period

• Whether a separate fee will be applied for entry to all six countries

• Whether the application will be made through a single digital portal

• Which country nationals and residents will be eligible to apply

• Rules regarding the country of first entry

• Duration of stay and exit conditions between countries

• Whether purposes such as business, education, or long-term residence will be excluded

Information published in 2025 indicated that the system was expected to focus on tourism, short visits, and family/friend visits. It was not anticipated to grant work or long-term residence rights. These details will need to be confirmed with final legislation and application guidelines.

A new area for regional tourism packages

The single visa application could facilitate the positioning of Gulf countries as a common regional destination rather than marketing them separately. Visitors could combine the city tourism of the United Arab Emirates, the cultural and historical destinations of Saudi Arabia, Qatar's event and museum infrastructure, Oman's nature routes, and Bahrain's cultural heritage into a single travel plan.

This structure could provide new opportunities for tour operators, especially in developing multi-destination holiday packages lasting 7 to 14 days. It may become possible to prepare more integrated products among airlines, cruise operators, hotels, destination management organizations, and travel agencies.

However, the single visa alone will not solve all the issues of regional travel. Flight connections between countries, land crossings, border procedures, transfer costs, hotel prices, and travel times will also determine the commercial viability of the routes.

How should hotels and travel businesses prepare?

For accommodation and travel businesses operating in the Gulf, the unified visa could create not only an entry convenience but also a new planning area in terms of product design.

It may become increasingly important for hotels to develop packages that can be included in regional routes, establish collaborations with facilities in different cities, and pre-structure transfer services, in addition to single destination accommodations. For example, packages where a trip starting in Dubai continues in Doha, Riyadh, or Muscat could support longer stays.

For travel agencies, visa consultancy, multi-country travel planning, intercity transportation, and the combination of different types of accommodation could create new service categories. However, businesses should not commit to unconfirmed information about visa conditions and application procedures to customers before the system is officially opened.

Stafflink's view

The unified Gulf visa has the potential to grow regional tourism through inter-destination travel experiences rather than individual country visits. For this to translate into a real contribution for businesses, it depends on the development of transportation connections, joint marketing, pricing, and operational coordination between destinations, in addition to visa convenience.

The most important issue from an industry perspective is not whether the implementation will only increase visitor numbers, but whether it will extend the duration of stay, direct visitors to multiple countries, and how spending will be distributed within the region.

Until the exact application conditions and launch schedule are announced, the project should be considered not as a completed application but as an ongoing regional tourism infrastructure work. Nevertheless, the preparation of multi-country products for hotels, tour operators, and destination management is already becoming a strategic planning topic.