The head of the GCC says a single visa allowing travel across all six Gulf states will launch soon, though no date has been set.
A single visa that would let travelers move across all six Gulf states is getting closer, according to the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, the GCC secretary general, said the unified tourist visa will see the light soon, without giving a firm date for when it will take effect.
He made the remarks on September 6, 2026, during the Security and History Dialogue held in Riyadh. When pressed on timing, he stopped short of naming a launch date, saying only that the scheme is on its way and being handled by the relevant authorities in the member states.
The visa would cover the six GCC countries: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. Under the plan, a single permit would allow international visitors to travel across all six, rather than applying separately for each. The design has been widely compared to Europe’s Schengen system, which lets travelers cross participating countries on one visa.
How the Unified GCC Visa Will Work
The core idea is a single entry document that removes the need for separate visas for each Gulf country. For a tourist planning to visit more than one state on the same trip, that would mean one application instead of several, and the ability to cross between member countries without fresh paperwork at each stop.
The proposal has moved through several stages of approval. GCC tourism ministers unanimously backed it in October 2023, and interior ministers approved the unified visa the following month. In June 2025, a UAE minister confirmed the approval and said the scheme was awaiting implementation. Responsibility for putting it into practice now sits with the interior ministries and other authorities across the bloc.
Several details have yet to be announced. The cost of the visa, how long it will be valid, and the application process have not been made public. Albudaiwi’s comments confirmed that work is continuing but did not fill in those gaps, leaving the practical terms to be set out closer to launch.
What the GCC Tourist Visa Means for Gulf Travel
For the Gulf’s tourism sector, the visa is seen as a way to encourage visitors to spend time in more than one country on a single trip. A traveler arriving in the region could, in theory, combine stops in several member states without the friction of applying for multiple visas, which supporters say could lift visitor numbers across the bloc.
The Gulf states have been expanding their tourism offerings in recent years, and a shared visa fits into that wider push. By making it easier to move between countries, the scheme is intended to position the region as a single destination rather than a set of separate ones, in the way that the Schengen zone functions for much of Europe.
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