The GCC unified tourist visa will allow seamless travel across all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries/ Representative Image
After months of anticipation and shifting timelines, Gulf officials have confirmed that the long-awaited unified GCC tourist visa will not launch in 2025 as earlier indicated, but will instead roll out in 2026. The clarification came in early November from Saudi Arabia’s tourism minister, resetting expectations around one of the region’s most ambitious travel integration projects and underscoring the complexity of aligning immigration and security systems across six sovereign states.
Timeline revised after pilot-stage expectations
The unified visa, often referred to as the GCC Grand Tours Visa, was initially expected to enter a pilot phase in the fourth quarter of 2025, with several officials across the region indicating that testing could begin before the end of the year. The concept itself was approved by GCC interior ministers as early as November 2023 and repeatedly described through 2024 and 2025 as a cornerstone of regional tourism cooperation. However, speaking at the Gulf Gateway Investment Forum in Manama, Bahrain, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism, confirmed that the full rollout is now expected in 2026. He described the project as “a major milestone achieved after years of collaboration among GCC member states,” while acknowledging that implementation requires deeper coordination than initially anticipated. The revision follows earlier statements by Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council, who said in June that the visa had already received formal approval and was awaiting implementation pending coordination among interior ministries and relevant authorities.
Why the launch moved
According to reporting by Gulf News, the delay reflects three core challenges. First is security and policy alignment. In March 2025, Oman’s Minister of Heritage and Tourism, Salim bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi, said the project remained in a “research phase,” citing ongoing discussions around security concerns, immigration controls and data-sharing frameworks. These systems must operate seamlessly across all six GCC countries before a shared visa can function. Second is technical integration. The visa requires a unified digital platform capable of linking national immigration databases, border systems and traveller records in real time. GCC officials have repeatedly stressed that the infrastructure must meet international data-protection and security standards. In July, GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said passport departments across member states were holding joint technical meetings to ensure the system keeps pace with evolving global security demands. Finally, the bloc opted for a phased approach rather than a rushed rollout. While a pilot phase had been discussed for late 2025, officials now say testing will feed into a broader launch in 2026, prioritising operational reliability over speed.
What the unified visa will change
Once operational, the GCC Unified Visa will allow tourists to travel across all six member states, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, under a single permit, similar in concept to Europe’s Schengen visa. Travellers will be able to choose between a single-country visa or a multi-country option, significantly reducing the need for multiple applications. Officials expect the visa to allow stays of around 30 days, though final conditions have yet to be published. The aim is to simplify travel, lower costs for visitors and encourage longer, multi-destination trips across the Gulf. The push comes amid rising intra-GCC travel. In 2024 alone, 3.3 million visitors from GCC countries travelled to the UAE, accounting for 11 per cent of hotel guests. Saudi Arabia made up the largest share at 1.9 million visitors, followed by Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. For now, travellers must continue to follow existing visa rules for each country. While the unified visa has been formally approved and remains under active review by interior ministries, officials have made clear that full implementation will come next year, once security, technical and regulatory requirements are fully aligned across the region. Go to Source