Interior ministers representing the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries are working on the scheme’s details, which are seen as boosting tourism and trade in the region, according to Arab News, an English language daily published in Saudi Arabia.
The report was confirmed to the Kuwait’s Al Rai daily by unidentified sources, according to a report posted today on the website of the Kuwait Times.
“The single-entry visa should be valid for one month, but multiple-entry visas could be issued for one year,” the Kuwait Times report noted, adding that conditions for obtaining the GCC visa were expected to include presenting evidence of sufficient financial resources.
The single GCC visa “would not cancel the existing system of a single GCC country visa”, but exist alongside it, the Kuwait Times article said.
Expatriates living and working in the GCC represent 31% of the Gulf's population, according to Arab News, which quoted Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, president of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry as saying about 15 million foreign workers are currently employed in the six countries.
Businesses are said to welcome the single visa scheme. Julie Divito, human resources director for Dubai-headquartered Globaleye International Wealth Solutions, said the proposed single visa was “good news – anything that promotes flexibility and allows movement within the GCC region is a positive, as long as the process is simple and straightforward".
The GCC was established in 1981, and includes the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Most foreigners are required to apply for visas ahead of travelling to the GCC, although nationals of some countries are able to acquire their visas as they enter the country in question.
Citizens of the 26 EU Schengen countries and those from the US, UK, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia do not require visas to enter the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, according to Arab News.
Single GCC currency
The idea of a single GCC visa is one of a number of ideas the member countries have considered, in an effort to make the most of their union. Since 2001, for example, the GCC countries have talked about establishing a single GCC currency, in an effort to encourage more investment and trade with the non-GCC world, and give a boost to the region's banks and financial institutions.
However, some member countries, such as Oman and the UAE, pulled out of the scheme, which also suffered after the Eurozone – on which the single currency idea was modeled – underwent a crisis, beginning in 2009. And a defacto single currency exists, some experts point out, since most of the national currencies are pegged to the US dollar.
