In Kuwait City on 12 November, Gulf interior ministers approved an ambitious ‘one-stop’ travel system that will allow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens to clear immigration, customs and security checks at a single counter before departure. The first live trial starts next month on flights between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Travellers will use a dedicated channel where officers from both states operate side-by-side, mirroring the Schengen model and potentially cutting total processing time by 40 percent.
For UAE-based multinationals the pilot promises immediate efficiency gains. Employees who shuttle between Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Manama for regional projects often lose billable hours in separate exit and entry queues; the new corridor compresses these touch-points into a single clearance. Airlines have been asked to print special boarding-pass designators and prepare signage, while airport IT teams race to finish a shared data platform that will exchange watch-list hits and customs declarations in real time.
![GCC green-lights ‘one-stop’ travel clearance; UAE-Bahrain pilot to launch in December]()
Officials stress that phase one applies only to GCC nationals, but hinted that expatriate residents could be added once privacy and data-protection protocols are harmonised. Longer term, the scheme dovetails with the Unified GCC Tourist Visa – now slated for late-2025 pilot – which would let foreigners move freely across all six member states on a single permit.
Corporate mobility managers should update travel policies to reflect possible documentation quirks during the test period; for example, GCC citizens may still need to carry physical passports rather than national ID cards until authorities finalise electronic verification. Logistics providers also expect leaner air-cargo flows once joint customs inspections are folded into the model, reducing dwell times at freight terminals.
If the December pilot proves successful, ministers plan to expand the concept to land borders and seaports by late 2026, creating what officials call “a Schengen-style mobility zone in the Arabian Gulf”. For the UAE, the initiative supports Dubai’s goal of handling 100 million passengers annually while maintaining world-leading queue times.
For UAE-based multinationals the pilot promises immediate efficiency gains. Employees who shuttle between Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Manama for regional projects often lose billable hours in separate exit and entry queues; the new corridor compresses these touch-points into a single clearance. Airlines have been asked to print special boarding-pass designators and prepare signage, while airport IT teams race to finish a shared data platform that will exchange watch-list hits and customs declarations in real time.
Officials stress that phase one applies only to GCC nationals, but hinted that expatriate residents could be added once privacy and data-protection protocols are harmonised. Longer term, the scheme dovetails with the Unified GCC Tourist Visa – now slated for late-2025 pilot – which would let foreigners move freely across all six member states on a single permit.
Corporate mobility managers should update travel policies to reflect possible documentation quirks during the test period; for example, GCC citizens may still need to carry physical passports rather than national ID cards until authorities finalise electronic verification. Logistics providers also expect leaner air-cargo flows once joint customs inspections are folded into the model, reducing dwell times at freight terminals.
If the December pilot proves successful, ministers plan to expand the concept to land borders and seaports by late 2026, creating what officials call “a Schengen-style mobility zone in the Arabian Gulf”. For the UAE, the initiative supports Dubai’s goal of handling 100 million passengers annually while maintaining world-leading queue times.
