The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has confirmed that it will begin piloting a **Unified Tourist Visa** later this year, setting the stage for a Schengen-style travel regime covering the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. GCC tourism ministers meeting in Doha this week agreed on a late-2026 soft launch after finalising data-sharing protocols and a common biometric platform.
The new permit—sometimes referred to as the **“GCC Grand Tours Visa”**—will allow travellers to enter any one of the six member states and move freely across the bloc for up to 30 days, with options for 60- and 90-day extensions under discussion. Officials say fees will be kept in the US $100-150 range (AED 370-550) to stay competitive with Southeast Asia’s multi-country passes while covering the cost of the region-wide security upgrade. Applications will be fully digital, using a single portal that auto-routes data to each country’s immigration service.
Travellers eager to be among the first to experience the GCC Grand Tours Visa can streamline their preparations through VisaHQ, whose platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) already offers real-time regulatory updates, document checklists and application support for UAE entry permits. As the unified visa rolls out, VisaHQ will integrate the new requirements into its dashboard, giving tourists and corporate mobility teams a single, easy-to-use hub for managing multi-country Gulf itineraries with minimal paperwork.
![GCC moves ahead with single-entry visa as 2026 pilot nears]()
For the UAE’s hospitality and events sector, the scheme is a potential windfall. Dubai expects the visa to increase multi-city itineraries that begin or end at its airports, boosting demand for stop-over stays and onward Gulf cruises. Abu Dhabi—already positioning itself as the GCC’s culture hub with major museums and Formula 1—anticipates a sharp rise in weekend traffic from visitors who start their journeys in neighbouring capitals. Airlines such as Emirates and Etihad are preparing bundled fares that combine multiple Gulf destinations on one ticket.
Corporate mobility managers also stand to benefit. HR teams relocating staff to Dubai or Abu Dhabi will no longer need to secure separate short-term visit visas for regional orientation trips or client meetings in Riyadh and Doha. Travel-management companies predict savings of up to 30 per cent on fees and processing time once the unified visa is live. However, global companies are being advised to audit internal booking tools to ensure they capture multi-country travel data for duty-of-care purposes.
While the initiative enjoys broad political backing, there are still hurdles. Member states must align over-stay penalties and agree on common watch-list protocols. Privacy advocates are watching closely to see how biometric data is stored and shared. GCC officials insist the system will meet EU GDPR-equivalent safeguards, though final regulations will not be published until just before rollout. If the pilot phase proceeds smoothly, full implementation across all entry points is expected by early 2027.
The new permit—sometimes referred to as the **“GCC Grand Tours Visa”**—will allow travellers to enter any one of the six member states and move freely across the bloc for up to 30 days, with options for 60- and 90-day extensions under discussion. Officials say fees will be kept in the US $100-150 range (AED 370-550) to stay competitive with Southeast Asia’s multi-country passes while covering the cost of the region-wide security upgrade. Applications will be fully digital, using a single portal that auto-routes data to each country’s immigration service.
Travellers eager to be among the first to experience the GCC Grand Tours Visa can streamline their preparations through VisaHQ, whose platform (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) already offers real-time regulatory updates, document checklists and application support for UAE entry permits. As the unified visa rolls out, VisaHQ will integrate the new requirements into its dashboard, giving tourists and corporate mobility teams a single, easy-to-use hub for managing multi-country Gulf itineraries with minimal paperwork.
For the UAE’s hospitality and events sector, the scheme is a potential windfall. Dubai expects the visa to increase multi-city itineraries that begin or end at its airports, boosting demand for stop-over stays and onward Gulf cruises. Abu Dhabi—already positioning itself as the GCC’s culture hub with major museums and Formula 1—anticipates a sharp rise in weekend traffic from visitors who start their journeys in neighbouring capitals. Airlines such as Emirates and Etihad are preparing bundled fares that combine multiple Gulf destinations on one ticket.
Corporate mobility managers also stand to benefit. HR teams relocating staff to Dubai or Abu Dhabi will no longer need to secure separate short-term visit visas for regional orientation trips or client meetings in Riyadh and Doha. Travel-management companies predict savings of up to 30 per cent on fees and processing time once the unified visa is live. However, global companies are being advised to audit internal booking tools to ensure they capture multi-country travel data for duty-of-care purposes.
While the initiative enjoys broad political backing, there are still hurdles. Member states must align over-stay penalties and agree on common watch-list protocols. Privacy advocates are watching closely to see how biometric data is stored and shared. GCC officials insist the system will meet EU GDPR-equivalent safeguards, though final regulations will not be published until just before rollout. If the pilot phase proceeds smoothly, full implementation across all entry points is expected by early 2027.
