Manama: Bahrain has announced the introduction of a new single entry visa and one-year multiple re-entry e-visa in the fourth phase of a new visa policy to o keep the Kingdom a competitive destination in the region.
The new single entry visa allows its holder to stay up to two weeks in the kingdom while the one-year re-entry visa allows for a 90-day stay.
Nationals from 114 countries and foreigners living in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) residents are eligible for the new visas.
The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Nationality, Passports & Residence Affairs (NPRA), the authority responsible for managing the entry of people to Bahrain, also announced a change to the three month multiple re-entry visa, increasing the maximum stay from two weeks to one month.
The authority said citizens of the US, Canada, UK and Ireland can now stay up to 90 days, instead of 30, under their five-year multiple re-entry visa.
Last year, 315,943 people from the UK and Ireland, 256,439 from the USA and 79,127 from Canada arrived in Bahrain.
“This new round of visa announcements represents another step for Bahrain’s commitment to openness,” Interior Ministry’s Undersecretary of Nationality, Passport and Residence Affairs (NPRA), Shaikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, said. “We have taken great strides in recent years in making the country even more accessible, helping both leisure and business tourists. These developments further aid Bahrain’s standing as a regional hub, which is why so many tourists and businesses are looking to the country as the ideal Middle East destination.”
