'Schengen-style' visa for GCC countries likely by mid-2016

ISLAMABAD: A unified visa for the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) may be available from the middle of next year.

The GCC General Secretariat is working on the ambitious proposal to introduce the visa that will allow foreigners to visit all GCC states more or less similar to Europe and Schengen visa, Arab News reported on Sunday.

The unified GCC visa could soon become a reality following the meeting of the GCC tourism ministers in Oman last week said a GCC official. He confirmed that tourism officials discussed a range of topics, including the long awaited unified visa proposal and a unified tourism policy at the meeting.

All GCC countries stand to gain from the new tourism policy said Khalid bin Salem Al Ghassani, GCC Assistant Secretary General for Cultural and Media Affairs. Al Ghassani said a draft project submitted by the UAE on regulating and promoting the tourism industry sector was also discussed by the officials.—Published in The News