Kuwait has issued a ministerial decision allowing foreign nationals residing in any Gulf Cooperation Council country to obtain a tourist visa upon arrival, Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al‑Yousef announced. The decision appears in the official gazette Kuwait Al‑Youm and takes effect immediately.
Under this new rule, eligible applicants must hold a residency permit in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, or Bahrain that remains valid for at least six months. The tourist visa will be issued at the port of entry, including airports and land border crossings.
The new measure replaces a 2008 regulation that limited visa‑on‑arrival eligibility to residents in certain professional categories such as doctors, engineers, university professors, and business executives. Under the previous rule, many expatriates, including service workers and their families, were excluded.
Officials expect the policy change to boost short-stay travel from neighbouring Gulf countries and ease mobility for an expatriate population that numbers in the millions. The visa will permit stays of up to 90 days.
This move aligns with broader regional trends towards easing inter‑GCC travel. The Gulf is also preparing to introduce a unified tourist visa, similar to Europe’s Schengen system, to allow travel across all member states on a single permit, expected by late 2025.
