Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al-Khalifa Assistant Undersecretary for Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs, second from left, Shaikh Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Director Visas and Residence, left, and Shawqi Mohammed Al Subaie, Directors of Ports Entry addressing a Press conference held on Sunday at the Police Officers Club Gudaibiya
MANAMA: The Kingdom of Bahrain on Sunday said that it was introducing long term visit visas as part of a strategy to attract more tourists and businesses. The revised visa rules allowing for longer term stays from two weeks to three months which according to official will impact positively on the tourism and business sectors of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al-Khalifa Assistant Undersecretary for Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs, addressing a Press conference held on Sunday at the Police Officers Club Gudaibiya termed the initiative a major step towards facilitating the tourism and business sectors and said the Immigration would continue to fine tune and even bring the new changes to further relax the existing visa rules in line with the directives of the Cabinet.
Shaikh Ahmed was also joined by Shaikh Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Director Visas and Residence and Shawqi Mohammed Al Subaie, Directors of Ports Entry, said that the revised longer period visas can be had by the citizens of 114 countries and the GCC residents. While, he added, the visit visas with five-year validity is available for designated countries only.
The new visa facilities include two weeks stay, one year multiple entry re-entry visa and longer stay on the same visa. “Sunday’s announcement on visa ease was the fourth initiative since the launch in October 2014 and this process of bringing more refined visa rules will be a continuous process,” Shaikh Ahmed said, adding that the Immigration authorities continuously monitor the visa services in addition to the feedback of the end users.
Highlighting the importance of the longer terms visas Shaikh Ahmed said that the step of the Ministry of Interior was giant step forward to offer the best and competitive visitor visas services. “We have the option to keep the visas fees on higher side but instead the Kingdom of Bahrain has reduced the fees with the aim to attract more visitors and tourists,” Shaikh Ahmed said.
Shaikh Ahmed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Director Visas and Residence, said the ease of visa was a part of a strategy to keep the Kingdom of a competitive destination in the region.
