Bahrain lowers visa barriers for African visitors

The new phase allows nationals from Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Cameroon, Gabon, Senegal, Mauritius and Seychelles to obtain their visas online ahead of travel, via the government’s eVisa website.

The new visa policy was introduced in October 2014 and allowed nationals from over 100 countries to obtain a visa either online ahead of travel, via Bahrain’s government eVisa website, or upon arrival. In April 2015, a second phase was introduced enabling both business visitors and tourists to spend longer periods of time in the Kingdom. The new policy dictates that business visas are multi-entry and valid for up to a month, while visitor visas are valid for three months and are also multi-entry.

GCC residents of any nationality are eligible to receive multi-entry visas on arrival or online making it easier for expatriates living in the region to travel to Bahrain.

Nationals from countries that are not included in the countries eligible for eVisas or visas on arrival, however, can still apply for eVisas if they have a visit visa for any other GCC country.

Commenting on the new phase, Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al Khalifa, assistant undersecretary for the general directorate of nationality, passports and residence affairs at Bahrain’s ministry of interior, said: “The addition of the African countries to Bahrain’s progressive visa policy is a significant step forward to providing easier access into Bahrain for all visitors.”

In 2015, over 190,000 visitors from the 11 African countries visited the Kingdom, an increase of 16 per cent from 2014.

The new policy is also being accompanied by improvements to the individual screening process, ensuring faster and more effective processing of applications.