Kuwait opens tourist visa-on-arrival to all GCC residents

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Kuwait has lifted its long-standing restrictions on tourist visas for foreigners living in other Gulf states.

Under a ministerial decision issued Sunday by First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah, any foreign national holding a valid Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) residency for at least six months can now receive a tourist visa upon arrival. The new regulations, published in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm, took immediate effect.

The decision repeals a 2008 rule that limited visa-on-arrival eligibility to specific professions such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, judges, university professors, and business executives, while also barring entry to those with travel documents other than passports. Previously, foreign residents in GCC states who did not meet these criteria — including service workers and their families — were excluded from obtaining a tourist visa at the border.

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With the change, foreign residents across the GCC meeting the six-month residency requirement can now travel more easily to Kuwait for tourism purposes.