The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and EU Council President, Charles Michel, recently met in Rome to discuss schemes that can be applied to Kuwaiti citizens seeking Schengen visas.
According to SchengenVisaInfo.com reports, Al Sabah expressed his country’s interest in improving cooperation in different fields while at the same time keeping the focus on travel to the bloc, reiterating calls by authorities in Kuwait to have the EU facilitate complex procedures for Schengen visa issuing rules to all its citizens.
Read: Schengen visa guide for UAE residents
The Minister also called on the Schengen counties to increase the number of available appointment slots and accelerate the processing time and issue Schengen visas with longer validity so Kuwaiti nationals avoid needing to follow the procedures every six months or every year when planning to reach the bloc.
Currently, only UAE nationals are exempted from needing a Schengen visa for short trips.
GCC’s own version of the Schengen
GCC countries recently announced they were contemplating launching a unified tourist visa system, similar to Schengen.
The move is expected to boost economic growth in the region, according to Bahrain’s Minister of Tourism, Fatima al-Sairafi.
Adopting a single visa system will drive travelers to visit several countries in the region during their tourism journeys.
The entire Gulf region will benefit from having umbrella regulations, policies, and procedures to facilitate growth, according to the UAE’s Undersecretary for the Ministry of Economy, Abdullah al-Saleh.
The GCC countries hope to provide a good experience for visitors, allowing them to visit several countries without restrictions.
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