Bahrainis to be granted ten-year visa when visiting the US

Reciprocal deal between two countries doubles visa duration from five years

A Bahraini reporter preparing to attend a press conference between US and Bahraini officials in Manama. AFP

Bahrainis visiting the United States will be able to obtain a ten-year multi-entry visa, after a reciprocal agreement between the two countries was announced on Sunday.

The agreement doubles the previous five-year visitor visa duration for Bahraini and US citizens, the Bahrain Foreign Ministry said.

Ten-year multi-entry visa holders to the United States can stay a maximum of 180-days per visit. No information was immediately available on the Bahraini equivalent.

The foreign ministry said the ten-year visa reflects “the power of the historical partnership” with the United States.

“The agreement will facilitate engagement between the two countries’s citizens, and serves the common interests and goal of the two people,” the ministry said.

US nationals visiting Bahrain can obtain a visa at the airport.

But Bahrain is not one of the 39 mostly Western nations whose nationals can be issued with visas upon arrival to the United States under the American government’s visa waiver programme.