Bahrain visa and entry requirements

Everyone needs a visa - but most can buy it at the desk

• There is no visa-free entry to Bahrain except for GCC citizens. Every other passport needs a visa of some kind.
• Most Western and East Asian passports can get one on arrival, at the airport or the causeway. Bahrain publishes the list: the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, the EU and Schengen states, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Russia and India are all on it.
• Or apply online in advance at , which is faster on arrival and lets you fix a problem before you fly rather than at the border.
• Use and nothing else. Bahrain's own site states that it is the only official channel and that no company operates on behalf of the government - the reseller industry around Gulf visas is large and charges several times the fee.

What you actually get

• A visa is issued automatically for 2 weeks. That is the default and it is what most arrivals leave the desk with.
• Visit visas of up to 6 months exist but are a different application, made in advance.
• Two weeks is ample for Bahrain, which is a small island. It is not ample if you were planning to use it as a regional base.
• Extensions are handled through the Bahrain.bh government portal rather than at the airport.

The rest

• Your passport must be valid at least 6 months after arrival.
• You may be asked for evidence of onward travel and accommodation.
• Holding a visa does not guarantee entry - Bahrain states this explicitly - and a refused entry is not refunded.

The causeway is a real border

• The King Fahd Causeway runs 25 km to Saudi Arabia and is the busiest land crossing in the Gulf.
• It is a full international border. Going to Khobar for the day needs a Saudi visa, and coming back needs a fresh Bahraini visa unless you hold a multiple-entry one.
• Thursday evenings and Ramadan the queue can run for hours in the Bahrain-bound direction.