• Bahrain furious over exclusion from UK visa waiver - Culture & Society - ArabianBusiness.com
    http://www.arabianbusiness.com/bahrain-furious-over-exclusion-from-uk-visa-waiver-560982.html

    Bahrain has said it will fight a UK decision not to include it in a list of Gulf states whose citizens no longer require a visitor’s visa, Gulf Daily News has reported.
    The kingdom is furious passport holders from neighbouring states the UAE, Oman and Qatar no longer require a visa for a stay of up to six months, if they have completed an electronic visa waiver (EVW) form.
    Bahraini diplomats and holders of “special passports”, such as judges and government officials, are eligible for the EVW but average citizens are not.
    Shura Council chairman Ali Saleh Al Saleh said it was “incomprehensible” that citizens of other GCC states were eligible for visa-free travel while Bahrainis were not.

    According to figures compiled by the UK’s Office of National Statistics as part of its annual International Passenger Survey, Bahrain residents visited the UK an estimated 30,000 times last year spending £2,094 ($3510) per visit on average, GDN said.
    Meanwhile, residents of Qatar visited 61,000 times spending £2,930 per visit on average and UAE residents visited 262,000 times spending £2,008 per visit.
    About 18,000 visits by Omani residents were recorded, with an average spend per visit of £4,905.