Tourism Breaking News
Possibilities of granting nationals from Kuwait visa-free access to the Schengen Zone have been discussed during official talks held between Kuwait’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Both countries’ authorities also discussed new opportunities that would further enhance their collaborative relations, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports. Italian Foreign Minister reiterated Italy’s support for the abolishment of Schengen visa requirements for citizens of Kuwait, emphasizing Rome’s ongoing efforts on the matter in the European Union and European Parliament.
At the same time, Sheikh Salem Abdullah affirmed keenness regarding boosting the friendly relationship between both states. Kuwait’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has intensified the efforts so citizens of the Asian country can travel without additional requirements such as visas to the Schengen Area. Sheikh Salem Al-Jaber Al-Sabah recently held talks with Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, during the Kuwait delegation’s official visit to Hungary’s capital. Among the main topics discussed in the meeting was the exemption of Kuwaiti citizens from visa requirements and also rallying European support for such a move. Last month, authorities in Kuwait also called on the European Union to abolish visa requirements for their citizens in a bid to facilitate the travel process, especially during the peak summer season. The request came in a meeting that Kuwait’s Minister of Foreign Affairs held with European Union ambassadors, during which he stressed that the country should no longer be subject to Schengen visa requirements.
“The minister, during the luncheon held at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, called upon the diplomats to act to ease off difficulties facing the Kuwaiti nationals seeking the Schengen visa, facilitate procedures to apply for the visa, set more dates and speed up paperwork,” the statement of the Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted. On April 27 last year, the Commission proposed to abolish visa requirements for nationals of Kuwait and Qatar.
The proposal among others noted that nationals of Kuwaiti holding biometric passports would not be required to apply for a visa when travelling to EU states for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, for tourism, business or family purposes, however, nationals of Kuwait are still subject to visa requirements.
At present, holders of Kuwaiti passports are obliged to apply for a visa in order to reach the EU’s borderless area. Nonetheless, there are some exemptions applied in this regard for nationals of Kuwait living in Schengen Zone countries and those from states that have established visa-free regimes with the EU, among others.
