Why is this important
Expanding the visa-free regime with rich Arab countries opens up access to investments, tourists, and business partners from the region. The extension of the period for Chinese citizens to 30 days stimulates tourism and business activity of the largest trading partner. Accelerating the processing of business visas facilitates the entry of investors and specialists.
What happened
- A 30-day visa-free regime has been introduced for citizens of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan;
- For Chinese citizens, the visa-free stay period has been extended from 7 to 30 days;
- Business visas for 12 countries are issued in 2 working days;
- For the UAE, Iran, and Pakistan — 3 days (for Iran and Pakistan — up to 10 days with additional checks);
- The resolution was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers on October 21.
Accelerated business visa processing
For 2 working days:
- Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Japan.
For 3 working days:
- UAE, Iran, Pakistan (up to 10 days if additional inspections are required for Iran and Pakistan).
Context
Uzbekistan is actively liberalizing visa policy to attract investors and tourists. The Gulf countries are major investors in the region’s infrastructure, real estate, and energy. The abolition of visas simplifies business trips and tourism from wealthy Arab countries.
Extending the visa-free stay for Chinese citizens to 30 days is crucial: China is Uzbekistan’s largest trading partner and a source of tourists. Previously, 7 days were insufficient for tourist tours and business trips.
Accelerating the processing of business visas for European countries, Japan, and Malaysia facilitates the entry of investors and specialists under conditions where Uzbekistan is attracting tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure and industrial projects.
For Hong Kong citizens, the rules remain unchanged — they already had a visa-free regime for 30 days.
