Bahrain Fort (Qal'at al-Bahrain), a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Who needs a visa for Bahrain?

Western Asia · Manama

Photo: Martin Falbisoner / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Of 198 nationalities, 5 enter Bahrain with no paperwork at all. The rest: 66 can get a visa at the border and 127 must be approved before they travel.

Typical decision
About 3 to 5 working days
Apply on the official Bahrain government site

This is the government's own portal. We are not paid to send you there.

Checked 18 October 2026 — read the fees and rules on evisa.gov.bh

What Bahrain asks for

  • Your own passport (each applicant, including dependants, applies on their own passport)

Worth knowing

  • evisa.gov.bh is the only official website for a Bahrain visa. No website or company applies on behalf of the government.
  • The processing fee is not refunded if the application is refused.
  • You pay twice: the application fee when you apply, then the visa fee once the visa is approved.

Photo requirements

We have not yet read the photo rules for Bahrain on an official page, so we print no sizes. Photo rules we have checked, and official links for the rest

Resize a photo in your browser. It is never uploaded.

What do you need?

Who needs what

Visa free 5

Nothing to apply for and nothing to pay before you travel.

eVisa (electronic visa) 126

A real visa application, made online instead of at an embassy. It is assessed, it takes days rather than minutes, and it can be refused.

Visa on arrival 66

Issued at the border rather than beforehand. Bring the fee in cash in the currency the border post accepts. It is a permission, not a guarantee.

Visa required 1

You must apply and be approved before you travel. Airlines will refuse to board you without it.

About Bahrain

Region
Western Asia
Capital
Manama
Population
1,600,366 2025 · 151st of 197
Size
765 km² 176th largest of 199
Density
2,092 per km²
Language
Arabic
Currency
Bahraini dinar BHD

Capital, area, languages and currency from the open country dataset, pulled 21 September 2026. Population from the World Bank, series updated 13 July 2026. Density is calculated from the two figures above.