VISA PROCESSING SERVICES
Visa Processing Services for Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Maritime Visas prepares and submits visa applications for the Kingdom of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the wider GCC. We work for shipowners, ship agents, crewing managers, employers and individual travellers. We are not an immigration authority and we do not issue visas. We compile the file, submit it through the official channel, and follow it until a decision is issued.
What are visa processing services, and what does Maritime Visas actually do?
Visa processing is the work of assembling an application to the standard an immigration authority expects, submitting it through that authority’s official channel, and managing it until a decision comes back. It is administration, not influence. No private company decides a visa application.
Our work sits either side of the authority’s decision. Before submission we check eligibility, build the document set, verify the sponsor or guarantor position, and tell you if the case is weak. After submission we track it, answer queries, handle the payment stages, and explain what a refusal means and what the realistic options are.
The Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) publishes this on its own portal, and we agree with it: “No website/company operates on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.” (NPRA, evisa.gov.bh, accessed 28 August 2026.) We act for you, the applicant or the employer. We never act for a government and never claim to.
What we handle across every market:
- Visa eligibility assessment before you commit money or a joining date
- Document collection, checking, translation coordination and attestation coordination
- Sponsor, guarantor and agent coordination inside the destination country
- Submission through the correct official channel for that country
- Payment stage management, including multi-stage payment sequences
- Application tracking and daily follow-up until a decision is issued
- Refusal analysis and next-step advice
- Crew handling, transport, hotel and meet-and-greet around the visa itself, so a crew change does not stall on ground logistics
Which countries and visa types do we process?
We work at operational depth in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and we assist with the wider GCC and a defined list of other destinations. The table below is the scope, not a menu of promises. Availability of any category depends on your nationality, your sponsor, and the authority’s current rules on the day you apply.
Which Bahrain visit visa classes are available?
Bahrain visit visas are issued in several validity and entry classes, and the class you qualify for depends on your nationality and the purpose of travel. NPRA sets the class list, the fees and the durations, and it publishes a separate list of nationalities eligible to apply online and a list eligible for a visa on arrival (S4).
| Class | Entries | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Short-stay visit visa | Single entry | One-off visit, single business meeting, one crew join |
| Short-stay visit visa | Multiple entry | Repeat short visits inside the validity period |
| One-month visit visa | Multiple entry | Extended business trip, project mobilisation |
| Three-month visit visa | Multiple entry | Rotational work patterns, recurring commercial travel |
| One-year visit visa | Multiple entry | Frequent business travelers, regional managers |
Validity is not the same as permitted stay. A one-year multiple-entry visa does not permit a one-year continuous stay, and the maximum stay per entry is set by NPRA, not by us. We confirm both figures for your nationality before you book travel.
How does Saudi visa processing work for crew and business travellers?
Saudi applications route through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa platform at visa.mofa.gov.sa, which separates visitor services from business and entity services (S5). Almost every commercial or maritime case is a business-and-entity case, which means it starts with a Saudi sponsor, not with the traveller.
The practical consequence is that a Saudi business visit visa is not something a traveller applies for alone. A Saudi entity has to raise the invitation on its side before anything can be submitted from ours. Where you already have a Saudi sponsor, we work with them. Where the sponsor is your agent at the port, we coordinate directly with them.
The Saudi categories we prepare:
| Category | Typical applicant | Sponsor required |
|---|---|---|
| Business visit visa, seafarer route | Crew joining or leaving a vessel at a Saudi port | Yes, the Saudi agent or principal |
| Business visit visa, non-seafarer route | Engineers, surveyors, superintendents, commercial visitors | Yes, the Saudi host entity |
| Work visa and Iqama coordination | Employees taking up a Saudi position | Yes, the employing entity, via its Qiwa and Absher records |
| Family visit visa | Dependants of a Saudi resident | Yes, the resident sponsor |
| Tourist visa | Individual leisure travel | No sponsor, subject to eligibility |
| Umrah visa | Pilgrims | Per the current MOFA route |
Saudi cases are run from our Bahrain office in coordination with your sponsor inside the Kingdom.
What makes Saudi crew visas different from an ordinary business visa?
A crew case is a scheduling problem attached to a visa problem. The vessel has an ETA, the sign-off crew have flights, and the sign-on crew are travelling from a source country with its own documentation constraints. The visa is one input into a date that is fixed by the vessel.
So we treat crew lists as batches, not as individual applications. A mixed-nationality crew list gets checked as one set, the documentation gaps get raised in one message rather than fifteen, and we tell you which crew members are the timeline risk before you book anyone’s flights.
What UAE and wider GCC visas do we handle?
UAE cases are handled from our Dubai office at Business Bay. We prepare visit, business visit, family visit, transit and crew entry categories, working through the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) and, for Dubai-issued categories, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai.
For Qatar, Oman and Kuwait we assist on visit and business visit categories.
Which other countries do we assist with?
Beyond the GCC we assist with visit visa applications for the destinations below. We are candid about the difference: in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE we know the process at the level of who signs what. Elsewhere we assist with document preparation and submission and we work to the published requirements of that country’s mission.
What documents do you need to start a visa application?
The exact set depends on the country, the category and your nationality. This is the baseline we open a file on. Anything missing at this stage delays submission, and submission is the only part of the timeline we control.
Every application:
- Passport bio-data page, color scan, clearly legible in full
- Passport valid well beyond the intended travel date. Most GCC authorities require a minimum remaining validity, commonly six months, and a passport inside that window is one of the most frequent avoidable refusals we see
Recent photograph to the destination authority’s specification. Background color, dimensions and headroom are all specified and are all reasons applications get returned - Confirmed or intended travel dates
- Contact details and, for crew, the joining port and vessel
Business and sponsored applications add:
- Invitation or sponsor undertaking from the host entity, signed by someone with authority to sign for that entity
- Host entity’s commercial registration or trade license copy
- Letter from your employer confirming position and purpose of travel
Crew and seafarer applications add:
- Seafarer’s identity document or Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC)
- Letter of appointment or employment contract
- Vessel details, agent details, and the joining or repatriation port
- STCW certification where the category requires it
- Flight itinerary or planned routing
Family visit applications add:
- Proof of relationship, attested as the destination authority requires
- Sponsor’s residence permit and, where required, salary or accommodation evidence
We send a written checklist specific to your case when we open the file. Not a generic list.
Why do visa applications get rejected, and how do we reduce that risk?
Most refusals we see are administrative rather than substantive. The applicant was eligible; the file was not.
| Cause | What actually happens | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Passport validity too short | Application refused or the visa issued for a shortened period | Checked at file-opening, before any fee is paid |
| Name mismatch across documents | Passport spelling differs from the CDC, the contract or the invitation letter. The authority cannot reconcile them | We compare every document against the passport, character by character, and resolve mismatches before submission |
| Photograph off-specification | Application returned for correction, losing days | Checked against the destination authority’s published specification |
| Sponsor letter signed without authority | Rejected at the sponsor-verification stage | We check the signatory against the entity’s registration before submission |
| Wrong category applied for | Refusal, and in some cases a record that makes a re-application harder | Eligibility is assessed first, so the category is right the first time |
| Documents submitted out of sequence | Application stalls in a queue nobody is watching | We track the reference number daily |
| Second payment not cleared after approval | An approved application never becomes a visa (Bahrain, per S2) | We monitor for the approval email and clear the stage the same working day |
We do not promise approvals. Approval is the authority’s decision and nobody outside that authority can commit to it. What we commit to is that the file goes in complete, in the right category, through the right channel, and that if we think a case is unlikely to succeed we tell you before you spend money on it.
What do we do, and what does the authority do?
| Stage | Maritime Visas | The issuing authority |
|---|---|---|
| Assessing whether a case is likely to succeed | We review and advise before you commit | — |
| Compiling and checking documents | We do this, against the current requirement | — |
| Sponsor and guarantor coordination | We obtain and verify the undertaking | — |
| Lodging the application | We submit through the official channel | Receives and registers it |
| Setting fees | — | Sets them, and changes them without notice |
| Setting processing times | — | Sets them. We report them; we do not control them |
| Deciding the application | — | Approves, queries or refuses. This decision is theirs alone |
| Granting entry at the border | — | The immigration officer decides at the port of entry. NPRA states plainly that holding a visa does not guarantee entry (S1) |
| Following up on a pending case | We do this daily until a decision issues | Issues the query or the outcome |
| Explaining a refusal and advising next steps | We do this | Records the refusal |
What does visa processing cost?
There are two separate costs and it is worth keeping them apart.
Government fees are set by the destination authority, are payable to that authority, and change without notice. We pass them through at cost and show them separately on every invoice. Where an application fee is non-refundable if the application is not approved, we tell you before you pay. NPRA states this explicitly for Bahrain: an unapproved application does not get its processing fee back (S1).
Our service fee is quoted per case, before we start. Five things move it:
- Nationality. Some passports need additional attestations, prior approvals or embassy routing, and that is more work.
- Category. A sponsored business visa with a guarantor undertaking takes more coordination than a straightforward online visit visa.
- Urgency. A file that has to be complete today costs more to run than one with two weeks of runway.
- Sponsor coordination. Where we have to obtain and chase an undertaking from a third-party entity, that is a separate workstream.
- Volume. Crew lists are quoted as batches, not per head at the single-application rate.
We do not publish a price list, because a published figure that does not match your case is not useful to either of us. Send us the case and you get a written quotation with the government fee and the service fee shown separately.
Who will handle your case?
Cases are handled by named people in the office that owns the jurisdiction, not by a shared inbox.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia — [PENDING: full name] Prashant, [PENDING: job title] [PENDING: 2–3 sentences. Years working on Bahrain visa and labour documentation, which authorities they deal with directly, languages spoken, any professional membership or qualification.] Direct: +973 3505 7701 · Prashant@atomiqgroup.com · [PENDING: LinkedIn URL]
United Arab Emirates — [PENDING: full name] Rajnish, [PENDING: job title] [PENDING: 2–3 sentences. Years in UAE and crew mobility work, which authorities and ports they deal with directly, languages spoken, any professional membership or qualification.] Direct: +971 52 943 5973 · Rajnish@atomiqgroup.com · [PENDING: LinkedIn URL]
[Image 3 — alt text: “(PENDING name), (PENDING title) at Maritime Visas Bahrain, who prepares NPRA and LMRA submissions”]
Which company am I contracting with?
Maritime Visas is the maritime visa and crew mobility brand of Atomiq Consulting W.L.L, a company registered in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and part of Atomiq Group, whose head office is in Business Bay, Dubai. The Bahrain and UAE companies are separate legal entities and your contract sits with the one that matches your market.
Bahrain Shop No. 11, BLDG No. 1022, Road 1267, Block 106, Damistan, Ash Shamaliyah, Kingdom of Bahrain Telephone: +973 3505 7701 · +973 3410 3069 Legal entity: Atomiq Consulting W.L.L · Commercial Registration No. [PENDING: CR number]
Dubai #903 Regal Tower, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Telephone: +971 52 943 5973 Legal entity: [PENDING: exact registered legal name, UAE] · Licence No. [PENDING: trade licence number]
Start a visa application
Send us the passport copy, or the crew list, and the date the traveler has to be there. We will come back with what the file needs, what is realistic on that timeline, and a written quotation with the government fee and our service fee shown separately.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia: +973 3505 7701 · UAE: +971 52 943 5973
Contact our Bahrain and Dubai offices
Frequently asked questions
Is Maritime Visas a government office or an authorized government agent?
Neither. We are a private visa and documentation service provider. Visas are issued only by the relevant government authority. NPRA states on its own portal that no website or company operates on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and that is correct. We prepare, submit and follow up applications on behalf of applicants and employers. We hold no decision-making power.
Can you guarantee my visa will be approved?
No, and nobody honestly can. Approval is the authority’s decision. We prepare the application to the standard that authority expects and we tell you in advance if we think the case is weak. NPRA also notes that holding a visa does not itself guarantee entry to Bahrain; entry conditions are assessed at the port.
How long does visa processing take?
Processing times are set by the authority, not by us, and they vary by country, category and nationality. What we control is the submission side: most complete files are submitted the same working day we receive them. We quote the current published position for your specific case when we open the file, rather than a general figure that would be out of date by the time you read it.
Why is there a second payment on a Bahrain visa?
Because that is how NPRA’s eVisa process works. A first fee is paid at submission, NPRA assesses the application, and a second payment is taken after approval before the visa issues. An approved application that has not cleared the second payment is not yet a visa. We monitor for the approval notification and clear that stage the same working day.
Do I need a sponsor or guarantor?
It depends on the country and the category. Saudi business visit visas start with a Saudi sponsor raising the invitation. Bahrain allows registered guarantors, meaning companies and government entities inside Bahrain can apply for visitors and business clients. Straightforward tourist visas generally do not need one. We confirm which applies before you commit to a date.
Can you handle a whole crew list at once?
Yes, and that is most of what we do. Mixed-nationality crew lists are checked as one batch. You get one message identifying the documentation gaps and the crew members who are the timeline risk, rather than an email per seafarer.
What happens if my application is refused?
We tell you the same working day we learn of it, explain the stated ground where the authority gives one, and set out the realistic options: correct and resubmit, apply under a different category, or stop. Where a refusal makes a future application harder, we say so before you resubmit. Application fees paid to an authority are generally not refunded on refusal.
Do you work with individuals, or only with companies?
Both. Most of our volume is shipowners, ship agents and crewing managers moving crew, but we handle individual visit and business visa applications as well.
Which nationalities can you process?
We work with travelers of any nationality, though requirements differ substantially between them. Some nationalities need additional attestations, prior approvals or embassy routing, and some categories are not available at all. NPRA publishes separate lists of nationalities eligible to apply online and eligible for a visa on arrival, and we check yours against the current list before quoting a timeline.
Do you also arrange transport, hotels and airport meet-and-greet?
Yes. A crew change stalls just as easily on ground logistics as on paperwork, so we arrange transportation, hotel and accommodation, meet and greet at the airport or port gate, and document courier alongside the visa itself.
Can you extend or cancel a Bahrain visa?
We coordinate extensions and cancellations, which run through bahrain.bh rather than through the eVisa application portal. Eligibility for an extension is decided by the authority.
How do I get a quotation?
Send the passport copy or crew list, the destination, and the date. You get a written quotation showing the government fee and our service fee separately, along with the document checklist for your specific case.
