Health e-passport launched for travel between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

Health e-passport launched for travel between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

The Saudi Cabinet approved the memorandum of understanding between the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence and Bahrain’s Information and e-Government Authority to activate the electronic document.

It will help verify and match traveler information across the King Fahd Causeway for citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for COVID-19 health requirements.

The health passport was introduced by the SDAIA in January last year and has since been enhanced to display a PCR result and travel insurance policy for coronavirus risks.

It also links the passport with border systems, verifying the traveler's health eligibility when issuing the boarding pass, and integrating with IATA transport systems to display travel requirements. The aim of the SDAIA is to improve the health e-passport to the point that it can be acknowledged as an official document worldwide.

Last July, Saudi Arabia’s Tawakkalna app announced the inclusion of a feature in the health e-passport to review the insurance policy data approved by the Saudi Central Bank and the Council of Health Insurance, which covers the risks of COVID-19 outside Saudi Arabia. The feature aims to facilitate travel procedures.

In November, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain signed an agreement to activate the health passport and achieve technical integration between the