Qatar re-opens for fully vaccinated international travellers

Amid travel restrictions on account of the coronavirus, the peninsular country of Qatar has reopened its borders for those international travellers who are fully vaccinated as long as it’s a vaccine from their Ministry of Public Health’s approved list and has been taken 14 days prior to travelling.

The new travel measures for the country state that tourists and travellers making their way to Qatar do not have to quarantine on arrival if they are fully vaccinated but they do need to have a negative RT-PCR test from not more than 72 hours before travel. This has eased travel not only for international passengers but also Qatar residents and locals.

The vaccines which are approved include-, Covishield by Oxford-Astrazeneca, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm, Comirnaty by Pfizer BioNTech (mRNA vaccine), Spikevax by ModernaTX, Inc., Vaxzevra.

According to a statement by Qatar Tourism, “Travellers have to apply for the authorization through the ‘Ehteraz’ website (free of charge), at least 12 hours before their planned departure to Qatar. All in-bound travellers are advised to submit their application as soon as they have all their required documentation, to ensure they can board their flights as planned. Airlines are advised to only let passengers board who have a valid travel authorisation for Qatar from the above effective date.”

All those travelling to Qatar need to register and complete their documentation including vaccination certificate, valid RT-PCR and other personal details on the ‘Ehteraz’ website (www.ehteraz.gov.qa). More details can also be found on the website of the Ministry of Public Health.

Around 80 nationalities can visit Qatar with a free ‘visa on arrival’. Indian citizens are also included in this list, the Qatar Airways website states, “Citizens of India can be granted a visa waiver for a period of 30 days on their arrival in the State of Qatar, given the following conditions: The passenger’s passport must be valid for at least 6 months. The passenger must have a confirmed return ticket. Passengers should provide a confirmed hotel reservation. “It is advised to apply for their travel authorisation on the ‘Ehteraz’ website once the visitor visa is obtained.