I Got Qatar Visa on Arrival in 3 Minutes. Here is How You Can.

I have applied for countless tourist visas so far, and am very much in the loop about a lot many others as the founder of this site. Turkey visitor visa, Thailand visa on arrival, Srilanka eVisa- really I have lost the count.

But never in my life have I gone through a visa application that went as smoothly as the Qatar Visa on Arrival.

From time to time, I come across questions on Doha Visa on Arrival as well. Note that Doha is the capital of Qatar.

So, Qatar on Arrival Visa is the same as Doha Visa on Arrival. However, they are different from a Qatar visit visa issued by an embassy of Qatar.

In this article, I will go through the requirements for Qatar Arrival Visa, eligibility criteria, the application process, renewal, and everything else that’s relevant.

And, I will keep on updating the article as and when I come across new information.

Who Can Get Qatar Visa on Arrival?

Qatar permits visa-free entry to citizens of many countries like Argentina, Turkey, Ukraine, and all the EU countries. So if you belong to one of them, you don’t have to worry about the Qatar visit visa.

All you need to do is show up, flash your passport, and boom, 90 days visa waiver then and there.

Then there are other nationalities like me who can get the Qatar Arrival Visa.

1. Andorra
2. Australia
3. Azerbaijan
4. Belarus
5. Bolivia
6. Brazil
7. Brunei
8. Canada
9. Chile
10. China
11. Colombia
12. Costa Rica
13. Cuba
14. Ecuador
15. Falkland Islands
16. French Guiana
17. Georgia
18. Guyana
19. Hong Kong
20. India
21. Indonesia
22. Iran
23. Ireland
24. Japan
25. Kazakhstan
26. Lebanon
27. Macau
28. Macedonia
29. Maldives
30. Mauritius
31. Mexico
32. Moldova
33. Monaco
34. Montenegro
35. New Zealand
36. Pakistan
37. Panama
38. Paraguay
39. Peru
40. Russia
41. Rwanda
42. San Marino 
43. Singapore
44. South Africa 
45. South Korea 
46. Suriname
47. Thailand
48. United Kingdom
49. United States
50. Uruguay
51. Vatican City
52. Venezuela

Qatar Visa on Arrival Requirements

The Qatar Arrival Visa requirements are quite straightforward.

1. Valid Passport

Passport must be valid for at least 6 months.

2. Onward Ticket

You need to possess an onward ticket which proves that you would be leaving Qatar before the expiry date of Qatar visa on arrival. This can be a confirmed return ticket to your home country or a ticket to a third country.

There are many ways to do this, however the cheapest and easiest one probably, is to simply rent a flight ticket.

In my case, I had an onward ticket to India within the time that my visa would expire. I actually had plans to return, so I had bought it with Qatar Airways. In case you are not sure of the date of return, you can rent a ticket.

3. Hotel Booking

You need to show the hotel booking for the visa on arrival. I have seen in some blogs and websites where they mention that the hotel booking must be for the whole duration of stay, which means 30 days.

However this is simply not true.

You can do a hotel reservation for a few days for Qatar Arrival Visa. Also, there is no need to make the reservation through Discover Qatar unless you are travelling from India, Pakistan or Iran.

Discover Qatar Booking

You would need to make the hotel reservation through Discover Qatar only if you are traveling from one of the Red health Measure countries such as India, Pakistan, Iran etc.

In this case, you would need to quarantine for a day in a Discover Qatar hotel, even if you are fully vaccinated.

This also means that if you are a citizen of one of the three countries, but you were outside the country for more than 14 days, then you don’t need to do any quarantine through Discover Qatar.

You can stay wherever you want.

Coming to my case, I made a refundable reservation for one night in a hotel, since I was traveling as a tourist from Colombia after having been there for almost 3 months.

4. Vaccination for Covid, PCR

You need to be fully vaccinated for COVID which means at least two doses of any of the vaccines approved by Qatar’s ministry of public health. And your date of entry to Qatar should be at least 14 days after your last dose.

The passenger must have a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours of departure.

There are websites (even government ones) and airline websites that mention that you could also do a rapid antigen test within 6-8 hours of departure. Don’t fall for that.

The RT-PCR test is accepted everywhere, starting from Airline agents to immigration authorities and hotel receptionists. The very airline can deny you boarding even if their own website says that an antigen test is accepted.

Coming to me and my wife, we were both fully vaccinated 4 months before our departure to Qatar. And, of course, we got the RT-PCR test done a day before boarding our flights.

5. Ehteraz Registration

Every passenger entering Qatar, irrespective of their nationalities, must have received the Ehteraz Pre-travel registration. You can easily do it online by providing the required documents.

In fact, this registration itself can act as proof of your vaccination and quarantine, thereby saving you a lot of time at the immigration.

6. Travel Health Insurance

Health insurance is not part of the official requirements for Qatar Arrival Visa. However, as experienced travelers, we always recommend people have travel health insurance from a well-known provider.

For what it’s worth, we recommend SafetyWing Insurance. We have used it ourselves and it certainly is one of the best.

7. Qatar Quarantine Requirements

Qatar quarantine rules are different for visitors from different countries.

Who does not need to quarantine in Qatar?

• If you are from one of the standard health measure countries, and you are fully vaccinated.
• If you are from a Red Health measure country such as India, Pakistan or Iran, are fully vaccinated but you have been outside your home country for more than 14 days.

Who needs to quarantine in Qatar?

• If you are traveling from a Red Health measure country such as India, Pakistan, or Iran, and you are fully vaccinated.
• If you are not vaccinated, they simply won’t allow you to enter.

If you have to quarantine, in that case, a rapid antigen test is required on day 1 of the quarantine.

How to Get Qatar Visa on Arrival at Immigration?

I and my wife traveled to Qatar from Colombia with a layover in Brazil. We bought the tickets from Qatar Airways. Although the PNR code was the same, the flight from Colombia to Qatar was with LATAM.

When leaving from Colombia, LATAM airline staff simply asked us to show the Ehteraz pre-approval and the RT-PCR test results. Nothing else.

And then when boarding the flight from Brazil to Qatar on Qatar Airways, they asked for the same pre-approval and negative RT-PCR test results before issuing us the boarding pass.

We landed in Doha around 11 pm.

We were expecting it to be more or less like Dubai, where we had done a layover recently. (Jump to the Dubai tourist visa article if you are planning a trip to Dubai.).

But unlike in Dubai, there were not a lot of passengers and the airport was almost empty. After landing, we walked in the direction of the baggage claim and made it to the immigration counters.

By the way, if you are transiting in Doha, you can go to the Discover Qatar counters. They are very close to the immigration counters.

Since I had a refundable hotel booking and the Discover Qatar hotel was cheaper than my hotel, I asked at the Discover Qatar desk if they had anything available. They did not.

After this, we walked to the immigration counter. I already had the printouts of my hotel booking, bank account statements, and credit card ready to show them to the official at the immigration.

However, the only thing I really had to do was to look at the camera for an Iris scan(eye scan). This can take a bit of time if you have never done this before. You need to look straight and wait for the green light to blink.

I believe they already have access to the hotel booking and bank statements through Ehteraz pre-approval, since I had uploaded all those there. After this, the immigration official simply took the passport and stamped it.

My wife, on the other hand, was asked to show the hotel reservation proof only.

Once done, we made it out of the airport. Before leaving, we were asked to show the proof of Ehteraz pre-approval and RT-PCR test results, so as to confirm that we were not needed to quarantine.

Once outside, we caught an Uber to our hotel using the free internet at the airport.

How to Get Qatar On Arrival Visa Extension?

The Qatar Visit Visa Extension is fairly easy to get if you arrive with an on-arrival visa. The whole process is online and takes a few minutes.

While we did not do it, we talked to different expats who have done it, and here is the breakdown.

Step 1: Don’t be Late

You can extend Qatar Visit Visa any time after entering Qatar. However, you must do it before the expiry date mentioned on the stamp on your passport, which would be for 30 days.

Step 2: Visit the Portal for Ministry of Interior

Visit the portal for the MOI Qatar. There are different services provided by the Qatar government for residents and visitors.

Navigate to Inquiries > Visa Services.

Step 3: Extend Qatar Visa

Provided either the visa number which you can check from the immigration stamp from the passport or the passport number and then your nationality.

After this fill in the captcha and click on the extend button.

When you click on the extend button. The visa should be extended for 30 more days.

Step 4: Confirm the Qatar Visa Validity

On the same MOI website, naviagate to
MOI Services> Inquiries >Visa Services > Visa Inquiry and Printing.

Or if you want to jump to the Qatar visa validity check directly.

You can provide your passport number or the visa number, your nationality and the captcha. Then click on the submit button.

Click on the print icon to save or print the copy for future reference.

No renewal receipt is needed as Qatar visa on arrival extension is free. You can keep the print just for the peace of your mind.

Process for Qatar Visa On Arrival for Indians

Indians can avail Qatar on arrival visa just like the citizens of the any other countries who are eligible for getting it. You need to have all the required documents, starting from the hotel booking to return flight ticket.

Quarantine Rules in Qatar for Indian Citizens

As per the current rules, you need to quarantine if you are travelling from India to Qatar. In case you are travelling from a third country after being there for at least 14 days, you would not need to quarantine.

In my case, since I had been outside of India for a few months, I simply filled out the Ehteraz registration. And, as of 4th September 2022, Qatar has decided to get rid of quarantine requirements.