Qatar opens up to fully-vaccinated residents and visitors, including Indians (from July 12, 2021)

After yet another wave of the CoronaVirus, countries have started to open up again to international visitors. Qatar has become one of the latest to announce a round of opening from July 12, 2021 onwards. This would mean that the Qatar tourist visa for Indian visitors is now going to be available again.

Qatar Opens up from July 12 to fully vaccinated residents and visitors

The Ministry of Public Health of Qatar, has on July 8, 2021, announced that it has been decided to implement new procedures to ensure the continued facilitation of the entry process into the State of Qatar through its air, land and sea ports for travellers who have completed vaccination against the Corona virus (Covid-19) with vaccines approved by the Ministry of Public Health in the State of Qatar, as of the date of July 12, 2021.

A new package of precautionary measures and measures will be applied to citizens, residents and visitors, which were developed with the aim of making the travel experience easy and safe while preserving public health in the country and the measures previously taken to limit the spread of the Corona virus (Covid-19).
a city skyline with tall buildings and a body of water

Passengers coming to the State of Qatar from all ports will also have to pre-register on the “Ehteraz” website, and attach all the required documents before arriving in the State of Qatar for a period of no less than 12 hours.
Citizens, residents and visitors who have completed vaccination with vaccines approved by the Ministry of Public Health in the State of Qatar when traveling to the State of Qatar, will need to conduct an RT-PCR test at a health centre approved by the Ministry of Health in the country from which they are coming. The certificate shall be valid for 72 hours upon their arrival in the State of Qatar. Note that this procedure applies to all citizens and residents who are not vaccinated.

The validity of the vaccine to grant quarantine exemption is 12 months, starting (14) days after the second dose. This immunity period could be extended based on new and emerging data. The Ministry of Public Health issued its approval for the following vaccinations:

  1. Pfizer BioNTech
  2. Moderna
  3. Astrazeneca
  4. Covishield (Astrazeneca)
  5. Janssen/Johnson & Johnson
  6. Sinopharm

​​​Travelers must present an official vaccination certificate or card that includes the following information:​​

  1. Name of the recipient as mentioned in their official documents;
  2. Date of Birth
  3. Date of dose receipt depending on the type of vaccine;
  4. Type of vaccine;
  5. Vaccine Lot number (preferable); and
  6. ​Official logo and stamp of the vaccination authority.

The new procedures also included classification lists for countries of arrival (green, yellow, red) and a quarantine policy for each classification applied to travellers coming to the State of Qatar. India is classified in the Red list for now.

Rules for Family Visitors, Business, Leisure, including GCC citizens who are non-QID holder/non-residents of Qatar (Including Indians):  

​Entry is restricted to vaccinated, and/or recovered individuals for now, which means you do not have the option to go to Qatar and quarantine before being able to freely move around Qatar. Fully vaccinated individuals are:

  • Exempted from quarantine if you are fully vaccinated with an MOPH recognized vaccine and at least (14) days have passed after receiving the second dose of a two-dose series vaccine or from the single dose in case of single-dose regime vaccine.
  • Children 0-11 years old will follow the same entry regime of their parents. If the latter are vaccinated, the children will be considered as vaccinated.
  • Unvaccinated Children 12-17​ years old will be required to do quarantine as for the procedure assigned to the country of departure. In case of hotel quarantine, they will be accompanied by one parent, even if the latter is vaccinated.
  • It is mandatory for travelers to install and activate Ehteraz app on their mobile phone using locally authorized SIM cards that can be obtained from one of the local providers (Ooredoo or Vodafone).

Here is a table the Indian Embassy in Doha put out for ready reference.

qatar tourist visa for indian

Bottomline

Qatar is open to fully-vaccinated visitors from July 12, 2021, and also residents and citizens of Qatar can return with the provision to quarantine here on. For Indians, they are still in the red-list, but visitors are welcome in Qatar, as long as they are fully-vaccinated and are able to make a number of RT-PCR tests to prove their non-infection.

Are you up for any plans to travel to Qatar now that they are opening up again?


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qatar tourist visa for indian

qatar tourist visa for indian

About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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Comments

  1. I got visit visa for me and my child age 20 months,can i have entry in to qatar ? I took both dose of vaccine in india but my child dosnt got vaccine …..plz tell me can they allow both or they deborete us

  2. Hi
    I took two dose sinopharm vaccine. And i saw that it is approved bu qatar govt but conditions apply. Can you please advise wat are the conditions ?

  3. what about visa on arrival, Indian – fully vaccinated with Covishield (more than 15 days since 2nd dose). How do travel to Qatar? Visa is the issue. is their a way to get Visa from India OR can it be availed on Arrival OR are Indians who are fully vaccinated with both doses of Covishield with the 14 day period also over are exempt from ANY VISA requirement. Please guide.

  4. I am an Indian vaccinated with both the doses. Can I travel to Qatar and do I require quarantine.

  5. Can an Indian travel to qatar , stay for 14 days and then fly to USA ? Would that be allowed under current US travel restrictions for Indian citizens, we are fully vaccinated covidshield

    • Yes, quarantine in third country for 14 days then travel to US is allowed even for non-immigrant visa holders. But the country should not be on banned list of US.

      But this thing cannot be done through Nepal. As it requires Indian Embassy authorization letter to travel another country for Indian passport holders.

      Rest other countries like Qatar, Russia, Egypt, Maldives, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, you can do quarantine & then travel to US.

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