The new feature will allow returning travellers and visitors to avoid overcrowding and long waiting lines. 

Returning travellers and visitors from all ports will now have to pre-register on the Ehteraz website before arriving in the country, authorities have announced.

Upon submitting all the documents, the website will show the status of the application and will either give the green light for travellers to safely land in the country or inform the applicant if any other procedures are required.

All travellers through air, land or sea border to Qatar are obligated to apply between 12 to 72 hours before their arrival time, authorities added.

https://twitter.com/GCOQatar/status/1414624115458252817

“To facilitate entry into the State of #Qatar, from today all travellers will be required to pre-register via the Qatar arrivals registration platform,” Qatar’s Government Communications Office [GCO] said on Twitter.

The ‘Pre-Registration’ feature aims to expedite entry procedures into the country while also ensuring the safety and well-being of the community by documenting health and vaccination data prior to arrival.

Travellers will need to create an account and enter health information that includes negative PCR test results and hotel quarantine reservations for unvaccinated individuals.

The service also determines whether the traveller is required to quarantine or is exempted prior to landing.

Citizens and residents must provide their Qatari ID number, while GCC citizens must provide their passport number. Visitors wishing to explore Qatar must also provide their passport number and visa number through the platform.

All users must provide the type of Covid-19 vaccine they have received and the date of the last dose, in addition to the date of the last infection for those who recovered previously from the virus.

Opening borders

Last week, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior [MOI] announced family and visitor visas will be reinstated from 12 July after a long wait due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The latest move is part of an updated travel policy by Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health [MOPH] which outlines details for quarantine regulations for travellers based on countries they are coming from, all of which fall under three categories: green, yellow and red.

Per the latest policies, fully vaccinated citizens and residents [QID holder] are exempted from quarantining, only if 14 days have passed since the completion of their required Covid-19 doses. These must be one of the vaccines approved by Qatar’s MOPH.

The same exemption applies to citizens and residents who have recovered from a previous Covid-19 infection in Qatar over the past 12 months, only if they were asymptomatic and their PCR result is negative.

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Children aged 0-17 will follow the same policies as their parents, while unvaccinated minors aged 0-17 are subject to home quarantine for seven days, according to an updated amendment from the MOPH on Friday.

Both vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers are required to present a negative PCR test that is valid within 72 hours prior to their arrival from approved health centres from the countries they are coming from.

As for visitors who do not hold the QID, entry without quarantining is restricted to those who have recovered or are fully vaccinated with vaccines approved by Qatar’s MOPH.

This also applies to GCC citizens, though the validity of the quarantine exemption for those who are vaccinated is 12 months starting from the 14th day since the completion of their vaccination.

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All non-QID holders will also be subject to a PCR test on arrival and exempted from quarantine if antibodies are found. If the exemption requirements are non applicable, they must quarantine based on the classification of the country of departure.

Read also: These 45 health centres are approved for rapid Covid-19 tests