Qatar announces new travel and return policy from July 12

Hamad International Airport

Qatar has issued new travel policy where vaccinated people from all countries will be exempted from quarantine. Countries are classified into three categories – green, yellow and red. Vaccinated people coming from red list will have to do repeat RT PCR on arrival. The new travel policy will come into effect from July 12, 2021.

Passengers coming to the State of Qatar from all ports will also have to pre-register on the "Ehteraz" website (WWW.EHTERAZ.GOV.QA) and attach all the required documents before arriving in the State of Qatar for a period of no less than 12 hours.

No quarantine required for Qatari citizens and residents including GCC citizens who are currently QID holder if fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine or diagnosed and recovered from COVID-19 (within 9 months) in the State of Qatar, or in other member states of the GCC provided that the latter received at least 1 dose of any of the MOPH-Qatar recognized vaccine.

List of MOPH-Qatar recognized Vaccines:
1. Comirnaty by Pfizer BioNTech (mRNA vaccine)

2. Spikevax by ModernaTX, Inc. (mRNA vaccine)

3. Vaxzevria, and Covishield by Oxford-Astrazeneca (Viral Vector vaccine)

4. Janssen/Johnson&Johnson by Janssen Pharmaceuticals Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Viral Vector vaccine)

Conditional Vaccines:

5. BBIBP-CorV/Sinopharm by Beijing Institute of Biological Products (Inactivated vaccine)

6. CoronaVac/Sinovac by Sinovac BioTech (Inactivated vaccine)

Travelers fully vaccinated with the above-specified conditional vaccines will be subject to an antibody test on arrival, if the result is positive with antibodies, exempted from quarantine; otherwise the traveler must undergo applicable quarantine based on country of departure.

Persons who have been partially vaccinated (one dose of two doses), vaccinated with full course but did not complete a period of (14) days since the 1 dose for J&J or 2nd dose for other MOPH recognized vaccines, who received vaccines not approved by MOPH-Qatar and diagnosed and recovered from COVID-19 within the last 9 months abroad (non-GCC states) will be classified into three (green, yellow and red) categories according to the country they are travelling from.

If coming from green list countries then adult including pregnant women, lactating mother and 75 years old and above will need home quarantine for 5 days.

If coming from yellow list countries, then hotel quarantine for 7 days.

If coming from red list countries, the hotel quarantine for 10 days.

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.

If fully vaccinated then family, business and leisure visitors including GCC Citizens, who are non QID holder/nonresident, don’t require quarantine.

Non vaccinated visitors are not allowed entry to Qatar.

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.

Testing and Quarantine Policy On Arrival in Qatar:

Travelers with symptoms will be tested as necessary as judged by the medical team at the ports.

Travelers who are unvaccinated, inoculated with vaccines not recognized in the State of Qatar, or who fall short of the 14 days vaccine administration period since the second dose will undergo: 

Coming from Green countries: 5 days home quarantine and a repeat RT-PCR test in PHCC on day 4, you will be discharged on day 5 if test is negative.

Coming from Yellow countries: 7 days hotel quarantine and a repeat RT-PCR test (on traveler’s expense) in the hotel on day 6, you will be discharged on day 7 if test is negative.

Coming from Red countries: 10 days hotel quarantine and a repeat PCR on arrival in the hotel, and on day 9 (on traveler’s expense), you will be discharged on day 10 if test is negative.

Vaccinated travelers coming from Red countries will undergo a repeat RT-PCR test (on traveler’s expense) on arrival in HIA/land border, if the test is positive, traveler must adhere to isolation protocol.

MOPH Updated Green, Yellow and Red List Countries Effective from July 12
Ministry of Public Health today announced the new travel and return policy. As per the new policy countries are divided into three categories and unvaccinated people coming from these countries will have to undergo quarantine.

Travelers who are unvaccinated, inoculated with vaccines not recognized in the State of Qatar, or who fall short of the 14 days vaccine administration period since the second dose will undergo: 

Coming from Green countries: 5 days home quarantine and a repeat RT-PCR test in PHCC on day 4, you will be discharged on day 5 if test is negative.

Coming from Yellow countries: 7 days hotel quarantine and a repeat RT-PCR test (on traveler’s expense) in the hotel on day 6, you will be discharged on day 7 if test is negative.

Coming from Red countries: 10 days hotel quarantine and a repeat PCR on arrival in the hotel, and on day 9 (on traveler’s expense), you will be discharged on day 10 if test is negative.

Green List

1 Australia 

2 Austria 

3 Azerbaijan

4 Brunei Darussalam 

5 Bulgaria 

6 Canada 

7 China 

8 Czechia 

9 Estonia 

10 Ethiopia 

11 Finland 

12 France 

13 Germany 

14 Hungary 

15 Iceland 

16 Italy 

17 Japan 

18 Lithuania 

19 Luxembourg 

20 Malta 

21 New Zealand 

22 North Macedonia 

23 Norway 

24 Poland 

25 Romania 

26 Senegal 

27 Serbia 

28 Singapore 

29 Slovakia 

30 South Korea

Yellow List 

1 Anguilla

2 Algeria 

3 Antigua and Barbuda 

4 Armenia 

5 Aruba 

6 Bahrain 

7 Barbados

8 Belgium 

9 Belize 

10 Bermuda 

11 Bhutan 

12 Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba 

13 British Virgin Islands 

14 Cambodia 

15 Cayman Islands 

16 Comoros 

17 Cook Islands 

18 Cote d'Ivoire 

19 Croatia 

20 Curacao

21 Cyprus 

22 Democratic Republic of Congo 

23 Denmark

24 Djibouti 

25 Dominica 

26 Egypt 

27 Equatorial Guinea 

28 Eswatini 

29 Faeroe Islands 

30 Falkland Islands 

31 French Polynesia 

32 Gibraltar 

33 Greece 

34 Greenland 

35 Grenada 

36 Guernsey

37 Guinea-Bissau 

38 Indonesia 

39 Ireland 

40 Isle of Man 

41 Jamaica 

42 Jersey 

43 Jordan 

44 Kiribati 

45 Kosovo 

46 Kuwait 

47 Latvia 

48 Liechtenstein 

49 Macao 

50 Marshall Islands 

51 Mauritius 

52 Mexico 

53 Micronesia (country) 

54 Montenegro 

55 Montserrat 

56 Morocco 

57 Mozambique 

58 Myanmar 

59 Nauru 

60 Netherlands 

61 New Caledonia 

62 Oman 

63 Portugal 

64 Rwanda 

65 Saint Helena 

66 Saint Lucia 

67 Samoa 

68 Sao Tome and Principe 

69 Saudi Arabia 

70 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 

71 Slovenia 

72 Solomon Islands 

73 Spain 

74 Sweden 

75 Switzerland 

76 Thailand 

77 Timor 

78 Tonga 

79 Turkey 

80 Turks and Caicos Islands 

81 Tuvalu 

82 Uganda 

83 United Arab Emirates 

84 United States 

85 Vanuatu 

86 Vietnam 

87 Wallis and Futuna WLF Oceania

88 Zimbabwe

Red List

1 Afghanistan 

2 Albania 

3 Andorra

4 Angola 

5 Argentina 

6 Bahamas 

7 Bangladesh 

8 Belarus 

9 Benin 

10 Bolivia 

11 Bosnia and Herzegovina 

12 Botswana 

13 Brazil 

14 Burkina Faso 

15 Burundi 

16 Cameroon 

17 Cape Verde 

18 Central African Republic 

19 Chad 

20 Chile 

21 Colombia 

22 Congo 

23 Costa Rica 

24 Cuba 

25 Dominican Republic 

26 Ecuador 

27 El Salvador 

28 Eritrea 

29 Fiji 

30 Gabon 

31 Gambia 

32 Georgia 

33 Ghana 

34 Guatemala 

35 Guinea 

36 Guyana 

37 Haiti 

38 Honduras 

39 India 

40 Iran 

41 Iraq 

42 Kazakhstan 

43 Kenya 

44 Kyrgyzstan 

45 Laos 

46 Lebanon 

47 Lesotho 

48 Liberia 

49 Libya 

50 Madagascar 

51 Malawi 

52 Malaysia 

53 Maldives 

54 Mali 

55 Mauritania 

56 Moldova 

57 Mongolia

58 Namibia 

59 Nepal 

60 Nicaragua 

61 Niger 

62 Nigeria 

63 Pakistan 

64 Palestine

65 Panama 

66 Papua New Guinea 

67 Paraguay 

68 Peru 

69 Philippines 

70 Russia 

71 Saint Kitts and Nevis 

72 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 

73 Seychelles 

74 Sierra Leone 

75 Somalia 

76 South Africa 

77 South Sudan 

78 Sri Lanka 

79 Sudan 

80 Suriname 

81 Syria 

82 Tajikistan 

83 Tanzania 

84 Togo 

85 Trinidad and Tobago 

86 Tunisia 

87 Turkmenistan 

88 Ukraine 

89 United Kingdom 

90 Uruguay 

91 Uzbekistan 

92 Venezuela 

93 Yemen 

94 Zambia

Qatar waives off 10-day quarantine for fully-vaccinated arrivals from India, other high-risk countries
The 10-day mandatory hotel quarantine has been conditionally waived off for people arriving in Qatar from high risk countries, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Philippines. 

Announcing Qatar’s new travel and return policy that will come into effect on July 12, the Ministry of Public Health said no quarantine is required for Qatari citizens, residents and visitors in two travel scenarios — those who are fully vaccinated with a Qatar-approved vaccine, and those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the past nine months in Qatar or in GCC. The recovered travellers from GCC, however, must have taken at least one dose of any of the MOPH vaccines.

No quarantine

This means the mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine currently in place will no longer apply to fully vaccinated or recovered residents from the six high-risk countries from July 12. 

Unvaccinated children up to three years of age from these countries are exempt from quarantine.

Children aged 0-11 will follow the same policies as their parents, while unvaccinated minors aged 12-17 will have to undergo varying days of quarantine depending upon the countries they are coming from. 

The ministry also said family visits and leisure trips to Qatar without quarantine are now possible from July 12, if the arrivals meet the above conditions.

Fully-vaccinated citizens, residents and visitors will need to conduct a PCR test at a health centre approved by the Ministry of Public Health in the country from which they are coming. The certificate shall be valid for 72 hours upon their arrival in Qatar. 

10-day quarantine

The new travel policy also spells out four other travel scenarios, where different levels of quarantine will apply to travellers upon arrival.

10-day hotel quarantine applies to residents and visitors from the six high-risk countries in the following four scenarios — if they are only partially vaccinated, if they are vaccinated with a vaccine not approved by Qatar, if they have not waited for 14 days after completing the full dose before the travel, or if they have recovered from COVID-19 outside Qatar or a GCC country.