Travellers Information

Only citizens of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, Saudi Arabia and the residents in the Gulf Cooperation Council of Arab States who are businessmen, medical doctors, engineers and similar prestigious positions do not need a visa. Citizens of the 33 countries listed below can get a tourist visa on arrival to Qatar, which is valid for two weeks:

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK (with the right to abode), USA, Vatican City

Cost of the visa for single entry is USD 27/QR 100 per person per passport - visa cost is non-refundable. Payments can be made at any of the immigration desks with the following cards - Visa, Visa-Electron, MasterCard, Maestro & E-Cash (a pre-paid credit card that can be bought in the arrival lounge with cash).

Citizens from countries not listed above may arrange a visa prior to travel, sponsored by a Qatar-based hotel or tour company.

Please visit the Ministry of Interior website for more information http://www.moi.gov.qa

With a tourism strategy focused on meeting the highest standards in facilities and services, Doha is quickly gaining a reputation for its luxury hotels and their extensive dining, entertainment, leisure, and fitness offerings.

Qatar is investing US$17billion over the next five years into tourism infrastructure, including the construction of hotels, resorts and other leisure facilities. To meet demand, hotel capacity will increase by 400 percent to over 26,000 rooms and apartments by 2012.

A full list of the official hotels of the 20th World Petroleum Congress will be available from January 2011 when the congress registration starts. For more information about hotels in Qatar, visit www.qnhc.com

Qatar is only seven hours away from the capital cities of Europe and Asia and 13 hours from major destinations in North America. Doha International Airport is served by 26 international airlines which all operate regular flights from Europe, the US, and the Asia-Pacific among others.

Hala is Q-Tel’s Pay As You Talk mobile service and costs QR50 from any Qtel store. This includes your SIM and QR25 credit.

Red is Vodafone’s prepay service and costs QR25 from any Vodafone store. You will need to buy Flexi credit from Vodafone to start making calls.

There are currently two telecommunication providers in Qatar – Qtel and Vodafone. For more information please visit www.qtel.qa or www.vodafone.com.qa

Q-Card - Q-tel’s prepaid calling card service. This prepaid calling card can be used anywhere anytime from any telephone, whether at home or even a payphone, to call local mobile or any destination in the world. Just scratch-off the panel of the rear of the card to check your personal access code, dial 2006 and follow the voice instructions. Q-Cards come in QR 30 and QR 50 amounts.