Qatar offers free visa to transit passengers

A revised, free-of-charge tourism visa scheme for passengers transiting through Doha has been agreed by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), Qatar Airways (QA) and Qatar’s Ministry of Interior (MoI).

The new transit visa structure will allow passengers with a minimum transit time of five hours at Hamad International Airport (HIA) to stay in the country for up to 96 hours, without applying for an entry visa ahead of time, according to local media reports.

The transit visa will be available to passengers of all nationalities on arrival, upon confirmation of onward journey and completion of passport control procedures.

QA group chief executive Akbar al-Baker said in a press statement: “Whether travelling for business or leisure, we want to enrich the journey of all of our passengers and are restructuring our fares to reflect this initiative and to promote stopovers to travellers.”

Brigadier Abdullah Salim al-Ali, director general of the General Directorate of Nationality, Borders and Expatriates Affairs at MoI said the move will "further facilitate the movement of the 30 million passengers who pass through HIA every year".