‘Automatic entry permits’ for ‘residents’ from Sunday

The Government Communications Office (GCO) has announced that residents who are currently in Qatar, and wish to travel and return to the country, will automatically receive an Exceptional Entry Permit upon departure with effect from Sunday, November 29.

Also, the quarantine period will be one week only after arrival in the country, irrespective of where a person is coming from, according to a statement issued by the GCO yesterday.

The statement noted that in continuation of the gradual lifting of restrictions imposed in Qatar as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and based on public health indicators in the country and around the world, as well as on Qatar’s travel policy announced previously, the following has been decided:

First: Residents who are currently in Qatar, and wish to travel and return, will automatically receive an Exceptional Entry Permit upon departure. The resident or their employer will be able to print out the Exceptional Entry Permit from the Ministry of Interior’s website at any point after the resident has departed Qatar.

Requests will no longer need to be submitted through the Qatar Portal website. The permit will be available automatically upon registration of the resident’s departure from Qatar.

The automatic Exceptional Entry Permit service will not be available for residents who are currently outside Qatar. They are still required to obtain the exceptional return permit via the Qatar Portal website if they wish to return to Qatar.

O Second: The quarantine period will be one week only after arrival in the country, regardless of where a person is coming from. Home quarantine will be applied to those coming from countries on the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH)’s Green List. Hotel quarantine is mandatory for those coming from countries that are not included on the Green List.

The quarantine period for those who use shared quarantine facilities will be two weeks. The decision is based on national and international epidemiology statistics.

Based on these new procedures, a Covid-19 test will be conducted for those returning from travel upon arrival to the country in the event they haven’t had a test within 48 hours before travelling to Doha by one of MoPH’s accredited Covid-19 testing centres. Then, a second test will be conducted on the sixth day from the date of arrival.

The status on the Ehteraz application remain yellow until the end of the seventh day from the date of arrival.

These decisions will come into effect from Sunday, November 29. For more information, one has to visit the Covid-19 page on the MoPH website.