After months of travel restrictions, the country is now opening up for returning travellers and visitors.
Returning residents and visitors with work visas who leave the country for less than 6 months will not be required to present an Exceptional Entry Permit [EEP] upon landing, a senior official has announced.
The move will go into effect from 12 July and comes as part of the government’s plan to gradually lift Covid-19 restrictions in an effort to return to normality and reopen the country for tourism.
“If the residents meet the conditions for entering the country, that is, they have a valid residence permit and their stay out of Qatar is less than six months, they can enter without an exceptional permit,” Major Abdullah Al Jasmi, Head of the Administrative Affairs Section at the Airport Passports Department, said on Qatar TV.
The official also added that those who remained outside Qatar’s borders for more than six months or have an expired residence permit due to earlier restrictions can follow the previous procedures by applying through Hukoomi website or Metrash2 in order to return to the country.
The welcome news comes as a sigh of relief for thousands of expatriates in Qatar, as many have been waiting for more than a year to return to Qatar and reunite with their families or continue working.
Authorities in Qatar initially closed off borders for visitors as part of restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the Gulf state.
Read also: Qatar’s Covid-19 cases drop below 100
Since then, calls to re-open visas have continued, with thousands urging authorities to help them reunite with their loved ones. With daily Covid-19 cases now falling below 100, together with an increase in vaccination numbers, the country seems to be slowly easing visa restrictions once more.
In August 2020, Qatari authorities announced resident permit [RP] holders could apply for an ‘Exceptional Entry Permit’ [EEP] to return to the country.
Precautions such as home…