The Ministry of Interior has stressed the importance of pre-registration on the Ehteraz platform for people arriving in the country to maintain the continuity of movement operations to and from Qatar while ensuring the safety and security of all in light of exceptional circumstances created due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ministry said that the platform provided a flexible and practical solution to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic by allowing people to come to Qatar while ensuring adherence to health procedures.
Major Abdullah Al Jassmi from the Airport Passports Department, MoI, said that the Airport Passports Department seeks to facilitate the entry and exit procedures for travellers through Hamad International Airport (HIA), especially in light of the conditions of the Coronavirus pandemic and the permanent update of the travel and return policy for the State of Qatar. It also always seeks to overcome all difficulties and use the latest electronic methods in cooperation with partners in the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Airport Administration, Airport Security Department, airlines and other partners.
He added that the pre-registration platform for those coming to the country allows pre-registration for travellers before arriving at Qatari ports, with the aim of facilitating entry procedures at Abu Samra port and HIA.
He added that the platform facilitates information for the traveller in an easy and accessible way, and citizens and residents vaccinated within the State of Qatar, will immediately receive a message stating approval without attaching any documents, and the citizen and resident benefit from registering on the platform to know the latest developments in the travel policy system and whether there is a quarantine or no or other actions.
Citizens and residents also benefit from registration through the specified path at Hamad International Airport for those registered on the platform and does not need a series of traditional procedures, which facilitates time and effort, as well as they can benefit from the electronic gates service.
Major Abdullah Al Jassmi continued by saying that the father can register all members of his family in one application, and certain paths have been identified for each category of travelers, which are determined according to the category of the traveler from a citizen, resident and visitor, and the classifications also depend on those who are vaccinated or not, in addition to the country of origin.
Regarding visitors, Major Abdullah Al Jassmi from the Airport Passports Department and member of the Quarantine Cell, warned that registration is mandatory and not optional, and the visa number, passport number, the type of vaccine, and the date of the last dose or the date of the last infection with COVID-19 if the traveler was infected and recovered, must be filled in. Attachments, including a copy of the passport, a copy of an approved vaccination certificate, and a photo of the hotel reservation for non-vaccinated people or those coming from high-risk countries must be uploaded. All data must be reviewed in order to ensure its accuracy before sending them.
Major Al Jassmi noted that cases of incomplete response to the request of the visitor are mostly the result of a lack of uploading the required documents such as a passport copy or vaccination certificate or the lack of clarity in the image.
With regard to the hotel quarantine, Al Jassmi explained that the platform was linked with “Discover Qatar”. When the traveler books for hotel quarantine and attach the reservation photos, the program can, through a specific technology, make sure that the hotel reservation was within the approved quarantine hotels, with the aim of facilitating the procedures for the visitor and ensuring that his time and money were not wasted. All of these procedures and the process of responding to a visitor’s request takes from 12 hours to a maximum of 24 hours.
Major Al Jassmi underlined that the hotel quarantine is a basic requirement for those coming from the red list countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and if the visitor has a first-degree relative in Qatar, the home quarantine will be an alternative to the hotel one, with the rest of the requirements being met.
