I did the Ehteraz registration while flying to Qatar in March 2022, along with my wife.

In this article, I would walk you through the whole process, starting from why you would need it to the step-by-step application process and the required documents.

We were traveling from Colombia and did it a few days before boarding the flight. The approval definitely helped us with a smooth entry to Qatar and get to know this beautiful country.

I will also keep on updating the article based on new info that I come across.

What is Ehteraz?

So, like many other countries around the world, Qatar kicked off Ehteraz pre-travel registration system to facilitate the arrival process in Qatar, verify the vaccination status and decide if a traveler would need to quarantine.

This has been in place since July 2021.

Using an online platform, travelers can upload the required documents and submit the application.

Why Do Enteraz Registration?

Personally speaking, we were never asked for the Ehteraz pre-approval at the time of boarding the flight. And note that, I flew with Qatar Airways.

That being said, you can certainly get asked for it when boarding your flight.

Along with that, you should do it to

• Make sure of a smoother entry to Qatar at the immigration.
• Use the designated fast-track routes without stopping at the Ministry of Public health’s counters
• Use the faster routes in customs to leave the airport and ensure whether you need to be quarantined or not easily.

Who Needs Pre-Travel Registration for Qatar?

Registering on the Ehteraz website is mandatory only for travelers without a valid Qatari ID or passport, although the MOPH recommends Qatari citizens and residents to do it as well.

GCC and European Union nationals and residents who meet the criteria for immunity can use the authorized health info app from their countries when entering Qatar. They wouldn’t need to do the pre-approval registration on Ehteraz.

When to Do Ehteraz Registration?

You should submit the Ehteraz registration at least 3 days before you travel, as the approval process can sometimes take time, depending on where you are from and the number of passengers.

The Ehteraz website, however, does not accept applications if your date of arrival in Qatar is more than 7 days from the date of application submission.

So, ideally, you should submit the application for Ehteraz 6 days or so before the date of your travel.

Required Documents for Ehteraz Application

Here are the mandatory documents for Ehteraz that you need to upload.

1. Passport copy

If you are a visitor, you need to upload a copy of your passport bio page.

If you are a Qatari/resident, you can simply provide the QID and retrieve it.

2. Vaccination Certificate for Ehteraz

A vaccination certificate issued by the competent authorities in the country departing from or any other country (for those who received the vaccine doses completely).

Optionally, you would also need to upload

3.Valid negative PCR test

It is not obligatory to upload the RTPCR test results, especially if you are fully vaccinated.That being said, depending on your nationality, you might need to provide the PCR test from laboratories approved by the health authorities taken maximum of 72 hours before time of arrival.

4. Hotel Booking

If you are subject to quarantine, then you would need to provide the proof of hotel booking through the Discover Qatar website.

5. Certificate of recovery

A certificate of recovery from the Covid-19 issued by the approved health authorities in the country departing from for those who were affected by it and recovered within a period not exceeding twelve months.

6. Entry Exit Stamps

If you are not in your country of origin, in certain cases, you would need to provide the entry exit stamps to prove that you are not in your home country. This is to make sure whether or not you should be quarantined.

7. Bank Statements

Depending on your nationality, you can be asked to upload the bank statements to prove that you can sustain yourself in Qatar.

How to do Ehteraz Registration in 6 Steps

Step 1: Registration

Go to the Ehteraz official website: https://ehteraz.gov.qa

Scroll down to the section about Pre-entry registration. Click on the button that says Register new request. It will redirect you to another screen.

If you are trying from the Ehteraz mobile app, you can reach this page by clicking on the “Pre-registration System”.The process is going to be the same.

You will be redirected to another page.

Click on the New user registration.

On the next screen, choose your nationality and provide your email and password.

Click on the Signup button.

When you do that, it will send you an email with an activation link.

Sometimes, this email can take 10-20 minutes to get to your inbox. So you can go for some coffee or whatever you like to do when you need to kill time, and then come back and continue.

Step 2 : Account Activation

Go to the email and click on the activation link.

This will activate your email and ask you to log in.

Step 3 : Create a New Application

After logging in, choose New Application from the Applications menu.

You need to provide the following.

• Country of departure
• The date of arrival
• Number of passangers
• And whether you are flying or coming through a land border or sea.

If you are traveling as a family or a group, you can create one application for all travelers. The maximum number of people that can be added to one application is 15.

The advantage of doing this is that it would be easy to keep track of and take a little less time.

The disadvantage of doing a group application for Ehteraz is that, the application won’t get approved if one of you is missing a document or something is wrong with one of you.In my case, I was traveling from Colombia by air with my wife. I am from India and my wife is from Colombia.

On the next screen, I chose visitor since I was planning to visit Qatar. If you are a Qatari resident, you would need to fill in QID.

I chose my nationality and provided my name, date of birth and passport number. I provided my phone number from Colombia.

After this, I filled out the details of vaccination and chose Colombia as one of the countries that I have visited recently.

You can click on the Add Dose button to add more than one dose, once you select Yes for Vaccinated.

After this, scroll down to the section for Attachments. Click on the Add button.

You can click on the Browse button to choose a document and select the type of document from the dropdown. Provide the description of the document afterward.

In this way, you can upload a copy of your passport and any other relevant documents.

Once done, click on the Continue button.

In my case, since I was applying for both me and my wife at once, I also filled in her details and uploaded the vaccination certificate as well as a copy of the passport.

After this, I clicked on the Continue button.

Step 4 : Undertaking and Submission

You need to tick the checkbox for undertaking after this and click on submit for approval.

Step 5: Track Application & Submit Other Documents (If Asked)

Once the application is submitted, you can see the application by going to the Applications menu and clicking on Search.

You will also receive an email that your application is under process.

After this, they will start reviewing your documents and approve the application or send it back to you to submit any other documents.

In my case, I didn’t hear anything from them for a couple of days. Then they kept on sending the application back to me for one or the other document, and I would provide the same and send it back to them.

Email 1: Vaccine certificate couldn’t be verified

So they couldn’t verify my vaccine certificate, while they could verify it for my wife. And both of us had the vaccine certificate from India only, for the same vaccine.

So I simply reuploaded the vaccine certificate and provided the description that it was authentic and I have taken the vaccines.

Email 2 : Entry Exit Stamp

Then they sent me an email asking me to upload the entry-exit stamps from India and Colombia. They misspelled Colombia, but I digress.

I believe this was the case to verify that I wouldn’t need to quarantine, if I would have been out of India for more than 14 days.

Email 3 : Bank statements

Then I got another email asking me to upload the bank statements for the last 3 months. I believe this is again a requirement for people from countries like India, Pakistan etc., who need to get a visa on arrival for Qatar.

The minimum balance should be QR 5000.

By this point, I was already a little annoyed with the whole process. I also had to travel within a day of getting this email.

So along with the bank statements, I also uploaded a copy of my hotel reservation and PCR test result and asked them to approve it asap in the document description.

Ideally, you shouldn’t need to upload these if you wouldn’t need to quarantine.

Step 6 : Receive Ehteraz Pre Approval

I received the Ehteraz pre approval a couple of hours before boarding my flight actually. I got an email notifying me of the same and a PDF containing the approval for both of us.

Ehteraz registration from India

If you are doing the Ehteraz registration from India, you would most probably have to submit the same documents that I did and you might need to do the quarantine depending on the rules.

In my case, since I was out of India for more than 14 days, I was exempted from quarantine.

Ehteraz Approval Time: How Long Does it Take?

Ehteraz approval can take anywhere between 2-5 days depending on the number of applicants and their nationalities.

The decision for each applicant is taken individually.

Ehteraz Application Fees

Ehteraz application is completely free of cost.

Entering Qatar with Ehteraz Pre Approval

Make sure to have the Ehteraz pre approval on your phone or tablet when you land in Qatar. They can ask for it in the immigration.

In our case, we were also asked for it at the time of leaving the airport through customs.

You can also carry a printout of the pre-approval.

Ehteraz Registration Problems

You can definitely run into some issues when doing the Ehteraz registration.

Why My Ehteraz is not Showing Vaccinated?

Ehteraz vaccine update can sometimes take time as the vaccine certificates from different countries are different. In my case, they returned my Ehteraz application with the comment that my certificate couldn’t be verified.

Then I simply resubmitted the same certificate, and it was validated.

Ehteraz App Download

Make sure to download the Ehteraz app as well. However, you don’t need to do it until you are inside Qatar.

You would be asked to show the status as green on the app in places like metro stations, hotels and restaurants and other places.

If for some reason, you are not able to register on the app, you can still show a