What Pakistani travellers need for Qatar’s new arrival visa

If you are a Pakistani national living in Kuwait and thinking of a short trip to Doha, here is what you need to do. Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has opened up a 30-day tourist visa on arrival for Pakistani passport holders, but there are a few boxes you must tick before you even board the flight.

This comes just weeks after we wrote about Qatar’s free visa on arrival for Pakistanis, part of a wider trend across the Gulf of easing entry rules. The UAE recently did something similar when it opened visa on arrival to six more nationalities, and Dubai now lets tourists apply for multiple visas through its official website.

Who does this apply to?

This rule covers Pakistani passport holders travelling to Qatar for tourism. If you hold a Pakistani passport and live in Kuwait, you can use this facility the same way someone travelling directly from Pakistan would, as long as you meet all the entry conditions set by Qatar’s Ministry of Interior.

Business visitors are treated differently. Business visas for Pakistanis are only granted through accredited companies in Qatar, not through this on-arrival tourist route.

Steps to follow before you fly

Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has laid out clear conditions. Go through these before you book your ticket, not after.

1. Check your passport validity. It must be valid for at least 6 months from your travel date.
2. Arrange your funds. You need at least QR 5,000 (around KD 450), either in cash or on a valid credit card, to show you can support yourself during the trip.
3. Book a confirmed return ticket. You must have this before travelling and again before applying for any extension.
4. Book your hotel through Discover Qatar. Hotel bookings must go through this official platform, not a third-party site.
5. Buy health insurance. You need at least one month of cover, costing QR 50. QIC and QLM are among the recommended providers, and the full list of approved providers is on Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health website.
6. Save your insurance documents. After payment, you’ll get an email with a receipt and an insurance certificate. Print or save both, you must carry them during travel.
7. Carry a polio vaccination certificate if flying directly from Pakistan. This is a separate condition for travellers departing straight from Pakistani airports.

What happens at Hamad International Airport

When you land in Doha, don’t head straight to immigration. Go to the Discover Qatar desk first, it’s located before the immigration counters. Staff there check your hotel booking and insurance documents and stamp them.

Once that’s done, you move to immigration for the actual visa processing, along with an eye scan and biometric checks. Only after this is your 30-day visa on arrival issued.

How long can you stay, and can you extend it?

The visa is valid for up to 30 days, though your actual stay may be shorter depending on how many nights you booked with your hotel. If you want to stay longer, you can apply for one extension of up to 30 days, but you’ll need to show a confirmed return ticket before the extension is approved.

Travellers from Kuwait planning connecting trips, perhaps combining Doha with a longer Gulf itinerary, should keep this extension rule in mind. It’s not automatic, and it depends on meeting the same conditions again.

A quick reminder about past disruptions

This facility hasn’t always been smooth. On 30 March, the Pakistan Embassy in Doha warned that the visa-on-arrival option for Pakistani nationals was temporarily unavailable because of the situation at the time. The embassy had advised travellers to arrange a visa before departure, warning that arriving without one could mean problems at immigration.

That advisory shows this kind of facility can pause without much notice. If you’re planning a trip, it’s worth checking Qatar’s Ministry of Interior updates close to your travel date, rather than assuming the rules from today will hold for certain next month.

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