Qatar relaxes its insurance requirements for entry
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Back in February, Qatar tweaked its entry rules to require all travellers to hold compulsory insurance from a Doha-based insurance company. You can read Rob’s initial article on the change here.
It has now softened its stance a little:
In addition to the visitors’ health insurance policies issued by insurance companies registered with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), visitors’ health insurance policies issued by MOPH approved international insurance companies are also accepted.
In a truly helpful fashion, Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health does not confirm which international insurance companies are on its approved list. Neither does the FAQ on its website, which despite having a section on the subject simply reiterates that such a list exists, without providing a link to it. Let me know if you are able to find one.
Nonetheless, there are a couple of requirements that all international insurers need to comply with:
- coverage must include Qatar
- the policy must be valid for the duration of stay
- the policy must cover emergency healthcare with a minimum limit of QAR 150,000 (c. £35,000) with no excess
- the policy must cover Covid-19 with a limit of QAR 50,000 (c. £12,000)
- physical printed proof of coverage must be presented on demand
Clearly, Qatar isn’t trying to make it easy to purchase non-Qatari insurance and for an easy life you may want to double up and buy one of the Qatar-approved policies anyway – the cost is 50 Riyals (£11).
You can read the official page here.
