Border control at Qatar airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

Air travellers arriving at Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha go through passport control run by the Ministry of Interior (MoI). The MoI posts guidance on using the e-gates there ^3,5.

Visit Qatar, which Gulf News calls the country's official tourism platform, says passports must be valid for at least three months from the date of arrival ¹. For some nationalities it lists a confirmed hotel booking or a confirmed return ticket as a condition of entry ¹.

Visit Qatar uses the term visa-free entry for what it used to call visa on arrival. It says only the name changed ¹. The page carries a heading on mandatory health insurance, and its text recommends that all visitors hold a valid health policy covering Qatar's medical facilities. Visitors without one can buy a policy on arrival ¹.

Entry permission: visa-free entry and Hayya e-visas

Hayya is the government's digital platform for e-visa services. It handles applications, invitations for family and friends, and the Hayya Border Crossing service for the Abu Samra land border ¹¹. Gulf News reported in May 2023 that Visit Qatar relaunched the Hayya portal for tourist visas and that the MoI approves applications ².

Visit Qatar runs a checker that shows each nationality's route. Depending on passport and residence, a traveller may enter visa-free, get a visa on arrival for QAR 100 at the airport, enter on arrival after booking an eligible hotel through Discover Qatar, or apply in advance on Hayya ¹.

Gulf News described the three Hayya entry types. A1 is for tourism or visiting friends and family. A2 is for residents of GCC states of any profession. A3, which it called entry with an electronic travel authorisation, is for holders of a valid visa or residence permit for the US, UK, Canada, the Schengen area, Australia or New Zealand. It reported a fee of QAR 100, paid after approval and not refunded ².

Visit Qatar says A1 applicants need a hotel reservation during the application, and pay the visa fee once the visa is approved ¹. It says US citizens receive a multiple-entry visa valid for two years, or until the passport expires, with each stay up to 90 days ¹.

Visit Qatar lists a joint Qatar and Oman tourist visa for citizens of 37 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK and the US. It is issued on arrival, valid for 30 days in both countries and can be extended for 30 more days for a fee ¹. Qatar Airways passengers who are not eligible for visa-free entry and have at least six hours of transit can apply for a transit visa at the Discover Qatar desk in HIA ¹.

Biometrics and e-gates

The MoI opened free e-gates for expatriate residents at HIA in December 2016, under its Smart Passenger project. At launch there were 19 e-gates in departures and 16 in arrivals. Residents aged over 18 could use them with an ID card or passport and no prior registration ⁴.

The Peninsula reported the MoI's description of how the gates work. The traveller places an ID card or passport on the reader. The system reads the document and checks it against a fingerprint and an eye scan. If the data match, the gate opens. The MoI said the process takes no more than two minutes ⁴.

In 2017 the MoI said residents over 18 with standard ID cards could use the gates, and that an office near the e-gates could update biometric data ⁵. In April 2024 the MoI asked passengers to use the e-gates. It said they serve citizens and residents using passports or ID cards. Gulf Times reported that people travelling with children under 18 cannot use them ³.

Official sources consulted for this guide do not say whether short-term visitors can use the HIA e-gates or what biometric data is taken from visitors at the manual counters.

Passenger data: API and PNR

Qatar Airways tells travel agents that passport details must be entered in the booking record for every passenger on any of its flights. It says customs and immigration authorities require this data, and that false details can lead to the booking being cancelled ⁶.

Official Qatari sources consulted for this guide do not publish the rules on which agency receives API or PNR data for flights to Qatar, or how long it is kept.

Watch lists and checks

Qatar is one of the co-funders of the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel Programme. The programme helps states set up passenger information units that check passenger data against national and international watch lists, including INTERPOL's ⁷.

Official Qatari sources consulted for this guide do not describe which national watch lists are checked at the border.

Your data: the law and how to ask for records

Qatar's main privacy law is Law No. 13 of 2016 on the Protection of Personal Data Privacy. On 6 September 2026 the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) set out seven principles under the law. These include transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy and limits on storage, so that data is not kept longer than needed ⁹.

The NCSA's Personal Data Privacy Protection Department handles questions on compliance and personal data rights, through the NCSA portal at ncsa.gov.qa ⁹.

DLA Piper's summary of the law says controllers must have systems to handle requests for access, correction and deletion, and complaints. It says data may be processed without consent for tasks in the public interest, to meet a legal duty, or for a crime investigation when investigating authorities officially request it ⁸. The Qatar Financial Centre has its own separate data protection rules ⁸.

Who runs the systems

The Ministry of Interior runs passport control and the e-gates at HIA, and approves Hayya visa applications ^2,34. Visit Qatar publishes visa guidance ^1,2. The National Cyber Security Agency oversees the data protection law ⁹. HIA has a security division that chose its screening equipment ¹⁰. Official sources consulted do not name the e-gate supplier.

Security screening on departure

In December 2020 HIA said it was the first airport in the Middle East to install Smiths Detection's HI-SCAN 6040 CTiX computed tomography (CT) machines for cabin bags. It said the machines would let passengers keep electronic devices and liquids in their hand baggage ¹⁰.

HIA said at the same time that it would deploy Rohde and Schwarz millimetre-wave body scanners and CEIA shoe scanners, to reduce pat-downs and shoe removal. It planned to move screening operators away from the lanes to read images remotely, supported by AI-based detection ¹⁰.