Thursday, Apr 08, 2010
DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)--Qatar, the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, will tighten its visit visa policy next month forcing nationals of 33 mostly European countries visiting the Gulf Arab state to arrange entry before travel.
Both the U.K. and U.S. embassies in Doha have posted travel advice for citizens on their Web Sites, confirming the shake-up in visa regulations.
"We have been advised by the government of Qatar that from May 1 they will withdraw the provision whereby British passport holders can obtain a visitors visa on arrival in Qatar," the U.K. embassy in Qatar said in its travel advice section on its Web Site.
The U.S. embassy also confirmed that the current visa-on-arrival scheme is to be scrapped.
"The government of Qatar recently informed the U.S. embassy that as of May 1 U.S. citizens will no longer be able to apply for tourist visas on arrival in Qatar," a message on the embassy's Web Site said.
Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, France and Italy are among other countries affected.
