I had a recent experience to apply for a visit visa for my brother. My Brother was travelling to Europe from Qatar Airways, so we thought, it would be a good idea to have a stopover in Doha for 2-3 days. If I would have known that it would be a night mare to get a visit visa for him, I may not have floated that idea (Though later on, when I got the visa, I thought, it s good that he is going to spend some time with me).
First, I went to the Airport road visa office. The captain and the staff there told me clearly that no tourist visa are being given to family members. Only way, one can get a tourist visa is through hotels. So this means, extra money of say Qar. 1000/ - for visa and hotel room charges for the number of days, one is staying.
From going through previous posts at QL, and my friends advise, I went to the Airport Rd Office again in the evening, on the assumption that another captain might approve the visa for my brother, but I was told the same thing from another captain, who was on duty in the evening.
Now, my next adventure was to go to Madina Khalifa Immigration Office. I went there next morning. To apply for a family visa visa, one needs the following
1. Copy of your passport
2. copy of the passport of your family members, who intends to visit Qatar
3. Letter from your employer mentioning your salary and that the letter is issued for visa application of family member
4. Proof of relationship – I have heard that if last name is common , proof is not required
5. Visa form
I got visa form typed from the person , sitting there at Immigration, then when I went inside, I was told to go to gate # 4, I went to counter # 4, due to language issues, I was not able to understand , whatever the customer service person was saying rudely in Arabic. Then I was advised to go to Building# 4. Actually, initially, I was also told to go to Building # 4, which I did not understand due to communication issues. In building # 4, the form has to be signed again by the captain, before they issue you a token # for submitting the application. There was a long queue for the caption. Actually, it is unfair to call it a queue, rather people were fighting to be the first one, who goes to the captain. Finally, after ten minutes, when I reached to the captain, I was told to go to building# 1. Long story short, I went to Bld # 1, first floor, the captain here was friendly, when my turn came after 5 minutes, he told me that now it is too late ( it was 11.30 AM), as the Main person, ( another captain or senior) who signs the form for visa approval is not available. So I have to come tomorrow morning at 7.30 AM
At 7 AM , I was at the Immigration office again. There was no token system there. However, 15 people were standing at the door, where captain is supposed to come. The captain came at one hour of waiting. When he came, already we were around 70 persons who were waiting for him. It was a total mess and people struggled to go first to the captain as neither there was any queue concept nor was there any space to make a queue for 70 persons. Any way, after 10 minutes of waiting in a small queue , which was made in front of the captain desk, When I went to the captain. I requested him to approve the visa as my brother is going to stay here for only two days. I also gave him my visiting card. (I work in a bank on a managerial position). After seeing my bank letter and other documents, he approved it.
Then I submiited it at building # 4. After 1 .5 days, the visa was issued, which I checked online on www.moi.gov.qa
I had a recent experience to apply for a visit visa for my brother. My Brother was travelling to Europe from Qatar Airways, so we thought, it would be a good idea to have a stopover in Doha for 2-3 days. If I would have known that it would be a night mare to get a visit visa for him, I may not have floated that idea (Though later on, when I got the visa, I thought, it s good that he is going to spend some time with me).
First, I went to the Airport road visa office. The captain and the staff there told me clearly that no tourist visa are being given to family members. Only way, one can get a tourist visa is through hotels. So this means, extra money of say Qar. 1000/ - for visa and hotel room charges for the number of days, one is staying.
From going through previous posts at QL, and my friends advise, I went to the Airport Rd Office again in the evening, on the assumption that another captain might approve the visa for my brother, but I was told the same thing from another captain, who was on duty in the evening.
Now, my next adventure was to go to Madina Khalifa Immigration Office. I went there next morning. To apply for a family visa visa, one needs the following
1. Copy of your passport
2. copy of the passport of your family members, who intends to visit Qatar
3. Letter from your employer mentioning your salary and that the letter is issued for visa application of family member
4. Proof of relationship – I have heard that if last name is common , proof is not required
5. Visa form
I got visa form typed from the person , sitting there at Immigration, then when I went inside, I was told to go to gate # 4, I went to counter # 4, due to language issues, I was not able to understand , whatever the customer service person was saying rudely in Arabic. Then I was advised to go to Building# 4. Actually, initially, I was also told to go to Building # 4, which I did not understand due to communication issues. In building # 4, the form has to be signed again by the captain, before they issue you a token # for submitting the application. There was a long queue for the caption. Actually, it is unfair to call it a queue, rather people were fighting to be the first one, who goes to the captain. Finally, after ten minutes, when I reached to the captain, I was told to go to building# 1. Long story short, I went to Bld # 1, first floor, the captain here was friendly, when my turn came after 5 minutes, he told me that now it is too late ( it was 11.30 AM), as the Main person, ( another captain or senior) who signs the form for visa approval is not available. So I have to come tomorrow morning at 7.30 AM
At 7 AM , I was at the Immigration office again. There was no token system there. However, 15 people were standing at the door, where captain is supposed to come. The captain came at one hour of waiting. When he came, already we were around 70 persons who were waiting for him. It was a total mess and people struggled to go first to the captain as neither there was any queue concept nor was there any space to make a queue for 70 persons. Any way, after 10 minutes of waiting in a small queue , which was made in front of the captain desk, When I went to the captain. I requested him to approve the visa as my brother is going to stay here for only two days. I also gave him my visiting card. (I work in a bank on a managerial position). After seeing my bank letter and other documents, he approved it.
Then I submiited it at building # 4. After 1 .5 days, the visa was issued, which I checked online on www.moi.gov.qa