... a motorist who produces an international driving licence upon inspection should also produce his passport. Such licences have to be issued from an authorised agency and not by tourist offices.
Visitors and tourists who hold a valid non-Qatari driving licence should present it to the local licensing authority within 15 days from the date of their entry into the country so that they can be validated for a stipulated period.
If you ignore the headline, which rarely refelcts the contents of an article in any paper, this article says that you need to produce a passport along with an IDP. It doesn't say that the new law has changed the validity period for driving with an IDP, which may have been six months based on other web sites I've read.
However, my rental agency has interpreted this as saying I need a temporary Qatari license. I don't have the patience of the Bedouin to spend my days and my wife's Riyals at the Madinat Khalifa traffic office, so I've been taking 2 month visa trips.
The temporary licenses are apparently are only good until your visa expires, so that would mean get one on or before 15 days, extend your visa for a month, then get a license extension which will be for remaining 15 days, or take a bus the last two weeks, or leave the country early and spend your tourist dollars elsewhere.
If you really love paperwork, there is a family visit visa available, but a regular Residency Permit under your spouses sponsorship is the same amount of paperwork with less fees and less renewal visits. Unfortunately, this is the part of the immigration website which doesn't work. I hope they held back more than ten percent of that contract.
It would be nice if you know somebody could read the amended law, and see what the validity period for IDPs is. If you are working here (I am not) the mandoub for your company may be able to help. Failing that, one of the big car rental agencies would probably know. The problem is finding the one person who knows, but that is always the most interesting problem, and I do have a lot of time to kill, so I will let you know if I figure it out before I leave. That will be soon, because you can't cross the street here without a car.
It is entirely possible that Thailand needs my money more than Qatar does.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=189106...
If you ignore the headline, which rarely refelcts the contents of an article in any paper, this article says that you need to produce a passport along with an IDP. It doesn't say that the new law has changed the validity period for driving with an IDP, which may have been six months based on other web sites I've read.
However, my rental agency has interpreted this as saying I need a temporary Qatari license. I don't have the patience of the Bedouin to spend my days and my wife's Riyals at the Madinat Khalifa traffic office, so I've been taking 2 month visa trips.
The temporary licenses are apparently are only good until your visa expires, so that would mean get one on or before 15 days, extend your visa for a month, then get a license extension which will be for remaining 15 days, or take a bus the last two weeks, or leave the country early and spend your tourist dollars elsewhere.
If you really love paperwork, there is a family visit visa available, but a regular Residency Permit under your spouses sponsorship is the same amount of paperwork with less fees and less renewal visits. Unfortunately, this is the part of the immigration website which doesn't work. I hope they held back more than ten percent of that contract.
It would be nice if you know somebody could read the amended law, and see what the validity period for IDPs is. If you are working here (I am not) the mandoub for your company may be able to help. Failing that, one of the big car rental agencies would probably know. The problem is finding the one person who knows, but that is always the most interesting problem, and I do have a lot of time to kill, so I will let you know if I figure it out before I leave. That will be soon, because you can't cross the street here without a car.
It is entirely possible that Thailand needs my money more than Qatar does.