UK ETA for Qatari citizens
Qatari nationals were among the very first travellers required to hold a UK ETA — the Gulf states entered the scheme ahead of Europe and North America. If you have visited the UK since then you may already hold one; if it was issued more than two years ago, or on a passport you have since replaced, it has expired.
UK ETA for Qatar — key facts
- Qatari citizens do need a UK ETA before travelling to the United Kingdom.
- An ETA is not a visa and does not guarantee entry — a Border Force officer makes the final decision on arrival.
Verified against GOV.UK on 2026-10-12. UK ETA Gateway is a private agency, not the UK Government.
What is different for Qatari travellers
The ETA requirement began applying to Qatari passport holders on 15 November 2023. Because an ETA lasts only 2 years, anyone who complied at the start has an authorisation that has already expired — this is the single most common reason a Qatari traveller is stopped at check-in believing they are covered.
The fee is set by the Home Office in pounds sterling, so you are charged £49 and your bank converts it from Qatari riyal (QAR) at its own rate. We do not add a currency markup, and nobody — including us — can discount the £20 government portion.
A note on your name: Arabic names are transliterated differently by different authorities. Copy the Latin-script spelling exactly as it is printed in the machine-readable zone of your Qatari passport — not the spelling on your ticket, your bank card, or an older passport.
Applying from Qatar
Qatar holds a distinction no other country has: Qatari nationals were the very first people in the world required to hold a UK ETA. The scheme launched as a pilot for Qatar alone on 25 October 2023, priced at £10 — half of today's £20 official fee.
That history has a practical consequence. A Qatari who applied in that first month has held an expired ETA since October 2025, and anyone from the February 2024 group expired in February 2026. Qatar has, in other words, the highest concentration of travellers walking around with authorisations they believe are current and are not.
The fee you paid then is not the fee now. It went £10, then £16 in April 2025, then £20 in April 2026. Any site still quoting you £10 or £16 has not updated since the pilot, which tells you something about how carefully it is maintained.
Doha is one of the world's major connecting hubs, so many Qatari itineraries touch the UK only in transit. If you are changing planes airside at Heathrow or Manchester without clearing immigration, you currently do not need an ETA at all — and we would rather tell you that than sell you one.
What Qatari travellers need
- A biometric Qatari passport that will still be valid when you travel
- A digital photo meeting the GOV.UK standard
- An email address and a payment card
- Truthful answers on criminal convictions and past immigration refusals
You do not need flight bookings, hotel reservations, bank statements or an invitation letter.
Every Qatari traveller needs their own ETA, including infants — there is no family application and no child discount. How ETAs work for children and families.
If you also hold British or Irish citizenship you cannot apply for an ETA at all — travel on that passport instead. Full requirements · Common questions.
Qatar at a glance
- ETA requiredYes
- Official Home Office fee£20
- Our service fee£29
- Total through us£49
- Validity2 years or passport expiry
- Maximum stay per visit6 months
- Typical decisionMinutes; allow 3 working days
- Number of entriesUnlimited
Or apply yourself at gov.uk/eta for £20.