Doha: The facility of visa on arrival may be extended to cover 60 nationalities. Presently citizens of 34 mostly European Union (EU) member countries are allowed that privilege.
Some specific categories of Indians (businessmen, professionals and blood relatives of expatriates) are also permitted entry on visa on arrival and there are no plans to liberalise the system to include all Indians.
There is a move to make visa procedures for the other categories of Indians easy, said Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer (CEO) of Qatar Airways and in-charge of Doha International Airport.
He was replying to questions at a press conference on the occasion of World Tourism Day here yesterday. Present was World Tourism Organisation's secretary general, Francesco Frangialli.
For Indians to come to Qatar the normal way and obtain visas is not that difficult since Qatar has a "big demand for work force due to the economic boom", he remarked.
As for visa on arrival, Al Baker said: "We cannot open access to Indians to come with no restrictions, because may people from the sub-continent would like to seek job opportunities, coming into the country in the guise of tourists...so, we have to be careful".
Citizens of the 34 countries who are currently allowed entry on visa on arrival are mostly from the EU, the American continent and Far East.
"We are in discussions with the interior ministry to add those countries to this list that have recently joined the EU," Al Baker said. At the time the regulations were put in place, these countries were not EU members.
Al Baker said that introducing other facilities such as allowing passengers entry into the country using Smart Cards were also being looked into.
Earlier, Francesco Frangialli said his organisation was planning to raise the issue of visa and travel advisory in the Middle East at the UN general assembly by the end of the year.
"It is clear that over the past years non-commercial obstacles to travel have become more important...visa requirements and immigration rules, travel advisories and limitations of visits for educational purposes are important issues," he said about the region, responding to questions.
© The Peninsula 2005
