- Introduction: An Open-Ended Journey To Oman
- Review: Iberia Business Class Airbus A330 (MIA-MAD)
- Our COVID-19 Testing Mess At Madrid Airport
- Review: Four Seasons Hotel Madrid
- Review: Iberia Lounge Madrid Airport (MAD)
- Review: Iberia Business Class A320neo (MAD-MXP)
- Review: Sala Montale Lounge Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP)
- Review: Qatar Airways Business Class Boeing 787-9 (MXP-DOH)
- Review: Qatar Airways A320 Business Class (DOH-SLL)
- Oman Entry Requirements: My Experience
- Traveling As A Gay, Married Couple: My Philosophy
- Review: Alila Hinu Bay, Oman
- Review: Oman Air Lounge Salalah Airport
- Review: Oman Air A330 Business Class (SLL-MCT)
- Review: W Hotel Muscat, Oman
- Review: Alila Jabal Akhdar, Oman
- Review: The Chedi Muscat, Oman
- Review: Primeclass Lounge Muscat Airport (MCT)
- Review: Turkish Airlines A321neo Business Class (MCT-IST)
- Review: Turkish Airlines 737 MAX Business Class (IST-CPH)
- Review: AC Hotel By Marriott Copenhagen Bella Sky
- Copenhagen Airport’s Awesome COVID-19 Testing Center
- Review: SAS Lounge Copenhagen Airport (CPH)
- Review: Eventyr Lounge Copenhagen Airport (CPH)
- Review: SAS Business Class Airbus A350-900 (CPH-MIA)
Update: Rules are constantly changing, and this is a heads up that the testing requirement has been dropped for fully vaccinated arriving passengers as of March 1, 2022. Below is the initial post that reflects my experience arriving in mid-February.
Travel is not as easy as it used to be, given all the entry restrictions that have been put in place because of the pandemic. As I’ve been doing with my trip reports lately, I figured I’d share my experience with Oman’s entry requirements for our recent trip to the country.
Let me highlight that travel restrictions are constantly changing, so you’ll always want to check official government guidance. The below is my experience based on arriving in the country in mid-February 2022.
In this post:
Oman entry requirements
Oman is somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to travel requirements. Oman is open to vaccinated visitors from around the globe with pre-travel testing. If you’re looking to visit the country and avoid quarantine, you’ll need:
- Proof that you’re fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine (you don’t need to be boosted)
- A valid PCR test taken within 72-96 hours of travel; for flights of under eight hours it has to be taken within 72 hours, while for flights of over eight hours it has to be taken within 96 hours (the eight hour limit includes transit time)
- A completed travel registration form before travel; there’s no approval process, but rather you’ll instantly be issued a form with a QR code based on the information you provide
- COVID-19 medical insurance that covers any expenses you may incur as a result of getting coronavirus
To be honest I forgot about the COVID-19 medical insurance requirement until I was enroute to Oman. For that matter I was never asked about it. Not on the pre-travel authorization form, not at check-in, and not when I arrived in the country.
I didn’t see much information on Oman’s government website about exactly what kind of insurance is required, so I’m not sure if I got lucky, or if this is just an unenforced requirement.
I wrote about my experience getting tested for Oman. We had a stopover in Spain, so we tried to get tested at Madrid Airport, but that didn’t work out quite as planned.
Oman travel authorization form
Of countries requiring pre-travel authorization forms, Oman’s was among the easiest. The form took maybe five minutes to complete, and then a PDF could immediately be saved, which needs to be presented upon arrival in the country. There’s no manual authorization required here.
You mainly just had to provide very basic info, including personal details (name, date of birth, passport number, etc.), and information about your trip.
On the form you’ll have to share the date of your PCR test, and you’ll also have to upload a copy of the results. Furthermore, you’ll have to do the same for your vaccination.
Once uploaded, a form was immediately generated that could be downloaded and used for entry.
Oman arrivals experience
We landed in Salalah, Oman, at around 4:20AM on Qatar Airways. Fortunately our arrivals experience was quite easy, as we were among the first off the plane, and no other flights arrived around the same time.
Before getting to the actual immigration counters, there was a queue set up for checking all the entry requirements. You had to present your pre-travel authorization form, negative coronavirus test result, and vaccine card.
I found the system to be rather odd. I had to upload copies of my negative test result and vaccine card, so what’s the point of that if you have to show this again when you arrive in the country?
This took all of two minutes, and then we were also quickly through immigration. Oddly the immigration officer asked if we had visas, which we didn’t. I was worried for a second that I forgot to apply for a standard visa (being so caught up in coronavirus-related restrictions), but he quickly confirmed that wasn’t needed, and we were good to go.
The last step was customs, where all bags had to be screened. In most countries you’ll rarely find someone’s bags pulled off the belt in these situations. After all, they’re not looking for liquids or a cuticle scissor, but rather for drugs, weapons, food, etc. We were first through customs, and there was a single guy operating the checkpoint.
After our bags went through he requested Ford open his bag. We were sweating for a second, wondering if someone planted something in his bag, or something. Instead the customs officer had him open the bag and take everything out one-by-one. He’d ask “what is this?” about totally normal stuff, and then Ford would explain. He must have asked about 10 different things. After that he said “thank you, sorry.”
It almost seemed like he was just bored and trying to pass time.
Bottom line
After being closed to foreign visitors for much of the pandemic, Oman is now fully open to vaccinated travelers from around the world in conjunction with pre-travel testing.
The requirements are straightforward enough — you need to be fully vaccinated, have a PCR test within 72-96 hours of travel, and need to complete a pre-travel authorization form. Apparently you also need some sort of COVID-19 insurance, but that was never requested through the online form or in person.
While I hope we continue to see countries eliminate barriers to entry, Oman’s requirements for entry are fairly reasonable, and wouldn’t deter me from visiting.
If you’ve visited Oman during the pandemic, what was your experience with the entry requirements?
I'm traveling to Oman and I can not seem to get a straight forward answer from anyone in Oman. Concerning the Johnson and Johnson vaccine i got last year , various individuals from Oman Airport and Royal Police have told me one Jab of Johnson and Johnson vaccine from a year ago is perfectly fine, while other Omani representatives have told me I need two Jabs. Any help would be appreciated
Thank you
For anyone interested, exactly same requirements, process and in-airport process for Amman, Jordan.
On another note, very much recommended due to historically low tourist amounts for Petra for example.
Great timing. We leave tomorrow for Hinu Bay.
Please write about how you and Ford get from Point A to Point B (Airport to hotel to next hotel, etc.).
I'm confused about the need for a tourist visa. We have been twice as I have a friend that lives in Salalah. We go for 14 nights and some sights say you don't need an entry visa?? We've always had one and have always been asked to show it on entry??
Cheers
There are outdated rules, as per new rule announced on 28 Feb and 1st March, the PCR testing and travel MOH requirements no longer apply.
Ben, why don't you take out a one-year-travel-health insurance and then your are fine on all the trips? It cost me about USD 250 for a mid-range package, covering upto USD 1m in treatments while on travel (plus also other travel related risks).
Before the pandemic, I never had a travel insurance because the statutory Swiss health insurance basically covers the risks world wide, up to the cost for a similar treatment in Switzerland. Since...
Ben, why don't you take out a one-year-travel-health insurance and then your are fine on all the trips? It cost me about USD 250 for a mid-range package, covering upto USD 1m in treatments while on travel (plus also other travel related risks).
Before the pandemic, I never had a travel insurance because the statutory Swiss health insurance basically covers the risks world wide, up to the cost for a similar treatment in Switzerland. Since Switzerland has the second highest cost, after the US, my only uncovered risk was the incremental cost in the US. But the statutory insurance police doesn't mention COVID with a single word. So it won't be accepted if this is a requirement. Now with my 250 $ extra insurance I don't have to worry about this and it also covers the incremantal cost in the US (upto 1 million).
Hi Andy. Do you mind sharing the namenof this insurance ? Thanks. Caroline
We were travelling to Oman from Kuwait and my cousin who had a visa issued by Oman, was almost denied entry due to absence of GCC resident ID card. He although did have the ID on the Kuwait authorised mobile app, however this was not accepted at the immigration and they insisted on physical ID. After lot of persuasion and pleading, he was allowed entry.
Have to admit though that all the officers were very helpful and courteous.
As if to prove your point about rules changing constantly, the PCR requirement was dropped from 1st March 2022 for all fully vaccinated arrivals (airports and land borders).
No need for PCR. The latest can be seen from this website
https://www.omanairports.co.om/news/en/update-on-travel-restrictions-related-to-covid-19/
Any idea if PCR is required when you transit through Muscat airport as well?
It's not required
Good to know there aren’t any time consuming or complicated procedures. Oman is taking tourism seriously as a reliable revenue streams and these measures go a long way in getting people in.
A visa is not needed for Oman for US passport holders?
A visa is not required for US passport holders if visiting for less than 14 days. There’s a list of countries for which this applies.
My experience pre COVID was far more entertaining. I drove from the UAE to Oman. I did need a Visa (Australian), insurance and special car insurance (was a UAE car). I ad to stop twice exiting UAE and twice entering OMAN.
Actually sounds rather mundane!
To get into Doha for a visit during a layover, I had to fill out a form before my flight from the Maldives, get the pre-approval sent to me (vaccine, PCR test, the works submitted)... then on arrival the information desk told me I needed to download the Eterhaz app to get my QR code. But the app kept erroring when I put in my passport info.
I finally...
Actually sounds rather mundane!
To get into Doha for a visit during a layover, I had to fill out a form before my flight from the Maldives, get the pre-approval sent to me (vaccine, PCR test, the works submitted)... then on arrival the information desk told me I needed to download the Eterhaz app to get my QR code. But the app kept erroring when I put in my passport info.
I finally decided just to follow the forms instructions to head to immigration. First guy looks at my documents and sends me on, get through customs, they give me a stamp, and I think I'm home-free. WRONG!
Final checkpoint occurs on the exit from the baggage claim area. They want that QR code. But the app still isn't working. Finally we're able to find someone to help us, and he says we need to use our visa number, not our passport number. But we don't have a visa... until he tells us that the visa number is on the stamp we got coming through immigration. Then he walks off.
We find and input the visa number into the app, and lo and behold 'we've sent a text to your phone with a code, please enter the code to get your QR code'..
But we don't get a text. I try it with my wife's phone, no dice. I turn on all our phone's features thinking maybe we that'll fix it. Nope. Finally we find another person, who tells us we need a Qatar Sim card. He points us to the nearby duty free shop. We go there, but my wife says her phone is locked from using other Sim cards. We discover that both our phones are locked.
But, they are prepared for this. They take the Sim card I just bought, put it in their phone, use my phone and the app to input the Sim card's associated phone number and my visa number into the app... the app sends the code to their phone, we input the code in my phone, and FINALLY we have our green QR code.
We exit baggage claim and visit downtown Qatar- for 5ish hours (~11 P.M-4 A.M)
It's amazing to me that people are traveling to other countries these days and not checking entry requirements. All of this information is well known and publicized for people who want to do some research before just showing up to a country expecting to waltz in.
"What's this?"
It sounds like the customs agent never saw whips, handcuffs, dildos and other sex toys. You know, totally normal stuff.
Get a grip, Joe.
Our family of 5 just returned from a vacation in Oman. We did have the travel insurance that they laid out for the specific length of time, and was never asked to show proof of insurance on entry or exit.
I don't think you mentioned, but their requirements also mention a qr code for both test and vaccine proof. In my area of the states, that is very difficult to come by, both in testing...
Our family of 5 just returned from a vacation in Oman. We did have the travel insurance that they laid out for the specific length of time, and was never asked to show proof of insurance on entry or exit.
I don't think you mentioned, but their requirements also mention a qr code for both test and vaccine proof. In my area of the states, that is very difficult to come by, both in testing and vaccine (our state government has made vaccine passports illegal). Just an FYI. I had an online chat with the health ministry in Oman and they said it was okay to not have a pcr code on your test, yet it was still required on the paperwork. Luckily, the check in agent for Turkish airlines didn't seem too concerned; as soon as she saw I had all of my paperwork in order, she just took my word for it.
Additionally, just to confirm-children under 18 do not need a pcr or a vaccine (or even a health form). They are exempt from the requirements, and even though we had documentation for the kids, we were never asked for it.
We entered into Muscat at midnight local time and had the same entry procedures as described here, except no one checked our bags.