Oman Visa Advice
 

I'm completely lost as to which visa(s) to apply to for my two upcoming visits to Oman.

I will have an 11 hr layover in MCT on 22/4, self-connecting from BA to QR (separate tickets) and would ideally like to enter the country for some quick sight-seeing since it appears the airport might not be the best place to spend 11 hrs at the moment.

I will then return to Muscat on 1/4 and would like to stay for 3 days, flying home on 3/5.

Ideally I'd use a transit visa (OMR 5) for the first visit and a single-entry tourist e-visa (OMR 20) for the 3 day visit. Unfortunately it appears I can't have 2 visas at once according to the conditions on the ROP website:

https://evisa.rop.gov.om/visa-eligibility?p_p_id=visawizard_WAR_visaeligibilityw izardportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_ mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_count=1&_visawizard_WAR_visaeligibilityw izardportlet_myaction=selectedVisa

https://evisa.rop.gov.om/en/types-of-visa?p_p_id=ViewVisaTypes_WAR_viewvisawizardportle t&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p _p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_count=1&_ViewVisaTypes_WAR_viewvisawizar dportlet_myaction=condition

Does that mean that I will end up having to apply for a multiple entry tourist e-visa (OMR 50) instead?

Also, it says that I need a hotel booking for the multiple entry visa. Does this mean I'll have to book a hotel for my 11.5 hour layover in order to be admitted to the country? Obviously I'll have a hotel for the 3 day stay but I was hoping to avoid booking a hotel for the layover since it's ~6.30am to 5.30pm and I'm not expecting to sleep at all during this time...

Edit: Just for clarity, I'm a UK passport holder.

My understanding is that the Transit Visa is only for passengers on connecting tickets with Oman Air, so I believe that if you have no plans to visit Oman for a 3rd time in the next 12 months, you should just apply for another 20 rial tourist visa after the first time you leave Oman.

Thanks, but it still appears that I need a hotel booking for the single entry visa - does anybody know if this is enforced? Will I have to pay for a hotel I'm not going to use just so that I can go landside for a few hours?

A transit visa is no longer available. Your confusion is no doubt caused by the website still listing transit visas.
If the stipulation that you cannot hold 2 visas at once is correct, it appears your only option is the multiple entry tourist visa (I would leave just 1 week for processing 2nd visa). Tourist visas are now only available through Evisa from ROP (Royal Oman Police) website - no VOA anymore for Oman.

And again, one more question: On the eVisa application it asks for "Mother's name" - should I take this literally, or should I assume they actually meant to ask for "Mother's maiden name"?

Never mind, it appears it should be taken literally. For anybody struggling with an eVisa application I would recommend 2 things:

1) Watch this Youtube video:


2) Use Internet Explorer! The eVisa website _does not_ work properly with Chrome or Firefox...

OK having passed through MCT this morning it seems the situation on the ground is slightly different than implied.

There is a visa purchase desk at the airport where I presume you can still buy a visa.
I also saw somebody being offered a transit visa despite the suggestion that it's no longer available.

In the end I turned up with a multiple entry visa.

Nobody checked if I had a hotel reservation.

Oman visa is not a big deal. if you are in Dubai and your visa is going to expire and you don't want to fly to your home country it is a great Chance for you to get your transit visa by visiting Oman. you can go to airport or at the border by bus and get your visa instantly.

As I understand it, only eVisas for Oman are available, where transit visas are only issued via airlines. The facilities you state are the continuation of previous services to allow unsuspecting Pax to get visas. Once the new restriction(s) are well entrenched, these facilities will inevitably be phased out. When that happens is an unknown, such that advice for their use to Pax that may be traveling to Oman in some months time could easily be a bum steer.

This is what I was told would happen: something like Egypt's approach. Indeed, it would be silly to turn away visitors arriving expecting the status quo of VOA.

The UK's Foreign Office advice to travellers, for example, made no mention of e-visas for Oman until a few weeks' ago.

I guess the clincher is what advice is being given to airlines, forming the basis upon which they accept passengers or deny them passage.

This is most important, as airlines are fined heavily for transporting passengers without the appropriate paperwork and would therefore not consider anything unofficial, even though true.

For what it's worth, both BA and QR asked to see proof I had a visa at check in...

Swiss didn't even ask about a visa. Visas on arrival are still readily available at the airport.

So to confirm, you (plural) US and EU passport holders have been allowed to board QR flights to Oman in 2019, without getting visas in advance, and were allowed to buy the visas when arriving in MCT using OMR cash?

Can you clarify the process at the new airport? Are there many people buying visas on arrival or do most people do the e-visa?

Any other airlines, and any other airports besides MCT?