zahidworld

Just visited Muscat from UK

1. Pay for a Omani e-visa online. Costs £38. Visa usually provided quickly.
2. Register on the covid19.emushrif.om website and pay a further £5 fee.
3. Buy a Omani SIM. Redbull SIM cost me £7
4. Keep a printout of your NHS covid pass with the QR codes. You need to show this when you enter any hotels, restaurants, malls, etc.

In Muscat, you can do a 12 hours PCR test at Aster al Raffah hospital drive in ,behind Ramada Encore hotel. No appointments, just turn up and wait in a queue. Results are sent by a text with a URL to download the PDF test result. This cost me £36.

You can use local taxi / OTaxi - both use the official Omani taxis.

Muscat airport arrivals lounge is closed until further notice. There are some seating spaces. You can get coffee from Caffe Nero, get cold drinks from WHSmith's or have some food from the bland and expensive Tim Horton's that is open 24 hours.

SanDiego1K

Thank you for your helpful post. I will be arriving from the US via Doha. The requirements that I found online are as follows:

Pre-registration via (Tarassud+) Platform and upload the vaccine certificate as well as the COVID-19 PCR certificate, both should contain QR Codes.

All passengers must have international health insurance covering the cost of COVID-19 treatment for the period of at least one month.

All travelers arriving to Oman must undergo a COVID-19 PCR test before their arrival in Oman – for shorter flights, the test must be within 72 hours and with longer international flights (i.e., with a period of no less than 8 hours) within 96 hours.

I have downloaded the Tarassud+ app but it appears that I must have a local phone number in order to register. Do I have to wait til arrival, buy a SIM card, and then fill it out?

Did you have to show proof of international health insurance?

zahidworld

You MUST get an evisa before you arrive. When applying for the evisa, you have to attach photos of your passport and your COVID vaccination certificate.
This is also mentioned in the payment reciept email : YOU SHOULD NOT ARRIVE IN OMAN WITHOUT RECEIVING THE VISA APPROVAL NOTICE.

After you get your visa, you have to go to the emushrif website and then register again. After you make a small payment, you will get another document - the Traveler registration form. This will be stamped at a desk after you collect your bags.

Which airline are you flying with ? Some like Oman air include 30 days COVID insurance. I was not asked for proof of Travel / Health insurance by anyone as I flew with Oman air ( Qatar airways flight actually but on codeshare ) . Perhaps, if you fly with an airline that does not include COVID insurance, you may be asked.

The Tarassaud app is for those who are not fully vaccinated or who did not take a PCR test. They are also given a bracelet. I did not use the app. When entering public places, I was asked for proof of vaccination and I showed my UK NHS Vaccination certificate with QR codes on my phone and was allowed entry. The local Omanis use emushrif and that is only for them.

SanDiego1K

Thank you for greater clarity on this.

Quote:

Which airline are you flying with ? Some like Oman air include 30 days COVID insurance. I was not asked for proof of Travel / Health insurance by anyone as I flew with Oman air ( Qatar airways flight actually but on codeshare ) . Perhaps, if you fly with an airline that does not include COVID insurance, you may be asked.

We are flying Qatar. I have cards for my US insurance. I wonder if that will be sufficient.

shayaanl

Isn't Oman visa free for stays of less then ten days for travellers from several countries?
Oman to give visa-free 10-day entry to 103 countries to boost tourism - FM.gov.om

SanDiego1K

I appreciate the instructions.

1. I applied for a visa yesterday. It turns out that you have to apply within 30 days of arrival. The application was held for a few hours. It was approved and I was sent the visa. It looks as though I can enter within 35 days of approval, but I would have waited another week before applying if I had know about the 30 day restriction. I paid $122 for the visa. I'm not sure if that is an inflated price and that I used a service rather than the government site. I applied on omanevisaonline.com
2. I attempted to apply on the covid19.emushrif.om site. I have my vaccination information but was stumped when I got to the PCR results. Its far too early for me to have them. I used the chat service and was told to only apply once I have the test results.

Baby steps.

shayaanl

This is the official website. Its supposed to cost about $52 USD.

SanDiego1K

Much appreciated. I'll pay the proper amount when I apply for my husband and thank you for the savings.

zahidworld

COVID came and everything changed. You must have a e-visa before you visit Oman. I did not fancy paying £40+5 for the visa as I am British and we are entitled to free visa on arrival in countries nearby like Qatar and UAE.

I see. The correct website as shaay pointed out is the Royal Oman police website.

shayaanl

But it looks like they started the 10 day visa free after Covid began? December of 2020 according to articles online.

IAN-UK

My understanding is that if your passport nationality is in this list https://www.rop.gov.om/english/countrylist1.html
the single-visit tourist visa is currently free.

But it's a time of flux in these things. If you register with the ROP visa site https://evisa.rop.gov.om/en/loginportal, and then submit an application you'll be delivered to a payment page if payment is required. If you're unhappy to cough up, then you can ditch the application.

Just make sure you apply through the ROP visa portal, not through one of the commercial leeches who handle applications for silly money.

zahidworld

The FCO advice trumps everything else
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...virus-covid-19

This is what one will see if you follow the wizard on the ROP website :



I certainly would not have paid £40+5 if I could have avoided it

shayaanl

Just spoke to the Oman Police visa team. seems like the visa will be free. Here is what they said:

It is also mentioned here: Entry visas - FM.gov.om

jason1991

For emushrif do they care if PCR has QR code? I think it says either with QR code or approved by local authorities, but not sure what is the policy actually implemented

singingamy

Hey guys! I am planning to travel to Oman at the beginning of next month. I applied for my visa online 2 days ago and wondering how long does the whole application process takes? That's the website I used - https://evisa.express/ . I still have few days before my trip, just getting a bit nervous. It is also gonna be my first trip with the infant so if you have some tips what should I take/do to prepare for it better I would highly appreciate it.