Marhaba world! It’s been a while since I blogged. Well, that is if you don’t count the constant blogging in my head.

A lot has happened over the past seven months, including, Alhamdulillah, some really incredible experiences. There is much to share, and too many unfinished draft posts, but today I think I will attempt to start off [and end a post] by sharing about my recent return journey from London to Muscat. With the way things are right now, travelling can be uber stressful, so I hope if you are making the same trip soon, you find this post useful.

Please note: I travelled fairly recently (in the last three weeks) but of course the rules are always changing, so please be advised to keep up to date with the current requirements on the UK government website and eMushrif (the Ministry of Health website that is linked to Oman Airports) website.

Before travelling, I prepared for my journey by doing the following:

Booking and taking a pre-departure PCR test

I took a pre-departure PCR test within the 72 hours of my flight arrival time in Muscat. On both the UK government and eMushrif website it is stated that for flight times less than 8 hours the PCR test must be taken no earlier than 72 hours before arrival in Oman. I travelled with Etihad via a transit in Abu Dhabi, so my entire journey time equalled to far more than 8 hours, but the duration of the longest flight was less. To be on the safe side I opted to take the PCR test within 72 hours of arrival. However, that left little turnaround time for the results, so I had to make sure I used a company that offered a speedy service.

Randox, would have been the ideal company to go with, as they offer home testing kits and have pick-up and drop-off points dotted around in different locations across the country. Their prices also seem to be lower than other companies (yes they are still very steep, but trust me, I spent the better part of a day searching and comparing prices). Results are emailed by midnight the following day, and the report includes a QR code. A QR code on a PCR test report is a requirement for Oman. I did use their services on arrival in London (for Day 2 and Day 8 tests) and my husband had also used Randox for his return journey a few months back. However, when the time came to take my pre-departure test, I learnt that the location that I had used previously for picking up Randox home testing kits no longer offered this service and there were no other nearby pick-up points. This left me in a pickle because there was no time left for home delivery (4-6 working days) of a Randox home testing kit. Please don’t make the same mistake I did – if you know you are travelling just purchase a kit in advance leaving enough time for delivery. So instead of using Randox again, I had to find a local company that offered an in-clinic service. Since it is holiday season, there are many many people making bookings for these tests but thankfully I found a slot with a private GP clinic nearby. I ended up taking a test at a JDoc testing clinic in North London. They offer same-day results for tests taken before 3pm on weekdays and the test report includes a QR code. In hindsight, receiving the results on the same day rather than hours before the flight (as was the case for my husband) was a lot less stressful.

Completing the TRF form on the eMushrif website

I completed and submitted a pre-registration form (also known as a Traveler Registration Form) on the eMushrif website. There used to be a charge for this service but this is no longer the case. Ensure you use Google Chrome as your browser and you have all the necessary documents ready beforehand. It takes about a maximum of ten minutes to fill out the form and you can save it as a PDF on completion.

Uploading documents to be verified to fly by my airline

Etihad Airways offers an optional service of being “verified to fly”. This means the traveller has the option of uploading documents (vaccine certificate, negative PCR test report and in some cases passport photocopy) in advance and submitting them for the airline to check prior to arriving at the airport. This must be done AFTER submitting the TRF form. Essentially, this means avoiding queues and spending longer than necessary at the check in counter. I decided to do this and received an email notifying me that I was verified to fly within a few hours. Sure enough, the queue at Heathrow for verified to fly passengers was a lot shorter than the others.

Ensuring I carried proof of health insurance

On the UK government website, it states that “British Nationals arriving in Oman from the UK must have proof of travel/health insurance which covers at least 30 days of COVID-19 treatment”. Based on this, I made sure to keep my Oman health insurance card accessible in case I was asked to show evidence, but I was not asked at any point to show this proof.

Whilst travelling, I was required to:

Complete a self-declaration health form

On the plane, all passengers were given a “Self-Declaration by International Traveller” form to complete before landing. It was mainly questions surrounding recent travel, symptoms and contact details.

Show my vaccination certificate, TRF form and PCR report on arrival

After completing immigration, just before baggage collection, I was prompted to follow the signs to have my documents checked. I had ensured to have print-outs of everything, yet, not surprisingly, when the time came to present them to the airport official, I ended up becoming flustered and fumbled with my papers when I was trying to keep one eye on my daughter who was starting to wander off. Thankfully, the fact that I could not locate the print-out of my eMushrif registration form was not an issue, as I could show the form on my phone. It even states on the eMushrif website that a “soft or hard copy of your travel registration form (TRF)” can be shown on arrival. After receiving an “exit approved” stamp on one of my papers, I was good to go. The whole process from getting off the plane to receiving the stamp of approval took half an hour.

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Please note, I travelled with my four year old daughter, who was not required to take a pre-departure PCR test nor complete a TRF form, due to her age. On the Etihad website when completing the verified to fly process, I ticked her as “exempt” from uploading the documents. I did, however, carry her Oman health insurance card with me and completed a self-declaration health form on her behalf.

I hope this was helpful. Safe travels to you all!