Metrash, Hukoomi or Tawtheeq: which app or portal for which task (2026)

The short answer

Most residents need all three, but for different jobs. Metrash is the Ministry of Interior (MOI) app: residence permits, visas, traffic and security services. Hukoomi (hukoomi.gov.qa) is the national government portal: it explains services, groups some of them into life events and lets you track what you start there. Tawtheeq is not a place where you do tasks at all. It is the National Authentication System, the shared login that Hukoomi and many other government websites use.

A simple way to remember it: Metrash is a building with its own front door, Hukoomi is the city's information desk, and Tawtheeq is the key that opens most doors except Metrash's.

Side by side

The point that confuses most people: Metrash and Tawtheeq are separate accounts with separate passwords. Changing your phone number or password in one does not change the other.

Which one for which task

For the steps, see our guides to renewing your QID, family visas, traffic fines and the health card.

Metrash: what it does and what changed

The redesigned Metrash launched on 17 December 2024 with more than 440 services, including 100 new ones, according to Gulf Times. It added new sections such as profile, authorisation, inquiry, security, appointment booking and certificates, and Apple Pay as a payment option. The old Metrash2 app stopped working on 1 March 2025, so if you still have it, delete it.

Things added since then that people often miss:

• Financial claims (from April 2026): claims raised by the passports department, such as fees, fines and travel ticket costs, can be paid under Security, then Financial Claims.
• Visa copy by email: when you pay a visa fee (Visa, then Operations, then Pay Visa Fee), a copy of the visa is sent to your registered email address, as the MOI highlighted in July 2026.
• Family authorisation: a sponsor can help a spouse or child activate Metrash even if they do not have a Qatari number in their own name.
• More traffic services: MOI said these had grown to 85 by May 2026.

You register for Metrash with your QID and a Qatari mobile number in your own name. Our Metrash guide covers sign-up, adding family and fixing activation problems.

Hukoomi: what the June 2026 relaunch changed

On 16 June 2026 MCIT relaunched Hukoomi as the first product of its "Digital Factory" programme. Before, it was mostly a directory: you read about a service and followed a link. Now you sign in once and get a personal profile, can track your government transactions, keep saved documents and raise support requests at any hour. It also has advanced search, a virtual assistant and several languages.

The headline feature is Life Moments, journeys that bundle the services for one event. Six were live at launch:

1. Getting married
2. Winter camping
3. Owning a falcon
4. Owning a boat
5. Benefiting from social welfare
6. Managing retirement

Some of these are aimed mainly at Qatari citizens. More Life Moments and business services are promised in later releases, but none have a date yet.

What did NOT change: the relaunch did not move MOI services onto Hukoomi. Residence permits, visas and traffic fines are still done in Metrash. The new features are on the website, hukoomi.gov.qa.

Our Hukoomi guide walks through signing in, the dashboard and each Life Moment.

Tawtheeq: the login behind the portals

Tawtheeq launched in 2019 as the National Authentication System. It gives you one username and password, plus one-time codes, for every government website that supports it, and it also supports digital signing. When a site shows a "Tawtheeq" or "National Authentication" button, you are sent to the Tawtheeq login page, then back to the site already signed in.

You create the account with your QID and a Qatari mobile number. If the number is registered in someone else's name, such as your employer's, the account may be created but left inactive until you call 109 or move the line into your name. Our Tawtheeq guide covers registering, resetting a password and changing your number.

Choose this if...

• Choose Metrash if the task involves your residence permit, a visa, your car, a traffic fine or an MOI fee.
• Choose Hukoomi if you do not know which ministry handles something, your task matches a Life Moment, or you want to track a request you started there.
• Set up Tawtheeq if you will use Hukoomi or any ministry website, for example to change jobs or attest a degree. It is worth doing in your first weeks, before you need it urgently.

All three are free to use. You only pay the fee for the government service itself, and each app or site shows it before you confirm.

Common mistakes

• Trying to renew a QID or pay a traffic fine on Hukoomi. Those are in Metrash.
• Using your Metrash password on the Tawtheeq login page, or the other way round.
• Registering with a SIM that is in your employer's name, so codes never reach you.
• Changing your mobile number in one system and forgetting the others. Update Metrash and Tawtheeq separately.
• Paying through a link in an SMS or WhatsApp message. Type hukoomi.gov.qa yourself and use only the official MOI app, and never share a one-time code.
• Assuming every Life Moment applies to residents. Read the eligibility on each one.

Check before you act: services are being added to all three platforms through 2026. If a menu has moved, use the search in the app or site, or call the Government Contact Centre on 109.