Under new arrangement, Americans can visit Qatar for longer and Qataris can travel to U.S. without visas

A new arrangement will soon allow American citizens to visit the Gulf country of Qatar for longer periods of time and give Qataris access to visa-free travel to the U.S. for tourism or business purposes, the Biden administration announced Tuesday.

Qatar will become the latest country — and first Gulf nation — to join the Visa Waiver Program, which allows certain foreigners to travel to the U.S. without visas if their countries' governments agree to enhance security and information-sharing arrangements with Washington. The arrangements with Qatar include the U.S. government gaining access to passenger records and databases on serious criminals and known or suspected terrorists, U.S. officials said on a call with reporters.

While American officials said they are still working on finalizing a specific date, visa-free travel to the U.S. for Qataris is set to start before December.