What is DataFlow, and do you still have to use it?

The DataFlow Group is a Dubai-headquartered verification company that has worked with Qatar's healthcare regulator since 2009, under each of the regulator's names since. DataFlow describes itself as DHP's "trusted verification partner since 2009", and its report is what the department has attached to almost every licence it has issued since then (DataFlow, DHP page).

It is no longer the only option. DHP endorsed QuadraBay as a second provider on 2 December 2025 (Circular DHP/2025/20) and Approved Verification Services (AVS) as a third on 3 September 2026 (Circular DHP/2026/36). What is mandatory is verification itself: DHP's PSV page calls it "one of the mandatory requirements for registration and licensing" and tells every practitioner to apply for it before applying for evaluation. So the question is not whether to verify but which provider to pay. Three reasons applicants still pick DataFlow:

  • Transfers. If you were verified for DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, NHRA or Oman's MOH through DataFlow, a transfer to DHP is cheaper and faster than a fresh application anywhere else (see the last section).
  • Employers. DataFlow runs a business portal for facilities that submit staff in bulk, and an employer that uses it may simply tell you to use the same provider.
  • Track record. Universities in India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Egypt and Nigeria have answered DataFlow requests for seventeen years and often have a named contact for them. That matters more than the fee when your degree comes from a small college.

The PSV overview compares all three providers; the QuadraBay and AVS guides cover the alternatives.

How much does DataFlow cost for Qatar?

The table above is DataFlow's published DHP schedule, in Qatari riyals. The numbers to remember:

  • Package A – physicians and dentists: QAR 1,210. Up to two qualifications, one licence, the last five years of employment with up to three employers.
  • Package E – nurses and pharmacists: QAR 990. One qualification, one licence, the last three years of employment.
  • Package B – allied health and complementary medicine: QAR 990. One qualification, one licence, five years of employment.
  • Package G – clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners and nurse educators: QAR 1,210, the same scope as Package A.
  • Package F – trainee with no experience: QAR 600, one qualification only.
  • Packages C and D – retrospective: QAR 800 / 700, for physicians and dentists who have already worked in Qatar for more than five years and are asked to complete PSV; no employment check.
  • Packages H to L cover single purposes: a visiting practitioner's licence (QAR 300), two to three good-standing certificates (QAR 550), one good standing plus the latest employment letter (QAR 550), an allied-health qualification on its own (QAR 400) and non-medical staff (QAR 400).

Anything outside your package is charged per document: QAR 400 for an extra qualification, QAR 300 each for an extra licence, good-standing certificate, surgical logbook or employer beyond three. Two more lines matter at checkout. First, DataFlow's reference kit warns that "if your issuing authority applies verification fees, the amount will be added to the total" – Indian universities and some nursing councils charge for answering, and you pay that through DataFlow. Second, you pay when you submit, not when the result is positive, and neither the price list nor the reference kit mentions a refund for a document that comes back Unable to Verify – so fix the file before you pay rather than after.

The optional services are Express (QAR 529, see below), VIP Virtual Assistance (QAR 788 for a dedicated relationship manager on WhatsApp, voice or video), Applicant Assist (QAR 157: you upload the documents and a DataFlow associate completes the online form within two working days) and SMS status alerts (QAR 10.18). None of them changes what is verified.

What does DataFlow verify in each package?

Every package starts with your passport, which DataFlow lists as "mandatory for all documents", and the signed Letter of Authorization that lets it approach your institutions. After that the components are the same across providers, because they follow DHP's registration requirements:

  • Educational qualifications – the degree or diploma certificate for the qualification you are registering with. Physicians, dentists and advanced-practice nurses get two in the package; everyone else gets one, and the second costs QAR 400. The office that has to reply is the registrar of the institution that awarded it.
  • Professional licence – your current registration with the council or ministry where you practise now, verified with that regulator.
  • Employment – letters covering the last five years (three for nurses and pharmacists) from up to three employers. Each letter needs the exact start and end dates, your job title, your employment status and a signatory whom DataFlow can email or call. A relieving letter without dates and a title will come back as a discrepancy.
  • Cross check – listed in every package. It is DataFlow's own check, not a document you supply.

Not in the standard packages: certificates of good standing, surgical logbooks and any licence other than the current one. Add them at the add-on prices above, or buy Package I or J if the certificate is all you need. Before you upload anything, make sure the name, date of birth and qualification title are identical across every document; the PSV overview lists the six checks to make before you pay.

How do you apply to DataFlow for DHP, step by step?

DataFlow's reference kit sets out nine steps, and the portal follows them in order:

  1. Go to dhp.dataflowgroup.com and register with a valid email address and mobile number.
  2. Enter the one-time passcode sent to your email and phone.
  3. Log in.
  4. Choose the territory Qatar and the regulator DHP.
  5. Enter your details and upload clear scans of each document: passport, qualification certificates, health licence, experience certificates and, if your package needs it, the logbook.
  6. Digitally sign the Letter of Authorization (LOA) that the portal generates.
  7. Review the application. Click Edit to change anything before you submit.
  8. On the payment page, check the total – your package, any add-ons and any issuing-authority fee – and click Submit Application to reach the payment gateway.
  9. Pay. You receive a receipt by email and verification starts.

When the report is complete it is shared with DHP automatically and a copy appears in your account for download; you attach that copy to the evaluation application on the DHP portal. Two alternatives to the online form exist. DataFlow publishes an offline application form for applicants who cannot complete the portal, and employers submit through a separate business portal at business.dataflowgroup.com.

How long does DataFlow take for Qatar, and what slows it down?

DataFlow's reference kit says a DHP report takes "an average of 20 working days ... from the day of submission of all documents and information required to process the application". Its general FAQ allows up to three months. Applicants and consultancies report 25 to 35 working days for a clean file and 45 to 60 when an institution is slow to respond (reported, for example, by Allocation Assist). Express cases average 14 working days.

Three things explain most of the gap between the average and the worst cases:

  • The clock starts late. "All documents and information required" includes anything DataFlow asks for after you submit. Until you answer an insufficient document request, the case is not on the clock.
  • The university decides the pace. DataFlow sends the request, follows up and waits. A registrar who needs a fee, a signed consent or a physical letter can hold a file for weeks. Telling the registrar in advance, naming a contact and paying any verification fee on day one is the single most effective thing you can do; the PSV overview covers what to do before you pay, and a follow-up playbook with email templates is in preparation.
  • Discrepancies restart the component. A different spelling of your name, a graduation date that differs from the transcript, or an employer who reports different dates sends that document back to you and, after correction, back to the source.

If nothing has moved for 15 working days, raise a ticket: the support centre has separate routes for Submit Missing Document / Information and Check an existing support request.

How do you track a DataFlow case and get help?

Where you track depends on when you applied. Cases filed on or before 31 August 2024 are on the old tracker at dataflowstatus.com, searched by DataFlow case number or reference number. Cases filed after that date are tracked by logging in to the portal you applied on (dhp.dataflowgroup.com; DataFlow's general tracker for newer cases is app.dataflowgroup.com). Save the case number the day you pay; support cannot find a file by name alone.

For help, DataFlow offers three channels: the applicant support centre at support.dataflowgroup.com for tickets, WhatsApp on +974 4419 6582, and the Doha service desk at Office 49, 6th Floor, Barwa Tower 1, open Sunday to Thursday from 8 am to 4 pm. The PSV overview explains the three outcomes a report can show for each document. When your report is ready, anyone – an employer, another regulator – can confirm it is genuine through DataFlow's report authentication page.

Already verified for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or Oman? Transfer instead

DataFlow reports move between Gulf regulators. If you hold a DataFlow report issued to another authority, apply for a report transfer rather than a new package: the re-issuance fee for a report previously issued to another authority is QAR 323, and DataFlow quotes a new DHP report "within 5 days if no additional documents are needed". A report that was already issued to DHP – for a re-registration or a new employer – is re-issued for QAR 215.

"No additional documents" is the condition that catches people. DHP will want employment since the old report and a recent good-standing certificate; each is a separate add-on (QAR 300) and each is verified at the source, so a transfer with new employers takes as long as those employers take to reply. The transfer flow starts from the existing applicant option on DataFlow's start page, which opens the legacy gateway at ccp3.dfgateway.com. The PSV overview sets out the transfer options for all three providers.