The Ministry of Interior signed an agreement with a Singapore-based company to simplify the residency procedures for expatriate workers coming to Qatar.
Brigadier Muhammad Ahmad Al Ateeq, Director General of the General Directorate of Passports and Suresh Kumar, Manager of the Singapore-based company signed the agreement at the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior, on behalf of both parties.
The project will be implemented in eight countries initially for its first phase – India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines and Tunisia – as workers from these countries constitute 80% of the total workforce in Qatar.
Brig Muhammad Ahmad Al Ateeq said that the agreement was intended to facilitate the services for easing the residency procedures for expatriates coming to work in Qatar. This system will be implemented through a mechanism starting from the issuance of visa until the person reaches Qatar.
Service providing centres will be opened in countries where the Qatar visa holders can complete many steps of the entry and residency procedures from their home countries. As part of the first phase, services such as biometric data record, fingerprint, medical check up and work contract signing will be carried out through these centres from their own countries before their departure to Qatar.
He pointed out that this project has undergone studies and evaluation to ease the entry processes in favour of the expatriate workers. The documentation and signing of contract before travel to Qatar will help the workers start their work with the hosting companies immediately after entering the country.
This project is implemented in cooperation with different authorities in Qatar led by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs.
Capt Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, Recruitment Support Services Department at the General Directorate of Passport said that the second phase shall also include the authorisation of educational certificates and other documents and services.
The project will help solve several issues in residency procedures such as medical fitness, fingerprint and contract signing. Expats will not be asked to go through these procedures after their entry to Qatar. The processes will be linked electronically to concerned departments to avoid mismanagement and can be verified in airport counters upon their arrival. The medical check up will be approved electronically by the E-governance service. The project will also be carried out in other countries to cover all countries of origins of all expats in Qatar.
The project which will be worked out within four months and will be piloted in Sri Lanka where the first of such centre will be opened in Colombo. It will be followed with the opening of similar centres in seven other countries: seven in India, four in Pakistan, three each in Bangladesh and Indonesia, two in the Philippines and one each in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Tunisia.
For more information about the new expat service centres, visit the MOI website at portal.moi.gov.qa.