Qatar amends work visa rules for migrant workers

The processes for hiring overseas workers have been amended in Qatar under Law No 21 of 2015 to streamline the entry, residency and exit of expatriates. The rules for securing family visas and residency permits for family members (spouses and dependent children), however, remain unchanged.  Employees hired in the private sector who intend to apply for family visas should earn a monthly salary of at least QAR7, 000 to QAR10, 000. The Peninsula cited the police magazine Shurta Maak, which quoted Brigadier Nasser Jabr Al Atiyyah, Assistant Director of the General Directorate of Passports, as telling it that hereafter, employers should seek approval for work visas from the MADLSA (Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs), before they apply at the Ministry of Interior. Visa approval can be procured by the employers in Qatar from the MADLSA without mentioning names, and at the time they sign the job contract with the worker, they are required to present a passport copy, the job contract and the approval from MADLSA to obtain the entry visa for the worker. The previous law allowed the employers to grant 100 visas to import workers. As per the new law, expatriate workers would be allowed to work with other employers in their extra time by getting permission from the principal employer. Al Attiyah said that punitive actions would be taken against employers breaching the law. If you are looking to travel to Qatar, get in touch with Y-Axis, a renowned immigration consultancy company, to apply for a visa from one of its several offices.