Qatar | Immigration | New e-service introduced to switch residency status from family to work

31 October 2023

Immigration

Qatar | New e-service introduced to switch residency status from family to work

Summary

The Ministry of Labour in Qatar recently announced the launch of a new e service to allow foreign nationals to change their residency status from family to work, greatly simplifying the process to change status in-country.

The Detail

Under the new change, the process of “switching” status from family to work can either start with the new employer applying to add the candidate as a worker on the Ministry of Labour portal, or it can start with them applying to join the labour market by entering the new employer details on the Ministry of Labour portal. This is a request that can be approved or rejected depending on whether certain conditions are met. If the approval is granted, the contract attestation procedures start, the new employer settles the fees online and the residency change approval information is then automatically exported to the Ministry of Interior for final implementation of the actual residency-type change.

The requirements include the following:

– The employer should have an active Establishment card;
– The employer should not have any suspensions;
– There are no ongoing applications of the same type under the same worker.

What this means

This new service is part of the Ministry of Labour vision to implement multiple services on its e-platform, and is designed to help the private sector in Qatar by streamlining the hiring procedure for residents under a family sponsorship status.

How we can help

We can assist employers with this new process, from the initial assessment right through to securing work authorisation for employees. We will continue to closely monitor and provide timely guidance on any new updates by the Ministry of Labour and highlight the impact of any changes that may follow.

Contact us

Should you have further questions on this update, please reach out to:

Anir Chatterji 
Middle East Immigration Leader
anir.chatterji@vialto.com

Rekha Simpson 
Director, Middle East Immigration
rekha.simpson@vialto.com

Marilyn Serrao 
Senior Associate, Middle East Immigration
marilyn.serrao@vialto.com

Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com