Qatar Visa Centres: A One-Year Update

On October 12, 2018, the first Qatar Visa Centre (QVC) was opened in Sri Lanka. Since then, several centres have opened around the world, servicing a large portion of migrant workers looking to relocate to Qatar. In this blog, I will explore the impact of such a significant change to the migration process as it relates to the immigration landscape in Qatar.

What are Qatar Visa Centres?

The Qatar Ministry of Interior (MOI) set up QVCs in select countries around the world, focusing on those countries that provide a large number of blue-collar migrant workers to Qatar such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and, recently, Philippines.

Nationals of the above-listed countries wishing to obtain a Qatar Work Residence Permit (RP) are now required to complete a list of procedures in their respective home countries prior to travelling to Qatar. This includes:

Medical testing (X-ray, blood test and vaccination) Fingerprint scanning Document legalisation (for select professions) Electronic acknowledgment of employment terms Why were QVCs introduced?

In conjunction with the Qatar Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA), the authorities' aim for introducing QVCs focused on several key areas:

To simplify the recruitment and immigration process within Qatar for a large portion of migrant workers coming to the country by completing the bulk of the immigration process overseas. This means that migrant workers who complete the QVC process overseas will only be required to physically sign their employment contract once in Qatar - at which point the employer would proceed to issue the applicant's Work RP without any additional procedures. To lessen the burden on the various government office authorities that were previously managing this process within Qatar, such as the medical commission and fingerprint office. To enable employees to clearly understand the terms of their employment (in their native language) prior to travelling to Qatar through the electronic acknowledgment of employment terms. To ensure, as far as possible, that employer recruitment costs are reduced by ensuring that all applicants pass the medical tests before travelling to Qatar. Historically, this process was undertaken in Qatar, and employers had to potentially bear additional costs for repatriating an applicant who did not pass the medical test. What has the impact been on the business community in Qatar?

The positives

The QVCs have...

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