Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Labour (MoL) has announced procedures to change residency from family to work following a newly launched e-service.
The process allows residents in Qatar who live under non-work permits such as family residence visas, to join the labour market by changing their permits to “for the purpose of work.”
The process starts with the new employer applying to add the resident as a worker through the e-platform of the Ministry of Labour.
As per the requirements, smart card is needed to verify through National Authentication System (NAS) the identity of establishment personnel authorised to use the service.
The phone number provided in the request by the establishment must match the phone number associated with the employee’s QID, said MoL in a post on X.
The individuals should be registered with the National Address. The candidates are also required to register in the National Authentication System before entering the portal of the Ministry of Labour.
The Establishment Card (EID) must be active in the system. There should be no personal suspension of the new employer, and there should be no other applications of the same type under study for the same worker.
The new service has been added to MoL portal under “request to join the labour market (change from family residency to work residency)”.
The process could either start with the new employer applying to add the resident as a worker, or it can start with the worker applying to join the labour market by entering the new employer details.
The request 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 fees online and the residency change approval information is then automatically exported to the Ministry of Interior (MoI ) for final implementation of the actual residency status change.
The service, launched last week, is tailored to support private enterprises in Qatar by simplifying the process of employing local residents, thereby reducing both time and financial investments of recruiting from overseas.
The service empowers residents by providing them with employment opportunities, enabling them to actively participate in and contribute to the local labour market.
The launch of the new services aligns with the Ministry of Labour’s strategy to develop digital infrastructure for the labour sector in a way that contributes to facilitating and streamlining the services provided to those dealing with the ministry. The Ministry of Labour aims to streamline processes by eliminating the necessity of visiting the ministry’s offices and submitting physical paperwork.
They are doing this by offering comprehensive online services that are easily accessible to everyone in the labour market interacting with the ministry. The Digital Transformation Team within MoL focuses on enhancing and updating electronic services using the “Agile” engineering approach. This method allows for the rollout of new services and regular updates every month.
