DOHA: The illicit trade in work visas goes on as Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), representative body of the private sector, are busy looking for ways to curb the malpractice. But the QCCI admits it is a tough call tackling the issue since one needs hard evidence against an erring company to bring it to book.

“We have been discussing the issue within the Chamber as well as with the authorities concerned,” the Vice-Chairman of the QCCI, Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, told this newspaper yesterday.

“We cannot simply approach a company suspected of selling work visas and say, look you are a culprit, you are a fake company. We need hard evidence and that’s a major problem,” he said.

Al Emadi is, though, hopeful that soon some erring firms would be identified and punished as the authorities concerned mount the vigil against the illicit visa trade.

It is understood that ‘free visas’ come quite expensive for people from nationalities whose quotas have been exhausted.

Qatar follows quota system for different nationalities in order to ensure demographic balance.

People landing here on ‘free visas’ arranged by relatives or friends look for work elsewhere and many of them manage to legalise their status by taking no-objection or deputation letters from their so-called sponsors once they get a job.

But not everyone who lands here on a ‘free visa’ is lucky and settles down in a job comfortably. Many are left in the lurch as they fail to get employment and are either left stranded or at the mercy of friends or relatives.

The common practice these days, however, is that people come on visit visas and do the job hunting. This isn’t illegal, though. Upon landing a job they change the visa into work visa. But visit visas also come for a price.

This is at least true of Filipinos. Filipina women looking for maid jobs have to cough up no less than QR8,000 to QR9,000 to get such a visa. And many are cheated in the process. According to community sources, there have been cases where victims have mortgaged or sold off their properties to arrange large sums to ‘buy’ visit or work visas but have been conned in the process.

For some nationalities the price of a free visa can understandably go up to QR35,000 and even QR40,000.THE PENINSULA