Exit permit for expatriates as well as Qatari minors is processed online and free, the Ministry of Interior said yesterday. Expatriate workers travelling out are not required to carry a hard copy of the permit for submitting at the airport immigration.
The General Directorate of Passports at the ministry said the online service for Exit permit is available on Metrash2, the website of the ministry and Hukoomi (e-government) website.
“The move has come to facilitate travel procedures for nationals and expatriates in Qatar,” said a statement.
All services of the visa section at the ministry have become online including leave permit for expatriate workers and underage nationals, said Lieutenant Colonel Nasser Jaber Al Malki, Head of Visas and Exit Permit Section at the Directorate.
The employer needs only to enter the required data of the expatriate worker, company and the applicant. The same process can be followed by the guardians of Qatari minors seeking exit permit, he added.
Al Malki said that the Airport Passports Department also issues leave notice for expatriate worker (if the employer asks for that) and travel permit for nationals in some cases such as elders, patients, people with special needs if requested by their guardians. The Department provides these services free, he added.
Directorate offers over 30 types of visa services
The General Directorate of Border Passports and Expatriates Affairs offers over 30 types of visa services. As per Law no 21/2015 regulating entry, exit and residency of expatriates, employers are required to notify the ministry online about the leave of expatriate worker whether he/she is leaving for annual leave or any other reasons.
In case the employer failed to notify the competent authority or denied the expatriate worker the right to leave the country he/she can lodge a complaint with the Exit Permit Grievances Committee at the ministry with necessary evidence.
Jasnan Al Shamri, a prominent Qatari lawyer told this daily yesterday that any citizen aged under 18 years needs a permit to leave the country.
Those aged 18 years or above don’t need permission to leave unless the person has mental or other disabilities that make him dependent on a guardian. Hussain Ali, a mandoob working with a contracting company said that exit permit has now become free. Earlier companies had been paying for exit permit for each worker.
“ This is good for companies, especially those with large number of workers. And now there is no need to go to the services centers of the Ministry of Interior for exit permit," said Ali.
He said since enforcement of the new residency law, his company has not encountered any disputes related to exit permit.
