Qatar has announced some important reforms for expatriates regarding their work and residency laws. The Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA), on Wednesday, announced three proposals, which would benefit both residents and companies in the country.
The most important of the three is the decision to allow sons of expatriates to work in private sector without changing the sponsorship. This will be a game-changer for the labour market as it allows companies to tap into hitherto unavailable pool of highly qualified personnel.
This proposal works both for the employers and the employees as it cuts down recruitment cost drastically as the talent is locally available. The expatriate benefits as he can stay with the family and landing a job is a little easier as the number of applicants will be limited.
The current law allows daughters and wives of residents to work in Qatar provided they obtain a work permit by submitting the necessary documents. The new proposal will allow sons also to stay back with their family in Qatar while pursuing his career in a fast-growing economy.
The second proposal announced by the ministry official was to issue temporary work visas so that companies can bring manpower for short term work. Companies will benefit from this new proposal as many a times they need experts for a few months of consultancy or might need a number of workers for seasonal work, especially in agriculture and manufacturing.
The final proposal, to slash the fees for online transactions by 20 percent, is a great move to promote online platforms of the ministry. This will increase the rate of adoption of digital gateways offered by the ministry on their websites and mobile apps. As the world is turning increasingly digital in recent times, it is only natural that Qatar, which boasts of one of the highest internet penetration and fastest connectivity in the world, offers most of the government services digitally. This not only makes the transactions transparent; but it also makes it less cumbersome for the users.
Qatar has been implementing many reforms in the work and residency laws, which were much appreciated by many international bodies. Senior officials have said there will be more changes going forward as per international standards. The country is already miles ahead of others in the region when it comes to labour reforms, it is showing the path for others to follow and emulate.
