Daijiworld Media Network - Doha

Doha, Sep 6: A law issued by the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on September 4 allows expatriates to obtain permanent residence permit of Qatar under certain rules and regulations.

The Law No 10 of 2018 has set four main requirements and upon fulfilment, one can be eligible for permanent residence permit.

1) The law states that a candidate should complete 20 years in Qatar on a legal ordinary residency permit if he/she is born abroad. Those born in Qatar are required to complete 10 years. The residency duration should be consecutive and prior to the date of submission of the application for permanent residency permit.

The continuation of residency of the applicant in the county should not be interrupted by staying outside Qatar for more than 60 days in a year and duration of stay out of the country will be deducted from the balance of the residency in Qatar.

If the applicant left Qatar after applying for permanent residency permit for more than six months in a row, the Minister of Interior has the right to disqualify his previous residency duration in the country.

2) The applicant should have enough income to cover expenditures of him and his family. A cabinet decision will specify the minimum income of the applicant and exceptional cases.

3) The applicant should be of good behaviour and reputation and he/she should not have previously been convicted of a dishonourable offence unless he has been rehabilitated in accordance with the law.

4) The applicant should have enough knowledge of the Arabic language.

The provision of the article No. 1 is not applicable on some special categories of expatriates like children of Qatari women married with non-Qataris, non-Qatari husband of Qatari woman, expatriate wife of Qatari citizen, children of Qatari with naturalization, people with special capabilities who are needed by the state.

Clauses 1, 2 and 3 will be applied on the expatriate husband of Qatari woman, who apply for permanent residency permit of Qatar.

Permanent committee to scrutinize applications

A permanent committee called ‘Committee for Granting Permanent Residency Permit’ will be set up at the Ministry of Interior to scrutinize applications under provisions of this law.

The Committee will send its recommendations to the Minister of Interior who will take appropriate decision about the applications and will grant ID card called ‘Permanent Residency Permit’ to the eligible candidate.

The law is effective and is yet to be published in the official gazette.