Planning to work in Qatar? Did you know that every expatriate employed in the country is required to have a sponsor?

Who needs to have a sponsorship while in Qatar? 

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• Each Expatriate granted an entry visa to the State of Qatar shall have a sponsor.

Yes. All migrant workers need to follow certain procedures to land a job in Qatar, including having a sponsor. Here’s how:

The process of entering Qatar to work

1. Find a Recruitment Agency

There may be many manpower companies in your home country that can assist you in finding a sponsor in Qatar. However, you have to start from scratch.

If there is a Qatar Visa Centre (QVC) in your area, chances are the process of your application will be easier. 

Qatar has established QVCs in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tunisia, which will expedite the recruitment process and ensure workers do not get exploited in their home countries.

If you found a recruiter in your place, you still have to comply with the QVC process. In the absence of QVC, a recruitment agency can still assist you with your employment requirements to work in Qatar.

But, where to find the right staffing solution in Qatar to refer you to a good sponsor? The best recruitment agencies in Qatar post job vacancies online. They also screen candidates carefully before forwarding their credentials to hiring firms.

To know why consulting a recruiter is important for your application, read this article:

Reasons Why You Need a Recruitment Agency to Apply for a Job

B2C Solutions, a leading recruitment company in Qatar, has built a trusted reputation and extensive experience in recruitment and manpower supply to the satisfaction of its long list of high-profile government clients in the State.

Read also: Best Recruitment Agencies in Qatar

Note: If you are unable to find an employer as your sponsor, no worries. The sponsorship terms in Qatar are not limited to companies only.

Who else can sponsor you?

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Responsibility for sponsorship of the Expatriate shall be determined as follows:

1. The Expatriate shall only be sponsored by the employer;
2. The head of the family shall be the sponsor of family members resident with him in the State;
3. A visitor shall be sponsored by his host resident in the State of Qatar;
4. A woman shall be sponsored by the person supporting her with whom she has come to reside, even if she subsequently takes up  employment, and a woman who enters the State of Qatar for employment purposes may bring  her husband with her in accordance with the requirements determined  by ministerial resolution; and
5. A Qatari woman married to a non-Qatari may, subject to the approval of the competent authority, introduce her husband and children under her own personal sponsorship.

Read also: What Are the Responsibilities of an Expat's Sponsor in Qatar?

2. Obtain an Employment Contract

Once a contract of employment has been agreed with your employer, a temporary visa will be sent to you. You can follow up on visa issuance and print the visa through the Ministry of Interior's website or on Hukoomi portal.

3. Acquire a Residence or Work Permit

Prepare these requirements to be issued with a permit to work and live in Qatar:

- passport

- good conduct certificate (with hand fingerprints) from the country that issued the passport

- authenticated educational certificates

- medical examination

Note:

• All documentation must be certified/attested through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Qatar Embassy in the country from which you applied.
• All original documents must be certified/attested through the embassy of your country, followed by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To avoid waiting, an appointment can be booked in advance through the Ministry of Public Health's website.

The medical examination results should be sent online to the Criminal Evidence and information Department, for the final stage of taking hand fingerprints best recruitment agencies in Qatar today!

4. Register in MADLSA

After obtaining a residence permit, make sure you document your employment contract at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA), and that the contract includes the job title, working hours, salary, and other privileges. This must be in Arabic because it is the approved language.

5. Know your rights and obligations

After receiving a residence permit, what benefits can you get?

• You can bring your wife and children to Qatar to live under your personal sponsorship (to do this, you must submit a salary certificate from your employer, birth certificates of children and a marriage certificate to the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy of Qatar in your country)
• You can also apply for a family visa at the Hukoomi portal

Read also: Residence Permit Guide for Expat Workers in Qatar

• You can also open a bank account, to which your salary will be transferred as stipulated in the pay protection scheme.
• You can apply for a health card for each family member, which will give you free access to health services provided by the governmental facilities and hospitals (the health card can be renewed through the Hukoomi portal). 
• You can also register your children for a place at a government or international school, or one of the schools affiliated to your country. For more information about schools, visit the website of the Ministry of Education and higher education.

Can you transfer to a new sponsor?

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The competent authority may transfer the sponsorship of an employee who is an Expatriate to another employer under a written agreement between the new and former employers and with the approval of the competent authority of the Ministry of Labour, taking into account of the categories subject to the provisions of the Labour Law. 

Where sponsorship is transferred, the new sponsor shall replace the former sponsor as regards all obligations. The sponsorship of the former sponsor shall expire and he shall be held harmless with respect to the obligations resulting therefrom.

Note: The Qatar Labor Law, prohibits working, paid or unpaid for another company or party during non-official working hours, unless written permission from your current employer is obtained.

All of the above details are stipulated in the "Regulation of the Sponsorship of Expatriates" published in Al Meezan, Qatar's Legal Portal. It is a reliable source that contributes in the dissemination of legislations and all legal information in the State of Qatar.