A press conference was held this morning by the Ministry of Interior (MOI) to discuss Law No. 10 of 2018, issued by His Highness The Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, on permanent residency in Qatar.
Brigadier Mohammed Ahmed Al Ateeq, Director General of Passports, and Brigadier Salem Al Saqr al Muraikhi, Director of the Legal Affairs Department participated in the conference to discuss, in detail, the new Law No.10, its conditions and the privileges connected to it.
At the beginning of the conference, Brigadier Al Muraikhi noted Qatar's continuous efforts towards providing better services to Qatari citizens and residents. He said that the idea of the permanent residency card had been underway for some time, and was not the result of any specific event. He told the attendees at the press conference: “The officials in the country always wanted to provide better services for those living on this land...The importance of the permanent residency card lies in its appreciation and recognition of some categories of long-term residents whereas it is an extension to fundamental constitutional concepts as it appears clearly in the speeches of HH the Amir when the citizen are paired with the residents.”
He also noted that this initiative will increase the investment and attract more capital leading to the economic growth in the country while the State can benefit from the persons of special competencies as well.
Brigadier Al Muraikhi stated: “The consent of permanent residency is the result of consistent efforts to provide better services to those who live in the land of Qatar including citizens and residents.” He went on to add: “The permanent residency law has been issued as an appreciation and honour for the expatriates who have spent long years in Qatar and it provides them certain rights and privileges.”
According to the Law, permanent residency cardholders will be treated as Qataris in government healthcare and educational facilities in the country as per the conditions that will be applied.
A permanent residency cardholder will be allowed to stay in Qatar without an employer or host (sponsor), exit and return to the country at any time and will be able to invest in sectors of the national economy and own real estate for residential and investment purposes.
According to the new Law, the permanent residency card will be granted to long-term residents in Qatar (20 years if born outside Qatar and 10 years if born in Qatar) with enough income to meet his needs and thoe of his family, should enjoy good conduct and reputation, and have adequate knowledge of the Arabic language.
Children of a Qatari woman married with a non-Qatari as per the law, children of a Qatari by naturalisation, a non-Qatari husband of aQatari woman, a non-Qatari wife of a Qatari man are exempted from the above condition of 10 and 20 years. Individuals who have done great services to the country and those with special capabilities needed by the country are also eligible for permanent residency and exempted from the above condition of 10 and 20 years.
Regarding the mechanism on how to can apply for the permanent residency card, Brigadier Al Muraikhi and Brigadier Al Ateeq explained that application submission will be made available through the MOI website or one of its electronic applications. For this purpose, an electronic network has been built to implement this law and has been tried and tested. The applications will be subjected to legal review and compliance to meet all legal requirements and other conditions by legal auditors of the Committee. Then the applications will be submitted to the Committee which will issue its recommendations on such applications. In case of approval, the applications will be referred to the General Directorate of Passports to issue Permanent Residency Card.
Brigadier Al Muraikhi and Brigadier Al Ateeq also pointed out that specific and clear criteria will be set up by the competent authorities to implement these standards to ensure the implementation of the law to achieve its purpose and provide more facilities and services to residents who have a Permanent Residency card.
A working group was formed to prepare the implementation of this ground-breaking Law by preparing the necessary decisions and arrangements for its execution. Several meetings were held with different law enforcement authorities, like the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Municipalities and the Environment as part of implementation.
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