Former residents planning to return to Qatar again for employment should ensure they obtain the requisite no-objection certificate (NOC) from their previous employer and all other documents should be in order, a top official of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry has cautioned. Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, Vice-Chairman of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), told The Peninsula yesterday: "I am not aware of any changes regarding re-entry to Qatar for people who have left the country for good. The rules are still the same. Anyone who has left the country and wants to get back in less than two years is required to present an approval from his previous sponsor to Immigration. There is nothing new about this." Rules now call for a former resident, even on a visit to the country as a tourist, to have a NOC from his last employer in Qatar. Several Europeans, unaware of the rule, were recently denied entry and were turned back at the Doha International Airport. Due to the confusion prevailing among some travellers, the British Embassy had put up a travel advisory on its website and urged its citizens to check with airlines and the nearest Qatari Embassy about immigration requirements. "It may not be possible for them (British citizens) to purchase visit visas on arrival in Doha,' the travel advisory said. Al Emadi, when told about incidents where people have been asked to provide an NOC at the airport immigration counter, said: "This only happens if there is some disagreement between an employer and the employee. In my opinion, this has nothing to do with the law." Al Emadi said media has played a major role in planting the seeds of confusion among people here and urged the press to report both sides of the story. Giving an example of a story which he felt was unbalanced, he said: "I saw in the newspaper the other day a case of two workers who said they were paying their sponsors most of the money they earned in order for him to continue to sponsor them. How could this be? How were they managing with the low salaries they claimed they were receiving? This is an example of people talking to media just to push for a sponsorship change." Giving an example of why he felt the NOC rule was necessary, he spoke of a sponsor who was approached by an employee with a salary of QR1,200. "The employee asked the sponsor to give him a letter stating he was making more than QR4000 so he could bring his family to the country." Al Emadi said the sponsor gave the letter but after a lapse of two years, was summoned by the police to pay the employee salary arrears. "It seems the employee was using the letter as some sort of proof he was making over QR4,000 per month. However, the matter went to court and the sponsor won the case," said Al Emadi. The Pen

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