Qatar is always committed to protecting the rights of expatriate workers. In another move to provide more protection to workers and ensure their safe and smooth entry into Qatar, the Visa Support Services Department of the Ministry of Interior has launched a new service which allows Qatari citizens, residents and companies to authorise manpower agencies to complete the recruitment procedures of domestic workers through Qatar Visa Centers abroad.
Major Abdullah Al Muhannadi, Director of Visa Support Services Department at the General Directorate of Passports, during an event which was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs and attended by representatives of manpower companies and agencies, said the service aims to guarantee the rights of applicants and ensure the ratification of their contracts by the competent authority in the State of Qatar, in addition to reducing the effort and time on both the applicant and the expatriate. The service will begin by the mid of August 2019.
Mohammed Ali Al Meer, Director of Labour Inspection Department of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs said that the Ministry is working on the classification of recruitment agencies operating in the country and evaluating them according to specific professional standards to ensure the best recruitment mechanism.
“This service facilitates the recruitment of domestic workers whereas employment contract will be signed through Qatar Visa Centre in their own country thus protecting the workers’ rights”, Al Meer said. The Ministry also added important data in the labour contract which is in the interest of the expatriate worker, such as data of the employer, the name of the employer, and other important data.
It must be mentioned that QVC recently inaugurated a visa center in Kathmandu in the Republic of Nepal, as part of the ‘Qatar Visa Centers Program’, which was launched last year targeting eight labour-exporting countries. Nepal is the fifth country where a Visa Center was opened after Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India — which have proved to be a great success in providing premium, simplified and more advanced services.
The centers provide facilities for those who have initial approval for entry visas to Qatar where they can complete the registration of their biometrics, medical examinations and the signing of contracts electronically through a unified channel, and thus saving time and effort.
Qatar Visa Centers comply with international standards that ensure greater transparency, traceability, as well as the ability to track and improve procedures. The Centers will enable both the employer and the expatriate worker to perform their role accurately through an integrated recruitment system. This step clearly reflects Qatar’s keenness to ensure the protection and safety of expatriate workers.
By providing simplified services, Qatar is ensuring best practices as these centers abroad will enable the completion of recruitment procedures through one channel within a shorter period of time.
