Qatar: New Process to Streamline Existing Employees’ Contract Registration but May Cause Initial Delays

Update – May 16, 2024: The Ministry of Labour portal has been updated, allowing both employees (who are moving to a new company) and their new employer to initiate a sponsorship transfer request, where previously only employees were able do so.

May 1, 2024: The Qatari authorities have implemented a new procedure for the authentication of employment contracts in Qatar, and have updated the Ministry of Labour (MOL) portal to accommodate these changes. As per the new procedure, residence permit holders must register on the National Authentication System (NAS) to facilitate employment contract authentication. The NAS is used to verify the digital identity of individuals for the purpose of using the e-government services in a secure manner. Previously, only authorised representatives of the Qatari employer could register employment contracts, and on a different portal – the MOL portal. As background, when Qatar introduced the ‘E-Contract System’ in November 2023, it was not clear if the system replaced the need to digitally sign the employment contract, or if it was an additional step in the process. It is now clear that this electronic process replaces physical signatures for existing employees, allowing employees to validate their signatures digitally (through the NAS as described above). However, new employees must still provide physical signatures and upload their employment contract to the portal, as they do not yet possess a residence permit with their signature (the signature is automatically inserted into the contract based on the signature in the residence permit, upon approval of the contract). The new process is expected to simplify and speed up the employment contract registration process for existing employees, replacing physical signatures with digital verification. However, employers should plan for delays during the initial roll out of the system due to implementation issues associated with a new online system and system upgrades, which may cause slower processing times.