Qatar: Significant New Step in Residence Permit Cancellation Process

Residence permit cancellation applications for foreign workers in the mainland of Qatar must now first be processed by the Ministry of Labour before being assessed by the Ministry of Interior. Previously, such applications only had to be processed by the Ministry of Interior. This new step – which includes a requirement to provide an employee’s locally registered Qatari mobile number as part of obtaining employee consent to the cancellation application – has increased standard government processing times for such applications to two to four business days (up from the previous one business day). Currently, this change does not apply to companies within the Qatar Financial Centre freezone; and it remains unclear if it will be extended this zone.