The Ministry of Interior (MOI) in the State of Qatar, in a tweet on its official Twitter account, has announced extending the grace period for legalizing the status of expatriates violating the provisions of the Law No (21) of 2015 regulating the entry and exit of expatriates and their residence until March 31, 2022.

MOI mentioned in a statement that this procedure comes as part of MOI’s keenness to take into account the interests of the owners of companies and expatriate workers to benefit from 50% reduction in the settlement amount related to violations.

Thereby, all violating expatriates or employers within the abovementioned specified period have to submit the settlement application regarding the violations of the abovementioned law to the Search and Follow up Department, or one of the following service centers that accept applications to change from one employer to another employer (Umm Salal, Al Rayyan, Mesaimeer, Wakra and Umm Seneem), as MOI explained.

MOI also calls for heading to any of the following service centers that accept reconciliation applications and applications for the issuance and renewal of the Residence Permit (RP) by the same employer (Al Shamal, Al Khor, Al Daayen, Umm Salal, Al Lulu, Unaizah, Souq Waqif, Al Rayyan, Umm Sanim, Al Sheehaniya, Mesaimeer, Al Wakra, and Dukhan).

Thus, MOI calls for heading to the abovementioned Department or service centers during the abovementioned period, from 01:00 PM until 06:00 PM.

MOI noted that targeted categories to legalize their statuses are as follows:
– Expatriates violating the residency rules (companies).
– Expatriates violating the work visa rules.

MOI urges employers and expatriates to adhere to the specified period, to benefit from the settlement to legalize their statuses and avoid legal procedures against them for not legalizing their statuses.

Source: Government of Qatar