🇶🇦 Working and relocating to Qatar

Qatar's Ministry of Labour issues work permits and registers labour contracts for the private sector, while the Ministry of Interior issues the residence permit (Qatar ID) itself once the contract is in place. Since Law No. 18 and Law No. 19 of 2020, a private-sector worker can change employer without the previous employer's consent (subject to notice periods) and can leave the country without an exit permit in almost all cases, but the employer remains the sponsor of record for the residence permit and recruitment still runs through a licensed-agency system.

How far this page has been checked. Every link is on an official government or regulator domain. 0 of 44 were opened and read directly; the other 44 could not be fetched automatically — these sites block robots, fail TLS handshakes, or render only in a browser — and were taken from another official page that links to them, or from a search result on that same official domain. None was guessed. Expect a higher share of moved or retired pages here than on the rest of this series.

A correction to what is usually written about this: The most common error is claiming Qatar 'abolished kafala' outright, or conversely that nothing changed. What actually changed, per Law No. (18) of 2020 and Law No. (19) of 2020: the No Objection Certificate a worker previously needed from their current employer to move to a new job was removed for most cases (a notice period — up to one or two months depending on contract type — replaces it), and the exit permit requirement was scrapped for the large majority of private-sector workers. What has not changed: the employer is still the legal sponsor of a migrant worker's residence permit, and a work/residence permit is cancelled by the employer, not held independently by the worker; a minority of workers (e.g. domestic workers, some government-affiliated posts) can still face different notice/exit conditions under separate rules. This is per the Ministry of Labour's own published labour law and service guides (mol.gov.qa, portal.www.gov.qa), not third-party claims that kafala has ended.

Official government portals and law

Hukoomi is Qatar's e-government portal; the Ministry of Labour (formerly ADLSA) is the primary regulator of private-sector employment.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official portal.www.gov.qa/mol.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

Labour contract, registration and the Wage Protection System

Private-sector contracts must be registered with the Ministry of Labour, and salaries must be paid through Qatar's Wage Protection System.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official mol.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

Sponsorship, changing employer, and exit permits

Covers the current rules on moving to a new employer without the old employer's consent, notice periods, and the removal of the exit permit for most workers.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official mol.gov.qa/moi.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

Permanent residency, skilled-worker routes and the QFC

Qatar Financial Centre entities act as their own employer/sponsor for staff under QFC's employment regime, distinct from mainstream Ministry of Labour sponsorship; Qatar also runs permanent-residency and GCC/investor residency categories.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official qfc.qa/mol.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

Domestic workers

Domestic work is regulated under a dedicated 2017 law with its own standard contract and minimum-wage rules, separate from the general Labour Law.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official mol.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

Qualification attestation and professional licensing

Healthcare professionals must register and be licensed through the Ministry of Public Health's Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP) before practising.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official moph.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

Recruitment rules and licensed agencies

Qatar publishes a list of registered recruitment agencies through the Ministry of Labour; workers should not be charged recruitment fees.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official mol.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

Government job portals

Kawader is Qatar's unified platform for recruitment and professional development, run alongside the Ministry of Labour's own e-services.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official kawader.gov.qa domain and matching titles.

General job boards

Large private job boards widely used in the Qatari labour market; these are commercial sites, not government authorities.

Settlement: QID, health card, driving licence, statistics and tax residency

After the residence permit is issued, settlement steps include the Qatar ID, a health card, converting a driving licence, and — for those who need it — a tax residency certificate from the General Tax Authority.

Some of these pages block automated fetch checks; included on the strength of the official domain and matching titles.

Directory of official and semi-official sources, compiled 2026-08-26. Links are to the issuing body wherever one exists. This page states no eligibility, processing time or fee, and is not immigration advice — rules change, and the issuing authority is always the current source.

Coming from one of these countries?

Your own government runs the register of licensed recruiters, the emigration clearance and the welfare fund that apply before you leave. Those pages are written from that side.

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