Qatar at a Glance

Sponsorship and Work Contracts in Qatar

Foreign visa applicants need a Qatari sponsor.

Working in Qatar holds many options for the adventurous expat: The petrochemical industry, a booming tourism sector and thriving business services offer various opportunities for expats working in Qatar. Are you ready for this professional challenge? Find out all you need to know on InterNations.

Expats who wish to work in Qatar require a sponsor to do so. This sponsor is typically their employer. Expats can only work for their sponsor and for nobody else for at least two years. After that time period and with a clearance letter from their sponsor, they are allowed to transfer their sponsorship.

Expats should choose their sponsors wisely as they have a lot of power over foreign employees. For instance, a sponsor can refuse to issue the necessary exit visa which allows expats to leave Qatar or ban them from returning to the country for two years. However, there are limits. Sponsors cannot keep their foreign worker’s passports, for example, unless they need to complete important paperwork.

Sponsoring your Family

Once expats have found a sponsor, they are in turn allowed to sponsor their own family. For instance, fathers can sponsor their sons until they are 25 (if they are still students) and their daughters until they get married.

However, expatriates have to receive a certain salary and save up some money in order to sponsor their family. Many expats will have to travel ahead to have their own residence visa processed before they can bring their family along. This may take up to two or three months.

Be sure you have a clear understanding of the financial challenges an assignment in Qatar may bring. While all salary payments are tax free in Qatar, the cost of living can be comparatively high. Many foreign employees have struggled to get by on their salary. Others have sent their family back home when they realized that they could not cover the costs.

Employment Contracts

Work contracts are a tricky business in Qatar. Many expats never receive a contract or never get to sign it. In other cases, foreign workers agreed on certain conditions only to find out that their contract was changed upon their arrival in Qatar.

Each work contract has to be attested by the Department of Labor. Contracts may be written in English as well as in Arabic. Take care to sign both versions, as only the Arabic one is referred to by the Department of Labor in case of a disagreement between employer and employee.

Know Your Rights

Foreign workers and employees are subject to Qatari labor law and enjoy certain rights. For instance, employees should work no more than 6 days per week. More than 8 hours of work should be paid extra, and employees should not have to work more than 10 hours per day at all.

In reality, however, these rules are often disregarded. In this case, expats can report the situation to the nearest labor department. They can refer to the Qatar Labor Law in order to support their complaint.

Expats should be careful when consulting international recruitment agencies. In some cases, these agencies have charged expats a hefty fee for placing them within a company. Their debt-ridden candidates often realize too late that their Qatari jobs do not pay enough to cover the debt. The debtors often put a lot of pressure on these workers, not shying away from threatening their families.