How to obtain Qatar Family Visa or Family Residential Visa for your spouse

Main Factors you need to remember / consider obtaining RP / Qatar ID for your wife:

Your Profession
Your Salary Package
Tenancy Contract (Proof of living)
Marriage Certificate

Your Profession: You must be under a professional visa category in Qatar. For example: All type of Engineers (Mechanical, Civil, Computer), Computer Technician (my colleague got spouse RP for this category), Electric Technician (my colleague got spouse RP in this category) and other professional category. Make sure you are not under a labour category visa like ‘just’ TECHNICIAN, Plumber, Painter… etc.

Your Salary Package: “Effective from 1st January 2012, there have been some major changes incorporated in Dependent Visa rules by the Passports and Expatriates Division of the Interior Ministry in Qatar. The new rule mandates that a minimum salary of QR10,000 is a must to bring in their families to Qatar. Earlier, the minimum salary requirement was QR7000 per month, which was later raised to QR8000 a month, and is now raised to QR10,000.” – this is old.

But, from the end of 2017 they started taking applications from those who getting salary 7000 or above + Company Accommodation Allowance.

It means if your salary is between 7000 – 9000, you are eligible to apply. But, you must show that your company providing you accommodation allowance or accommodation. And it should be mentioned in your employment contract.

For example: Salary: QR 7,000 + Accommodation Allowance / Accommodation

If your salary is QR 10,000 or more, you may proceed without company accommodation proof. But, you need your rented house paper attested from Baladiya.

Family Residence Visa validity in Qatar

The Family Residence Visa can be obtained for 1 to 5 years.

Cost of the Family Residence Visa in Qatar

For each individual, the cost of the Family Residence Visa is QR 500 per year.

Fees

No fees are required for this service.

Tenancy Contract (Proof of living): This also mandatory. There are two types of cases.

If your salary is more than QR 10,000, you can prepare this with your rented house. But, you must attest it from the Qatar municipality (Baladiya Attestation).
b) If your salary is between 7000 – 9000 (less than 10,000), you are eligible to apply. But, you must show that your company providing you accommodation allowance and that allowance must be sufficient for your living (Example: Accommodation Allowance minimum 2000 or more).

In this case you must show 2 proofs:

The accommodation allowance must be mentioned in your employment contract.
You must take baladiya attestation for the rented house.

If your company provided you a living place, then you must request a tenancy contract from your company letter head which states you are living in company provided accommodation and that accommodation space is individually for you. Your name and profession must be in that letter. After this, you must submit to baladiya for attestation as well.

Marriage Certificate: here also there are 2 main cases;

If you have legally registered your marriage from outside (your native place like India, Sri Lanka or any) of Qatar, or you maybe registered from other country (Not from your birth / native place), then you have to attest your original marriage certificate from respective country embassy / consulate in Qatar and after than you must go to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Qatar in West Bay, Qatar.
If you registered your marriage from Qatar Family Court (Shariah Court), then you have to take a copy of attestation from the court itself. You will get it from the court when you ask with your original marriage paper that you got from court before.

Documents required for Family Residence Visa in Qatar

To sponsor your family, you will need to submit the following documents:

Completed application form (if applying offline/in-person, download the form HERE).
Authenticated marriage certificate (attested the Qatar Embassy in your country, your country’s embassy in Doha and then by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha).
Authenticated birth certificates of children (attested the Qatar Embassy in your country, your country’s embassy in Doha and then by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha).
Educational certificate (attested the Qatar Embassy in your country, your country’s embassy in Doha and then by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha).
Tenancy rental/lease contract.
Copies of passports of all family members.
No objection letter from the employer.
Employment contract (authenticated by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs).
Salary certificate (proof of salary).
Six months bank statement.
Certificate of good conduct (Police Clearance), authenticated by the relevant authorities for adults.
Any other conditions deemed necessary by the competent authority in this regard.

Please note the following:

The application form should be typed or written in Arabic.
Required names and data should be typed exactly as written in the passports
Residence permit of a foreign spouse of a Gulf citizen, issued in their country should be valid, or a marriage approval certified by the competent authorities must be submitted.
If your marriage certificate, birth certificates of your children and your educational degrees are in English or some other language, they must be translated into Arabic by a government-approved translation service in Qatar.
All attached copies must be legible/readable and clear.
Original documents are required at the time of registration.

Service Center

Expatriate Affairs Department and the Unified Services Centers

Online Instructions

Log in with your smartcard to the MOI e-services portal.
Click on “Visa Services” then “Family Visit Application”.
Use the “Service Options” page to check all available options of the service.
Select visa application type from the “Application Type” list.

To submit a new application

Select “New Application” from the “Application Options” list, then click on “Next”.
Enter expatriate data and select the relation, then click on “Next”.
Enter passport details of expatriate, then click on “Next”.
Enter email address to receive copy of receipt, then click on “Next”.
Attach the required documents, then click on “Next”.
Review the data, then click on “Submit”.

To inquire and follow up on application

Select “Application Follow up”, then click on “Next” so that the displays a list of the previously submitted application(s) with the status and documents of each
Check the “Application Details”, then click on “Next”.
Click on “Upload Missing Documents” in case of documents not attached at the time of submitting the application.
Attach the missing documents (according to the “application status”, then click on “Submit”.

Offline Instructions

Download and fill out the paper form, then submit it to the Permanent Committee for Looking for Labor Approval at MOI.
Attach the following documents:
- Copy of host’s QID
- Copy of valid passport of the person to be brought in
- Certified copy of marriage contract and birth certificates for children
- Certified copy of employment contract emphasizing job and salary
- Certificate of good conduct (Police Clearance), certified by the relevant authorities for adults
- Health insurance with a company accepted in the State, for the whole duration of the visitor’s stay in the country
- Certificate proving that medical examination has been passed abroad, in accordance with the mechanism adopted by the competent authorities
- Any other conditions deemed necessary by the competent authority in this regard

Online instructions for the Metrash2 mobile app

Login to your Metrash 2.
Click on “Visa Services” and then on “Visa Operation”.
Find the “Family Applications” icon and click.
On the “Family Applications” page, click on “New Application”
Fill in all the required details for your family, and click on “Validate’.
You will be told to upload your scanned and required documents (all documents must be clear), and “Submit”.

Brigadier Mohammed Ahmed Al Ateeq, DG of the General Directorate of Passports at #MoIQatar, this e-service is for the purpose of providing family visit visa to expatriates in the country and it was on test since two months and proved a great success. pic.twitter.com/HASyTGvhi4

— Ministry of Interior (@MOI_QatarEn) May 16, 2018

Additional Information

The user shall own a smart card to use the service online.
This service can be obtained online at any time and immediately.
This service is also available via Metrash2.
Wives and children shall be brought in to the country as per the following terms:
- Resident shall hold a valid work residence permit
- Resident shall submit a marriage contract certified by the competent authorities as per the terms of attestation
- Employee in government and semi-government entities shall have family housing from the employer, or family allowance shall be provided as specified in the employment contract
- Profession and salary of employees in government and semi-government entities shall be confirmed by official letter
- Private sector employees shall have technical or specialized (non-labor) professions with salary no less than QR10,000 or QR7,000 with family housing facility
- Private sector employees shall provide proof of salary by submitting a bank statement for no less than six months from an accredited bank in the country. The profession is also confirmed by a notarized employment contract and copy of educational certificate.
Paper form shall be typed in Arabic.
Required names and data shall be typed as written in the passport
Residence permit of foreign spouse of Gulf citizen, issued in his country, shall be valid, or a marriage approval certified by the competent authorities is submitted.
All attached copies must be clear and in serial as mentioned above.
Original documents are required at the time of registration.

What happens after you submit the application

Once you have submitted your applications online or offline, you will be given a receipt with the application number. You can track the application status on the Ministry of Interior website.
If the application is still under process even after seven working days, go to the Ministry of Interior and follow up on your application.
Once your application is approved, make the visa payment. You will get an SMS on your mobile.

What happens after the Family Residence Visa is approved

When the payment has been done, your spouse and/or children can travel to Qatar. It’s important to ensure they have a copy of their Qatar Residence Visa when they travel
Once your spouse and/or children enter Qatar, you will have three months to apply for their Qatar ID.
Your spouse and/or children will have to take a copy of the printed visa and visa payment receipt to the Medical Commission in Doha with QR 100 to have a medical fitness test which includes a blood test and a chest x-ray done.
You will receive the medical fitness report after three working days. You will get an SMS on your mobile.
Your spouse will need to get their biometrics done at the Mesaimeer Immigration Office. After the biometrics are done, it may take 2-3 days for the system to be updated with the fingerprints. You will get an SMS on your mobile.
After all the steps have been followed, you can have QIDs printed for your family after going to the Immigration Office.
Your family will be with you and you can all enjoy your life together in this beautiful country.

What happens if the Family Residence Visa is rejected

If this does happen, you will have to, maybe, add additional documents or meet with the authorities personally. Once you have fulfilled all the requirements, the Family Residence Visa will be approved. Usually, the visa is not rejected, especially if all documentation is correct and all information accurate.

Helpful Information

Once you submitted, you will get a receipt with application number. You may track your visa application from MOI website: https://portal.moi.gov.qa/wps/portal/MOIInternet/services/inquiries/visaservices/visaapprovaltracking

If your application still under process after 5-7 working days or if you see any error message except “Rejected”, go to Gharaffa Emigration office and tell the reception your application is pending. That time you will get a different

One your spouse visa issued, next step is payment. You may do the payment from Metrash Application from your phone with credit card or go to ANY emigration office near to you and pay with ATM card or Credit Card (Emigration will not accept cash)

After the payment, you need to take your spouse for medical at medical commission, Messaimer. You must keep your printed visa copy with you and QR 100/- you need to pay for medical. You need to give your ATM or Credit card with your wife and wait outside.

2-3 days will take to get medical report. You can check here: http://eservices.moph.gov.qa/mcr/En/mcresults.jsp?CSRT=6748892427162005196

If your spouse is fit / healthy, then go to take her blood test from any of the private clinics. This is to show her blood group.

Then, if your spouse is with you under family visit, then change the family visit to RP by paying QR 500/- at any emigration. Go to any emigration office to fingerprints process (mesaimeer emigration is good).

As with the Work Residence Permit, the sponsoring employer of the principal family member takes care of the administrative procedures in many cases. These are similar to the procedures listed in the Work Residence Permit section.

All family members must undergo the medical test and have fingerprint records taken.

The application form can be downloaded from the MOI website, and submitted to
The Ministry of Administration Development and Labor.

Family members can enter Qatar on an Entry Visa. The application procedure can take up to six weeks to complete. Family Residence Visas must be renewed prior to expiry. Temporary family visas are also available. Spouses (usually wives) on family sponsorship are not officially allowed to work unless they receive permission from the Ministry of Interior’s Labour Department who may issue a work permit.

The Hukoomi website visa section and the MOI website have details of all the latest visa regulations, and information on how to apply for them. It is also possible to track the status of an application online via the MOI visa inquiry services.

Finally, go to any emigration again (Gharaffa is good) after 2-3 days for fingerprint process, pay QR 500/- for 1-year valid QID. Emigration will ask you, how many years you need (Maximum 5 years). Take the printed ID from Emigration and Enjoy Qatar Family Life!!

Extracted from Hukoomi Qatar, Hukoomi and Venture Partner Qatar MOI

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Tags: Qatar Family Visa