Tribune News Network
Doha
The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) will soon implement the decision to stop renewal of Residence Permits (RP) of expatriates in the country who are aged 60 or above. The move will see expatriates leaving the country as they reach the age of sixty.
The sources at the ministry said the decision is aimed mainly at achieving the target of Qatarisation plan formulated by the ministry. Besides, the ministry aims to widen Qatarisation to private institutions also as there are a large number of Qatari graduates available in various fields.
The move also aims to open the door wider for young expatriates who can contribute more to the development plans in line with the Qatar National vision 2030. According to sources, the Labour Ministry is in the process of implementing the decision in both government and private sectors, reports Al-Watan newspaper.
The ministry is also expected to specify the professions and jobs as well as the nationalities that may be exempted from the application of the decision. A legal and administrative framework has been set up so that the contract with expatriates automatically ends when they reach the age of sixty, meaning, they have to leave the country after collecting all their dues within the period specified in the Law on Entry, Exit, and Residency of Foreign Nationals.
The sources pointed out that there is a strict instruction from the ministry not to issue work visas if there are Qatari job seekers. The ministry has made available a database of Qatari job seekers for this purpose.
If a Qatari job seeker is available to fill the position, the work visa shall not be issued and the citizen will be recruited immediately. If the Qatari job seeker needs training and orientation, the company will be obliged to provide all the necessary training to make him/her suitable to take up the position.
The ministry has recently begun a review of the database of the foreign workers and their jobs with the aim of preparing statistics on the number of expatriates and the projects on which they work. Besides, the ministry has also been verifying details of expatriates who entered the country to work on temporary projects and have been staying here even after completion of the projects.
There has been a trend among many companies to hire such workers and save the cost of recruitment instead of bringing in workers from outside of the country. The ministry will take into account this fact also while processing recruitment applications from companies.