The Advisory Council on Monday gave its approval to a draft law on permanent residency for non-Qataris and decided to submit its recommendations on the matter to the Cabinet.

Under the provisions of the draft legislation, HE the Minister of Interior may grant a permanent residency identification (ID) card to a non-Qatari if the person meets the conditions specified in the law.
“Also, a decision by HE the Minister of Interior may grant this ID to the children of a Qatari woman married to a non-Qatari, as well as those who have offered valuable services to the country and people with special capacities that the country needs,” the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) said in a report.
The Advisory Council took the decision at its regular weekly session on Monday, held under the chairmanship of its Speaker HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud.
At the outset of the meeting, the council discussed the report of the Internal and External Affairs Committee on the draft law, which stipulates the establishment of a committee at the Ministry of Interior to consider requests for granting permanent residency ID to non-Qataris in accordance with provisions of the said legislation.
The Advisory Council approved the draft law after discussing the report of the committee and decided to submit its recommendations thereon to the Cabinet.
In January this year, the council had discussed the draft law at its weekly session and referred it to the Internal and External Affairs Committee for further study and a report.
Earlier, in August 2017, the Cabinet had given its nod to the draft law on permanent residency.
Meanwhile, the Advisory Council reviewed other topics on its agenda on Monday.
A number of members presented a general debate request on the harm caused to the children of divorced or widowed Qatari mothers, whose spouses were from the siege countries, in order to study the damage resulting therefrom and suggest appropriate recommendations and available options to eliminate the harm.
After discussion, the council decided to refer the general debate request to the Internal and External Affairs Committee to study it and submit a report thereon.
During the session, members of the Advisory Council also watched a presentation on the council’s website, which would be launched soon. The website will contain all information related to the council’s activities, and document its statements, activities conferences and foreign participation, according to the QNA report.