Doha: Residents can now apply for family visit visas through Metrash2 or MOI website.The electronic service launched by the Ministry of Interior enables residents to apply for visit visa  for their father, mother, wife, children or relatives of the first and second grades.

Director of the Expats Affairs Department at the General Directorate of Passports Brigadier Abdullah Ali Al Mohannadi said that the e-application service for family visit visa for residents is added to the services of Metrash2, which now offers more than 150 services.

Through this service, the user can upload all the required documents in the allocated fields and can track the status of requests and pay the fees electronically once it is approved.

He added that incase if there is any missing or mismatching documents, the applicant will be notified about it to make required changes. You will receive an application number to proceed for the fee payment after the application is verified and approved.

The ministry has introduced this service as it forms a large part of the services provided by the Expats Affairs Department, Brigadier Abdullah Ali Al Mohannadi said.

The ministry had been evaluating the service over the last two months and it was 100 percent successful. The General Directorate of Passports will evaluate the service on a daily basis and make further improvements. This will substantially reduce the number of visitors to the GDP Headquarters and service centers.

Brigadier Abdullah Al Muhannadi called on the residents to submit the family visit visa electronically through the MOI website or Metrash2, as in the next stage the application for family visit visa will be accepted electronically only, instead of any paper transaction.

The Expatriates Affairs Department alone received 15,500 requests for family visit-visa last May, while General Directorate of Passports received 53,000 visa applications in all its service centers. It showed an increase of 27.5 percent compared to April, where it received 12,200 visas and the General Directorate of Passports received 49,000 visas at all service centers.

For his part, Director of Expats Affairs Brig. Abdullah Salim Al Ansari said that the General Directorate of Passports is now receiving requests for family visit through Metrash2 and MoI website and also accepting applications manually in specific cases.

He noted that this electronic service was prepared by the General Directorate of Passports in cooperation with the General Directorate of Information Systems at the Ministry, and the service has been put in a pilot phase to check for any unforeseen technical error and rectify it immediately.

He pointed out that the conversion of the family visit-visa application to electronic system reduces the time and effort of the residents, improving the quality of the services provided by the Ministry of Interior. It is the Ministry’s plan to switch to electronic systems (Paperless Ministry) in order to develop the services provided to the public in easy and accessible ways and to maintain the high level achieved by the State of Qatar in this area.