Hiring an Employee in Qatar: Work Visa, Residence Permit and the QAR 100 Permit Fee

A new employer often finds the rules by trial and error. The order matters, and the biggest mistake is letting someone start work on a tourist or visit visa. This guide combines what two university HR pages describe, a law firm note on the 2025 fees, and a search summary of a Qatar Living guide that we could not open. It is general information, not legal advice.

What does a new company need first?

A search summary of a Qatar Living guide says a newly formed company generally cannot recruit from abroad on its Commercial Registration alone, and points to an Establishment ID issued by the Ministry of Interior, which links the company to work visas and residence permits. It says QFC and Qatar Free Zone companies should use their own authority's services. Our guide to business setup in Qatar explains the setup choices, and checking a company's CR helps a candidate verify an employer.

The hiring steps

The same summary lists about seven steps: prepare the company records, get recruitment approval for the role, choose the candidate and authenticate the contract, apply for the work entry visa, complete any Qatar Visa Centre requirements, finish medical and biometric checks, and register the employee on the Wage Protection System. Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar and Georgetown Qatar describe the same flow from the employee side.

What the employee must provide

WCM-Q lists a passport valid for at least six months, the attested highest degree certificate with transcripts and a university verification letter, and an attested police clearance certificate. Degree attestation has three steps: the university, the foreign ministry of the issuing country, and the Qatari embassy there. For family, it adds marriage and birth certificates. Our guide to document attestation for Qatar covers the process, and the guide to a Qatar work visa from abroad covers it from the worker's side.

Visa, medical test and residence permit

Georgetown says the work visa is typically issued within about two weeks of the attested documents arriving, and that it is illegal to work in Qatar on a tourist visa. After arrival, the residence permit process needs a medical exam and fingerprinting. WCM-Q lists blood screening for HIV and hepatitis B and C and a chest X-ray, with children under 10 exempt, and fingerprints at the Criminal Evidence and Information Department. Georgetown says the permit typically takes four to six weeks and that the employee must not leave the country meanwhile, or the process restarts. Neither page mentions the health card, so ask your PRO.

The QAR 100 work permit fee

DLA Piper, in a note published on 13 October 2025, reports Ministerial Decision No. 32 of 2025 from the Ministry of Labour. It sets QAR 100 a year for private sector work permits, covering new, renewal and replacement. It also lists QAR 2,000 for a new or renewed recruitment agency licence, QAR 1,000 for a replacement, and QAR 20 for document attestation such as seals, contracts and certificates. Qataris, children of Qatari women and GCC citizens are exempt. The note gives no effective date and does not make clear who bears the work permit fee, so ask your employer. Our guide to who pays recruitment fees in Qatar explains the rule on charging workers.

After the hire

• Keep the contract in writing and check it. See checking an employment contract online and fixed-term vs unlimited contracts.
• Agree the probation period in writing. See probation period rules.
• Pay by bank transfer on time. See how to pay employees in Qatar.

What we could not verify

• The current Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Interior forms and fees. We read no official hiring page.
• The effective date of the 2025 fee decision, and who bears the QAR 100.
• The Qatar Living steps, which we saw only as a summary.