About 7,000 transactions related to the General Directorate of Passports (GDP) are executed daily through the Ministry of Interior (MoI)’s Metrash2 mobile application, it was revealed at a seminar in Doha recently.

Major Tareq Issa al-Aqidi, officer at the Public Relations Office - General Directorate of Passports, said the app was launched in December 2011 with just a few services, but it rapidly developed thereafter and today provides about 153 e-services, available in six languages. “Currently, around 400,000 active e-service users are availing of its services,” he noted.

Speaking at the induction seminar for companies, which was organised by the GDP at the Traffic Department headquarters auditorium to introduce its electronic services, Major al-Aqidi also referred to the important developments witnessed in different departments of the ministry.

Meanwhile, Capt Ali Ahmad al-Binali, head of e-services and Internet at the GDP, said: “The aim of e-services is to offer services to people by relieving them from having to visit the department headquarters.” Metrash2 is available 24/7, he added, noting that the target groups are residents, various establishments and visa holders of all kinds.

Regarding visa services, the department executes more than 215,000 transactions and over 160,000 leave notification services every month, a statement on the MoI website noted.

Capt al-Binali also explained that the electronic services could be accessed through the website and Metrash2. Regarding the issue of permanent visa, he said more than 150,000 transactions were executed every month.

The residence permit services include residency renewals, cancellations, reactivation of residence permits and others. He noted that residency cards, after printing, could be delivered through Qatar Post. Metrash2 services also include those pertaining to traffic, community police and the Criminal Investigation Department. These developments are aimed at meeting Qatar’s e-government 2020 objectives, it was observed.

The attendees asked various questions regarding the e-services, which were answered by Major al-Aqidi and Capt al-Binali.