Overseas Qatar Visa Centres (QVCs) are set to be opened in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced.
The first QVC was opened in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in October as part of efforts undertaken to facilitate and streamline procedures for bringing expatriates to work.
According to information available on the Facebook page of the ministry, a QVC will be opened in Bangladesh today and another in Pakistan on December 19.
In this connection, the Visa Support Services Department at the MoI organised an introductory seminar for the Pakistani community in Qatar, as well as for companies that employ a large number of Pakistani workers, on how to avail of the QVC’s services and the procedures involved.
There will be a total of two centres in Pakistan - one in Islamabad now and another in Karachi.
During the seminar, Capt Nasser Ali al-Khalaf, Capt Jassim Kamal al-Musalmani and First Lt Yaqoob Fakhroo from the Visa Support Services Department explained the features of the service and visa processing procedures through the overseas QVC.
Earlier, the department held a similar seminar for the Bangladeshi community in Qatar and companies that employ a large number of Bangladeshi workers.
Maj Abdulla Khalifa al-Muhannadi, director of the Visa Support Services Department, said the QVC to be opened in Bangladesh today will help simply visa procedures for expatriate workers and employers will be able to issue a Qatar ID for the employee on the day of his/her arrival in Qatar.
The centre will facilitate completion of all work visa requirements from the home country of the expatriate worker, including the medical test, biometric data processing and signing of the employment contract, he said.
Maj al-Muhannadi stressed that the overseas QVCs will offer work visa procedures in the first phase, while all types of visa services will be provided through these centres in the next phase.
According to earlier reports, QVCs will be opened in a number of countries to streamline procedures for bringing expatriates to work. The new system will enable expatriates to start work immediately after entering Qatar. Also, the centres will allow both the recruiter and expatriate worker to play their respective roles accurately through an integrated recruitment system.
Maj Abdulla Khalifa al-Muhannadi addressing the seminar for the Bangladeshi community.
