Doha: As the deadline for the grace period approaches, the Ministry of Interior has urged violators of the provisions of Law No. (21) for the year 2015, regulating the entry and exit of expatriates and their residence, to utilize the grace period for correcting their status as early as possible.
“People should approach the concerned department as early as possible, as rush in the last days will make it difficult to serve them,” said an officer from the Ministry.
In an awareness webinar today on "Grace Period for the violators of the Law No. 21/2015, which regulates the entry, exit and residence of the expatriates in Qatar”, Captain Mohamed Ali Al Rashidi from the Unified Services Department said that the Ministry has provided all facilities for the violators to correct their legal status while they are inside the country by transferring from one employer to another or by leaving the country on their own interest with exempting them from all consequences of legal responsibility.
Since the ministry announced the grace period on October 10, 2021, it has received more than 28,476 requests from workers. The Ministry said earlier in a press conference that 8,227 people went back to their home country during the grace period and around 6,000 people regularized their papers and changed status. It also noted that the rest of the applications are under review.
The webinar today was attended by HR and admin managers and PROs of the private companies and schools, in addition to security and safety managers and in-charges of the companies and schools and many community leaders and members.
Captain Mohamed Ali Al Rashid affirmed that “the departure of expatriates is secured by exempting them from the fines incurred by them and without bearing any responsibility, and their transaction is completed as quickly and smoothly as possible without any delay.”
Regarding the objective of the Grace Period, the ministry noted that the objective is legalizing the status of expatriates who stay in the country violating the provisions of the law No. 21/2015, in accordance with the law and in line with humanitarian standards.
