DOHA: Soon, a single counter at government services centres will begin providing all visa and related services, says a top interior ministry official. Currently, there are 19 services centres across the country, and they have separate counters for different services.
These services include issuance and renewal of different types of visas, ID cards and residency permit (RP), among other things.
“We are gradually working to make sure that a visitor goes to a single counter at a services centre and gets his work done. The system of separate counters for different services will be removed,” said Brigadier Abdullah Ahmed Al Ansari (Pictured) . He is the head of the Unified Services Department which runs the 19 services centres that provide many government services, including issuance and cancellation and renewal of visas, RPs and traffic-related works, under one roof.
The Department is part of the General Directorate of Borders, Passports and Expatriate Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, popularly known as the immigration department.
The service centres issue different types of entry and stay visas, including work, business and tourist, family and visit. They renew visas as well as transfer and cancel RPs. They also issue ID cards for expatriates and exit permits, including to under-age nationals and wives of Qataris.
Al Ansari said that recently his department has opened a services centre at The Pearl-Qatar and one in the towers area of the West Bay to cater to the rising population in those areas.
The centres are besides the online services of the interior ministry which serve large numbers of people. “The Metrash 2 service is particularly very popular and has contributed to easing pressure on our centres,” the official told Al Sharq.
The ministry is planning to expand the online services for the benefit of people and eventually plans to go paperless sooner rather than later. These services will be available in both, Arabic and English.
The official said his department was set up in 2007 and has emerged as very popular ever since. “We have added a new service recently for companies. They can do the visa work for their employees at our centres.”
In December 2014, for example, Al Rayyan Services Centre handled some 90,000 visitors. “Everyone, irrespective of where he or she stays, can visit any services centre and avail our services,” said Al Ansari. Al Ansari said that the visa clearance committee (for clearing family visas, for instance) at the immigration department has now begun interviewing people through video conferencing as well.
The Peninsula
