PERMANENT RESIDENCY IN QATAR FOR SOME FOREIGNERS

DUBAI In a move that is likely to benefit many Indians, Qatar’s cabinet has approved a draft law making permanent residency available to some non-citizens.

The residency permits could be granted to children of Qatari women married to foreigners, people who “offered valuable services to the country” and those with special skills, the energyrich Gulf nation said in a statement.

As in many Arab countries, a Qatari child’s citizenship is granted based on the father’s nationality.

The residency permit, a partial shift from the country’s reliance on its longstanding visa-sponsorship system, gives holders similar rights as Qataris in terms of property ownership and access to generous education and health care services.

Qatar’s native population is far surpassed by foreigners holding fixed-term residency permits typically tied to a sponsoring employer. The population of Indians in Qatar is estimated to be over 650,000, almost twice the number of native Qataris.

The permanent residency is the first move of its kind among Gulf Arab states that rely heavily on foreign labour.

“According to the provisions of the bill, the minister of interior may grant a permanent residency ID to a non-Qatari if they meet the conditions specified in the law,” the cabinet statement carried by state-run QNA news agency said. Holders of the new permanent residency can for the first time access free state education, it added.