JamesandTamsin

A very sunny good morning to you all! I came to Qatar in March 2014 on a Business Visa and appliedfor the residence via the normal routes. Nothing out of the ordinary so far… Everything went smoothly – process took around 4 weeks. Once I had my RP my family joined me – their application was similarly seamless. Fast forward to September 2015 and my companies contract was nearing its end, so I decided to accept an offer to work directly for the client (Government company) which meant sponsorship transfer was needed. Very long story short it still isn’t complete. By allaccounts my previous company registered all of us under “administrative” which caused confusion in the ministry because a request was submitted to ask to be transferred to a senior management role. The application has been resubmitted twice and I’m stillwithout a sponsor. First question is – does anyone from this fine forum have acontact within the ministry of immigration that would be willing to meet so Ican understand if is possible to apply logic to the situation and convince themthat this was a simple faux pas? I see this as rather unlikely so the second question is; myQatari HR team have told me the best way to proceed is to cancel sponsorship (forme and my family), and start afresh after leaving the country for three days.This isn’t what I want to do but if it’s a means to an end then so be it. 1. I have a bank account, accommodation (withcontract till Sept), Car, Motorcycle etc. Can I cancel the sponsorship withoutselling up / moving out / closing down accounts?2. I presume we will all have to go through thefinger print / medical rigmorale again?3. This sucks. Thanks in advance,James

JamesandTamsin

I'm sorry for the way the message displays above? I formatted the post with paragraphs ect. but when I click "save" it returns to this?

Johnnyboy11

I managed to transfer sponsorship back in 2012, from the private sector to Government agency in Qatar. Took five months start to finish, during which time I couldn't travel. Some thoughts from mei) You need to have worked for two years with your current sponsor, before you can transfer. But since your new employer is a Government agency, they should be able to write to Qatar Immigration and ask for a waiver in the interests of the Government/ public benefit. That's what happened in my case, no problem.(ii) You need both old and new sponsor to complete a sponsorship transfer form and submit this to Qatar Immigration. There is no NOC as such, just this single form.(iii) You will have to restart the immigration process from scratch, so a new medical, police clearance, the abovementioned form, attested educational certificates etc. You can't travel when this is happening.(iv) You can keep your apartment lease, bank account etc., which you can update when you get your new RP.I'm here on my own, so can't advise on the impact on family under your sponsorship.I'm leaving Qatar for good in April, after the turn of the tax year. Had enough fun in this desert paradise for one lifetime...
PS as a medical bod, you'll appreciate you and the family getting a full chest x-ray every 18 months