In Qatar the employer renews each employee’s residence permit (QID). The Ministry of Interior accepts renewal from three months before expiry, for one to three years, on MOI e-services or Metrash2. The law allows 90 days after expiry; after that, the settlement is QAR 10 a day. Cancellation is also done online by the company. Rules checked 21 Oct 2026.
When a residence permit must be renewed
Law No. 21 of 2015 puts an expatriate worker’s residence on the employer alone. Under Article 8, the sponsor handles the permit procedures and must renew the permit within 90 days of expiry. Each time a permit is renewed, the passport goes back to the worker, unless the worker has asked in writing for the employer to hold it.
- How early the Ministry accepts a renewal
- 3 months
- Renewal period a company can choose
- 1 to 3 years
- Legal limit after expiry
- 90 days
- Settlement for late renewal, up to QAR 6,000
- QAR 10 a day
Sources: Law No. 21 of 2015 (Article 8 and the conciliation table) and the Ministry of Interior renewal service on Hukoomi. Checked 21 Oct 2026.
Late renewal is an offence. The law’s conciliation table sets the settlement at QAR 10 for each day of delay, up to QAR 6,000, and Article 40 allows a court fine of up to QAR 10,000. A permit is issued for at least one year and up to five; for a company renewal the Ministry offers one to three years, with a 20% discount for three.
Documents and steps for Qatar ID renewal online
Most people call this Qatar ID renewal, because a new QID card comes with the renewed permit. The Ministry of Interior’s renewal service lists what it needs from a company. Most renewals are now made online by an authorised signatory with a smart card.
Renewal form
Signed and stamped by the sponsor, for an application at a service centre.
Establishment ID
A valid establishment card for the sponsoring company.
Passport
For an application in person, the employee’s original passport.
Fees
The work permit fee and the residence permit fee, paid at the end.
- Log in
The authorised signatory signs in to MOI e-services with the smart card and selects the company.
- Choose the permits
Under Residency, pick Renew Residency and enter the QID numbers. A company can do twenty at once.
- Set the period
Each permit gets its own period of one, two or three years. You also choose how the new card reaches you.
- Pay
Payment is online, and the receipt confirms the renewal. Metrash2 has the same service.
Some permits cannot be renewed. The system then gives the reason in the status box next to the QID number, which is why it pays to check each line before paying. Qatar Post delivers the new card if you chose delivery.
Cancelling a residence permit
If an employee is leaving the company for good, the company cancels the permit. Most people call this visa cancellation. On MOI e-services the path is Residency, then Cancel Residency: enter the permit numbers, pay the fee, print the receipt. But the employment has to end first, in line with the Labour Law.
- Give written notice
Once probation is over, either side may end the contract with no reason given, on one month’s notice in the first two years and two months after that. If notice is not given, the basic wage for the notice period is owed instead.
- Record it with the Ministry of Labour
Employer and employee use the Ministry’s online service to notify each other that the contract is ending, attaching the notice form, the contract and the establishment ID.
- Pay final dues
Wages and all dues before the end of the next working day after the contract ends, plus, after a year or more of service, a gratuity of at least three weeks’ basic wage for each year.
- Cancel the permit
The company cancels the residence on MOI e-services and keeps the payment receipt.
- Return ticket and papers
The employer pays the journey back to the place of recruitment and completes it within two weeks of the contract ending, and returns the employee’s documents.
When an employee leaves Qatar or changes employer
A worker covered by the Labour Law may leave Qatar, for a trip or for good, while the contract runs. The employer may ask the Ministry of Labour in advance to require prior approval for named staff, up to 5% of its workforce. A migrant worker who leaves Qatar without the notice in Article 49 cannot get a new work licence for one year.
If the employee is moving to another employer in Qatar, the permit is not cancelled. The new employer and the worker apply on the Ministry of Labour’s change of employer service. The worker must hold a work residence, and the regulations ask for the permit to be valid or no more than 90 days past expiry.
How we help
We keep a renewal calendar for your staff permits and the establishment card. We also prepare the renewal and cancellation files, and before any permit is cancelled, we check the final pay and notice dates against the Labour Law. The Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labour decide each application.
