The Government of Qatar will soon be simplifying the migrant work visa application process that will expedite the visa processing for the Sri Lankan migrant worker.
This service which will first be introduced in Sri Lanka and then rolled out in other key South Asian cities will be made available through Qatar Visa Centers, which is directly supervised by the Qatar concerned authorities and managed by Bio-met Visa Services Lanka, a subsidiary of Bio-met Services Pvt. Ltd, a service provider authorized by the State of Qatar.
The new visa processing offers participants tangible benefits such as greater convenience and enhanced security, particularly when used as part of a layered, risk-based security strategy.
In the current system, there are elements/steps in the visa process that will be of particular benefit to the incumbent employee in terms of security and a transparent system where the recruit has access to their employment contract.
The new visa process will be transformative for aspiring migrant workers. Henceforth, once the initial visa approval is issued by Qatar authorities, migrant workers can complete the medical test and bio-metric enrollment requirements within their country of origin within a shorter period. The old visa process in Qatar requires medical testing, done at accredited laboratories plus a host of other requirements that could take sometimes weeks to get completed.
According to reports, the Sri Lankan worker remittance in Qatar accounts for US $ 400-500 million, out of $ 7.16 billion worker remittance was recorded in 2017. Also Sri Lanka’s remittance earnings from Qatar will likely double over next few years, statistics show.
This means that local aspiring employees will enter Qatar in many numbers. To quantify, the number of Sri Lankan migrant workers in Qatar is expected to reach 300,000, from the current 140,000, in the next couple of years.
The Sri Lankan and Qatar governments have identified many areas for collaboration between the two countries which will also see more growth in employment and remittances.
Qatar, as usual has set the trend for cutting-edge visa processing and bio-metric enrollment solutions, providing a clear, simple and effective solution to enter the State. The convenience that bio-metrics can bring to this ecosystem is unprecedented, said Suhail Shaikh, Business Head, Bio-met Services.
Medical tests, a key component of the visa procedure that was conducted after the migrant worker reached Qatar will be available in-house at the Qatar Visa Center as part of the visa application processing and bio-metric enrollment regime. Some of the key medical tests that are provided include essential medical check-up, various types of blood tests and x-ray and administration of vaccinations as required by Ministry of Public Health, Qatar. State-of-the-art healthcare facilities and equipment will be deployed, authorized by Qatar government and certified by local healthcare authorities, backed by a team of highly qualified healthcare professionals with internal systems and processes based on the latest medical standards and best practices.