Ministry to ensure transparent, responsible worker recruitment process

The Ministry of Interior affirmed its keenness to facilitate recruitment procedures for expatriate workers in accordance with a unified mechanism that is transparent and responsible.

The ministry said that it will ensure the facilitation and speed of procedures and the protection of the rights of applicants.This came during a seminar organised by the Department of Visa Support Services Department in the General Directorate of Passports on the project of fingerprinting and vital data, conducting medical examination and signing employment contracts for expatriates.The seminar was attended by officials of a number of companies providing Sri Lankan manpower.The Director of Visa Support Services Department at MoI Major Abdullah Al Muhannadi, said that the project aims to facilitate recruitment procedures in general, protect the rights of expatriates, ensure their safety and facilitate all procedures for their entry into the country, in addition to auditing and documenting their recruitment process, and accelerating their work under simplified, smooth and effective procedures.The project targets employment through 20 service centers in eight countries: Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, he added.The opening of the first project center in Sri Lanka is scheduled for October 12 and Sri Lankan companies should recruit workers through the center and the new electronic mechanism, Al Muhannadi said.He pointed out that the services provided by the project are fingerprinting for the expatriate worker, registration of vital data, conducting medical examinations, signing the employment contract through a unified channel and a more transparent and responsible recruitment system.He pointed out that the project has many advantages such as facilitating the procedures of bringing in the expatriate worker, protecting his rights, documenting the employment contract in his country, avoiding returning him to his country in case of incapacity, and speeding up his work immediately upon entering Qatar, providing integrated, efficient and high-quality electronic services.Al Muhannadi pointed out that the success of the recruitment mechanism through Qatar's foreign visa centers depends on the completion of the role of both the employer and the foreign worker.He explained that the role of the employer is to register the worker through the Ministry of Interior website, where the ministry assesses the registration process and then the employer pays the service costs through the ministry's website followed by the approval and extraction of the reference number to determine his role in the service center.On the role of the worker, Al Muhannadi explained that his role is to go to the State of Qatar visa center in his country and register his entry and then receive the contract of employment and sign it and then go to the fingerprinting and registration of vital data and medical examination in order to reach the final approval and issuance of the visa.Al Muhannadi said that these procedures within the center takes one hour but the results of the tests require approximately 48 hours.He pointed out that all the steps to apply for recruitment of Sri Lankan workers from the Qatar visa center abroad are available on the website of the Ministry of the Interior and Metrash 2 service, stressing that the recruitment procedures are the same as the old procedures, but they were transferred from Qatar to the worker country to facilitate the procedures.He pointed out that this project is implemented in cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is implemented in several stages stressing that the Ministry will add new services in the next stages of the project, which may include documentation of scientific and professional certificates at visa service centers.He said the Interior Ministry was seeking to expand the scope of the project in the future, to include all procedures for other visa categories, and any visa applicant will have to undergo medical examinations, fingerprinting and all other tests before entering the country.Al Muhannadi called on all companies operating in the country and providing Sri Lankan manpower to learn more about the new recruitment mechanism through the Ministry of the Interior website and Metrash 2 service, which will be implemented on the 12th of next October.He reiterated that the new mechanism ensures the facilitation of recruitment procedures in general and the protection of the rights of expatriates, and ensuring that they contribute to the speed procedure to start work immediately upon their entry into the state and provide integrated electronic services in a civilized manner characterized by sophistication, speed and convenience.