Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has begun issuing new residence cards instead of stickers in residents’ passports.
The General Directorate of Nationality, Borders and Expatriate Affairs (GDNBEA) claims the new cards, which are equipped with inbuilt data storage technology and hold crucial details about cardholders, will help improve national security.
Brigadier Mohamed Saleh al-Kuwari, head of the Residence Division at GDNBEA, was quoted in Gulf Times as saying: “The new residence card holds several security features that should not be tampered and cannot be faked as well as it carries data of the cardholder.
“The advantages of the new system include speedy completion of transactions because passports are not needed for sticker printing.”
Residents can renew their residency permit online without visiting GDNBEA service centres, and their new cards will be couriered to them following an agreement this week between national postal body Q-Post and the Ministry of Interior.
In future, Gulf Times reported, the cards will enable residents to access a range of national services more quickly and efficiently than at present.
The GDNBEA warned that if a card is damaged it should be surrendered for reissue with the same fees. If the card is lost while the holder is abroad, a lost report should be published, with the Qatar embassy abroad informed and relevant documents brought to Qatar to issue a new card.
If the card is lost inside Qatar, a new card will be issued once the loss is reported to the authorities.
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