Qatar Government Launches First One-Stop Qatar Visa Center in the Philippines
The Government of Qatar opened its first official Qatar Visa Center (QVC) in the Philippines to streamline the visa application and approval process of applicants for Qatar residency in the country on Wednesday last week.
According to the director of Qatar’s Visa Support Service Department, Major Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, the new visa center in Pasay City will serve as a one-stop center for all visa applicants.
The new QVC will offer all the necessary services for the processing of visa requirements, including service counters for medical examinations, biometric data enrollment, and the signing process of employment contracts.
“This will unify the channel of granting visas to Qatar and will simplify the procedures for granting of residence permits to Qatar either for work or residence purpose,” Major Mohannadi said.
The largest of its kind so far, the QVC in the Philippines spans an area of 1,800 square meters. It currently includes a visa center, medical commission hospital, fingerprint services, and special services at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs. It is expected to receive more than 350 visitors daily.
According to the director of the Medical Commission Department of Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Ibrahim Al Shaar, the center will minimize the cost and time of the visa application process.
He added that through the new center, the visa application and verification process can now be completed within 48 hours. In addition, applicants will now also be able to track their visa application status directly online or through their employer in Qatar.
After the center’s inauguration, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Philippines, Ali Ibrahim Al-Malki shared the importance of the occasion, one of which he said is to provide better opportunity in employment and to serve as an extension of Qatar and the Philippines’ bilateral relations.
“Choosing the Philippines to be one of the first countries in which Qatar visa centers are launched, reflects the great interest of the State of Qatar to strengthen bilateral relations. The importance of the opening of this Center today is the result of Qatar’s policy that aims to enhance the labor relations to the Philippines, as well as the ties among its people. We send them for work to a brighter future,” said Ambassador Al-Malki in a press briefing.
The Philippines is currently the sixth country in Asia with a local QVC, coming after Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
The visa center, located at the NU Mall of Asia Building in Pasay City, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
