Legal Consultation by Abdelaal A Khalil Thursday, 10 February 2011 00:03

The entry and exit of expatriates, their residence and sponsorship act (4) for the year 2009 points out that it is prohibited to grant a work visa to expatriate, who previously stayed in the state for work before two years from the date of his departure.

The Minister of the Interior or his deputy can waive this period as the competent authority can implement the sponsorship act to exclude some cases from that period on the basis of a written consent from the former sponsor.

So the questioner can return again after two years from the date of leaving the country with a new work visa without any approval from the former sponsor.

If the questioner desires to return before two years from the date of leaving the country he has to get a no objection letter from the former sponsor in order to submit the same to the competent authority for the implementation of the sponsorship act.

The expatriate can enter Qatar at any time under a visit or tourist or business visa as the law exempts the newcomer who enters the country for a visit or for business and so on for a period not exceeding 30 days from complying with the condition of passage of two years from the date of departure or consent from the former sponsor. An expatriate cannot stay in the country after the expiry of the period referred to it only after renewing or obtaining residence permit.

It is not permissible for a tenant to sublet or assign the lease to another except with the written permission from the tenant. In the case of the absence of such permission the tenant will deal with the landlord directly as the Real Estate Rent Law No 4 / 2008 states that the tenancy agreement must be proved in writing and include the core elements of the contract. The landlord shall take the necessary action towards registration and tenant may establish the fact of lease and all terms of the contract with all methods of proof. So it is allowed for a tenant to prove the rental relationship with the testimony of neighbours. As far as the payment of rent is concerned the tenant must pay the rent within seven days from the date of its maturity. If the landlord declined to receive the rent and gave the quittance then the tenant should inform the landlord with a registered mail to his address in order to receive the payment within seven days and if he refused the tenant will have to deposit the rent during the following week at treasury of committee for settlement of dispute. The tenant will notify the landlord about the same and this deposit will be considered as the payment of rent at the scheduled time.