Working in Qatar

What the employer must have

• The Qatari employer must be registered with Qatar's Ministry of Labour and obtain work-visa approval.
• The demand must be approved by SLBFE as a job order before a licensed agency may recruit for it.

What you must do before you leave

1. Register with SLBFE before you leave. It is not optional: section 53(3) of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act No. 21 of 1985 requires every Sri Lankan leaving for employment to register with the Bureau first, and registration is what puts you inside the welfare and insurance system if things go wrong.
2. Use a licensed foreign employment agency and check its licence number on slbfe.lk before you hand over anything.
3. Ask for the JOB ORDER, and read the maximum fee printed on it. SLBFE approves each job order with a maximum amount the Sri Lankan agency may charge you — charging above it is an offence, and the figure is published on SLBFE's own site for anyone to check.
4. Complete the pre-departure training the Bureau requires for your job category and keep the certificate.
5. Match the job order number and the maximum fee on SLBFE's site against what your agency is telling you.

Things to watch

• SLBFE states plainly that it cannot guarantee a listed vacancy is still open, because the agency may already have filled it. Always confirm the job order is live before you pay, resign or travel.
• The maximum chargeable amount on the job order is the whole protection. If an agency asks for more than the printed figure, that is the moment to walk away and report it to SLBFE — not after you have paid.
• Qatar abolished the exit permit for most private-sector workers, but your residence permit still depends on the sponsor.

Official sources

• Qatar Government Communications Office — Labour Reform
• SLBFE — Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment
• SLBFE — licensed foreign employment agencies (check yours here)
• SLBFE — approved job orders with the legal maximum agency fee on each

Jobs in Qatar right now