VoxxArrive · Qatar onboarding topic
End of Service and Termination Process in Qatar: An Employer's Guide (2025-2026)
Qatar's exit process runs under Labour Law No. 14 of 2004: Article 49 sets written notice of one month (service under 5 years) or two months (5+ years) before an employment contract ends - commonly described in secondary sources as the indefinite-contract notice rule, though the current official English text on Al Meezan frames the provision around fixed-period contracts terminated early (see "unverified") - Article 54 sets end-of-service gratuity at a minimum of 21 days' basic wage per year of service after one year, and Article 67 (not Article 50, which covers pay during the notice period itself) governs timing of final wage settlement: dues are payable by the end of the working day after contract termination, or within 7 days if the worker left without giving the Article 49 notice. Since a Ministry of Labour (MOL) procedural change effective 24 February 2025, employers must obtain MOL contract-termination approval before they can submit the Resident Permit (RP) cancellation request to the Ministry of Interior (MOI), a sequencing change that extended combined processing to roughly 5-7 working days. Separately, Qatar's kafala reforms (an exit-permit change effective January 2020, building on a 2018 law and a 2019 ministerial decision, and a 2020 decree-law abolishing the No Objection Certificate for job changes - exact decree-law number unverified, see below) mean most expatriate employees no longer need employer-issued exit permission to leave the country once their permits are cancelled.
Steps
- Serve written termination notice - Under Article 49 of Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, give at least one month's written notice if the employee's service is under five years, or two months if five years or more (or the longer period stated in the contract); paying salary in lieu of notice is required if this is not observed.
- Calculate and pay final wages and end-of-service gratuity - Employees with one or more years of continuous service are entitled to end-of-service gratuity of at least 21 days' basic wage per year (Article 54); Article 67 requires the employer to pay wages and all other dues by the end of the working day after contract termination (or within 7 days if the worker left without giving the Article 49 notice), so full and final settlement should be completed without delay to stay compliant with Wage Protection System (WPS) monitoring.
- Obtain MOL contract-termination approval - As of 24 February 2025, MOL-registered mainland employers must first secure contract-termination approval from the Ministry of Labour confirming labour obligations are settled before any Resident Permit cancellation can be filed with the Ministry of Interior.
- Submit Resident Permit (RP) cancellation to the MOI - File the RP cancellation via the MOI's residency services (commonly accessed through the Metrash2 platform; the exact menu wording was not independently verified this session), which now takes about 5-7 working days end-to-end following the added MOL approval step - up from a faster single-step process before the 24 February 2025 change (the exact prior processing time is not stated in the cited source).
- Cancel dependents' residence permits and any vehicle registration - If the departing employee sponsored family members or holds a locally registered vehicle, those permits and the vehicle ownership must be cancelled or transferred as part of the same offboarding sequence.
- Confirm employee departure - No separate employer-issued exit permit is required for most expatriate workers following Qatar's 2020 kafala reforms; once the RP is cancelled the employee exits through normal immigration control at departure.
Timeline
Notice period: 1-2 months per Article 49 before termination takes effect. Final wage/gratuity settlement: due under Article 67 by the end of the working day after contract termination, or within 7 days if the worker left without giving the Article 49 notice. MOL approval + MOI Resident Permit cancellation: combined roughly 5-7 working days since the 24 February 2025 procedural change; the exact pre-change baseline processing time is not stated in the cited Deloitte source and is not independently confirmed (see "unverified").
Cost & fees
No official government fee schedule for MOL contract-termination approval or MOI Resident Permit cancellation was found in the sources reviewed this session; employers should verify current MOL/MOI service fees directly, as the process (and potentially fees) documented by Deloitte applies to MOL-registered mainland companies, while Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) entities were, per that same source, awaiting confirmation on whether the same steps apply to them.
Some figures on this page vary by jurisdiction, zone or nationality, or could not be independently confirmed from a public source at time of writing - confirm the current figure with the regulator before relying on it.
Sources
- Deloitte Middle East - Qatar update on the resident permit cancellation process
- Al Meezan Qatar Legal Portal - Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, Article 49
- ILO NATLEX - Qatar Labour Law No. 14 of 2004 (official English text, includes Articles 50, 54, and 67)
- Human Rights Watch - Qatar: End of Abusive Exit Permits for Most Migrant Workers
- Ministry of Labour, State of Qatar - About the Ministry
Frequently asked
Does Qatar still require an exit permit before an expatriate employee can leave the country?
No, not for the great majority of workers. Building on a 2018 law and a 2019 ministerial decision, Qatar's exit-permit requirement was lifted for most migrant workers effective January 2020, so departure is now handled as a normal immigration exit rather than a separate employer-authorized exit permit.
Can an employer cancel an employee's residence permit before getting Ministry of Labour sign-off?
Not since 24 February 2025. Deloitte reports that MOL-registered mainland employers must now first obtain contract-termination approval from the Ministry of Labour before the Resident Permit cancellation can be submitted to the Ministry of Interior - the reverse order is no longer accepted.
How much notice does Qatar law require to terminate an employment contract?
Article 49 of Labour Law No. 14 of 2004 requires at least one month's written notice if the employee has served under five years, and at least two months if five years or more, unless the contract specifies a longer period; the terminating party owes pay in lieu if notice is not given. Note: the current official English text of Article 49 on Al Meezan frames this notice rule around fixed-period contracts terminated before their end date, while secondary sources commonly describe the same 1-2 month structure as governing indefinite-term employment - this has not been fully reconciled against the Arabic original (see 'unverified').
Is end-of-service gratuity payable to every departing expatriate employee in Qatar?
Employees who complete one year or more of continuous service are entitled to end-of-service gratuity of at least 21 days' basic wage for each year worked under Article 54, calculated on the employee's last basic wage; workers can lose this entitlement if dismissed for gross misconduct as defined in the Labour Law.