Qatar's 14-day rule: how long you can stay after your residence permit ends

What changed

On 15 June 2026 the Ministry of Interior (MOI) said that people whose residence permit has been cancelled must now leave Qatar within 14 days. Before, they had 30 days. The statement came from an official of the MOI's Airport Passports Department at an MOI webinar, as reported by Gulf Times ↗. The tax and immigration firm EY said the change took effect immediately (EY alert ↗).

The fine for staying past the two weeks is QAR 10 per day, as Gulf Times reported. The QAR 200 a day fine for overstaying a visit visa is a separate rule, and the officials mentioned it at the same event.

A residence permit (often called RP or iqama) is the permit behind your Qatar ID card (QID). When it is cancelled, the 14-day clock starts that same day. Many services stop working once the permit is cancelled, so two weeks can pass quickly.

Cancelled or expired: two different situations

People often mix these up, and the sources do not all agree.

• Cancelled. Your sponsor ends the permit in the MOI system. For a work permit, that is your employer. For family members and domestic workers, it is the person who sponsors them. Every source we checked agrees that 14 days applies here.
• Expired. The date on your QID passes and nobody renews it. The MOI statement, as reported by Gulf Times, EY and KPMG, only talked about cancellation. The immigration firm Fragomen wrote that the 14 days covers expiry as well (Fragomen ↗).

Check before you act: no official text we have seen settles whether the 14 days also starts on the expiry date. The safe plan is to treat an expired permit as urgent: get it renewed, or start a proper exit, straight away. Our guide to an expired residence permit explains the renewal window and the late fines.

Who this affects most

You lost your job

If your employer ends your contract and cancels your permit, you have 14 days, not 30, to sort out your next move. That is a short time to find a new job, collect your dues and pack. Ask in writing when the cancellation will happen, and check the status in Metrash (the MOI's official app). Our guides on being terminated by your employer and on an employer that has closed or won't renew your QID cover what you are owed and how to complain to the Ministry of Labour.

You are changing jobs

A job change in Qatar does not need your permit to be cancelled. It is a transfer done through the Ministry of Labour, and you do not need your employer's permission (an NOC). The risk is when the old employer cancels your permit before the transfer is finished. Fragomen says affected people need to leave or "regularise" their visa within the 14 days. Contact your new employer and the Ministry of Labour at once if this happens. See changing jobs without an NOC.

You are leaving Qatar for good

For leavers, the change is mostly about timing. Clear your traffic fines, debts and car first, and only then let the permit be cancelled, close to your flight. Our leaving Qatar checklist and the guide to cancelling a residence permit set out the order.

Family members and domestic workers

The reports do not set out different rules for dependants, so plan on the same 14 days for anyone whose permit is cancelled. Usually the sponsor cancels the permits of a spouse, children or a domestic worker before their own. Each person then gets their own 14-day clock from the date their permit was cancelled. Book their flights first.

What did not change

• The daily fine. It is still QAR 10 for each day you stay past the deadline.
• Who cancels. Your employer cancels a work permit. You cancel the permits of the people you sponsor.
• Job changes. You can still change employer without an NOC through the Ministry of Labour.
• Fines and travel bans. You still have to clear them before you fly. Gulf Times reported the MOI's advice to pay traffic violations, overstay fines and other dues in Metrash before going to the airport, and to have any travel ban lifted first.

What to do now

1. Put the date in writing. Ask HR, or whoever sponsors you, for the exact cancellation date, and check it in Metrash.
2. Clear things before cancellation, not after. Pay fines, settle loans and transfer your car while your QID still works.
3. Check for a travel ban early. A court case or unpaid debt can stop you at the airport. See checking and lifting a travel ban.
4. Book flights, then cancel. Work backwards from the flight so that cancellation happens in the last days.
5. If you plan to stay, don't let the permit be cancelled first. Get the transfer or new visa started before the old permit ends.

The exact way the days are counted (for example, whether the cancellation day counts as day one) was not set out in the reports. Leave a day or two of margin.

What is still unclear

• Expiry. It is not clear whether the 14 days also applies when a permit simply expires (see above).
• Temporary or permanent. Fragomen said it was unclear whether the change is temporary or permanent.
• Exceptions. None of the reports describes exceptions, for example for medical cases or pending labour complaints. If you have a case with the Ministry of Labour, ask them directly how it affects your stay.
• Extensions. Some news headlines said extensions for expired visas had been suspended. We could not confirm this on an official page, so check with the MOI (call 109) or a service centre before relying on any extension.

Not announced yet: we found no MOI decision text or official page setting out the rule in full. The figures above come from the MOI official's statement as reported by Gulf Times, and from firm alerts by EY, Fragomen and KPMG. We will update this page if the MOI publishes more.