Guides / Government apps & documents / Metrash, Hukoomi & Tawtheeq
Using Metrash for your family: activating a spouse's or child's account and acting for dependants
How a sponsor lets a wife or child activate Metrash on their own phone without a Qatari number in their name, and how to handle your family's renewals, visas, return permits and fines from your own account.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026
- Who does it
- The family sponsor, from his own Metrash
- Who can be added
- Wife and children, per MOI
- Time
- A few minutes; activation is immediate
- Cost
- No fee announced for family authorisation
In Qatar the person who sponsors the family, usually the husband or father, is the one who handles most of the family's Ministry of Interior (MOI) paperwork. Metrash, the MOI app, is built around that: the sponsor's account can renew family residence permits, pay visa fees, request return permits and pay fines. A wife or adult child can also have their own Metrash, but the app sends its activation code to a Qatari mobile number registered in that person's name, which many dependants do not have. Since August 2025 MOI has offered a family authorisation service that solves this: the sponsor registers the relative and the number they will use, and the relative activates Metrash on their own phone. This guide covers that set-up first, then the family services you run from your own account. If you have not set up Metrash yourself yet, start with our Metrash guide.
Before you start
- Your own Metrash account, active and logged in on your phone (see our Metrash guide)
- The latest version of the Metrash app on both phones (the old Metrash2 no longer works)
- The relative's QID number and the expiry date shown on their QID card
- The Qatari mobile number the relative will use, even if it is registered in your name
- The relative's phone, with that SIM inserted and able to receive SMS
- A bank card or Apple Pay for any fees you will pay for the family
- An up-to-date email address in your Metrash profile, because visa copies and some permits are emailed
- Each family member's QID expiry date written down, so you can plan renewals together
Step by step
Understand who does what
Your family's residence permits are tied to you as their sponsor. That means renewals, return permits and sponsor approvals are requested from your Metrash, not theirs. A wife or adult child who has their own account can still use Metrash for their own records, for example to see their documents, check their own traffic fines or pay their own bills. Think of it as one main account (yours) that manages the family, plus personal accounts for the adults who want one. Children under 18 do not normally need their own account.
Read guide: Metrash: registering and using Qatar's Ministry of Interior app →Get your own Metrash working first
Family authorisation is done from the sponsor's account, so yours must be active. If you are not registered yet, or your activation code is not arriving, follow our Metrash guide first; it covers registration, second devices and changing your number. Update the app from the App Store or Google Play before you begin, because new services such as family authorisation only appear in the current version. If the app is in Arabic, switch the language from the settings menu.
Read guide: Metrash: registering and using Qatar's Ministry of Interior app →Decide who needs their own account
The family authorisation service is for relatives who do not have a mobile number registered in their own name. MOI's announcements name wives and children; one 2025 immigration alert describes it as for a spouse and children aged 18 and over. If your wife already has a SIM in her own name, she can simply register in Metrash herself like any resident. Before this service, dependants had to buy a SIM in their own name and link it to their QID, so if you were planning to do that only for Metrash, you no longer need to.
Open Authorisation, then Register Relatives
On your phone, open Metrash and go to the main menu. Choose Authorisation (التفويض), then Register Relatives (تسجيل الأقارب). One news report calls the same menu Delegation and Relative Registration, so look for either name; menu labels change with app updates. If you cannot see the option, update the app, log out and back in, and check again.
Enter your relative's details and tap Add
Fill in the relative's details on the form: their QID number, the mobile number they will use for Metrash and the other details the screen asks for, which reports say include the QID expiry date. Check the mobile number twice, because the activation code will go to exactly that number. Confirm the information, then tap Add (إضافة). MOI says the process completes immediately and the relative becomes an authorised user of that number for Metrash.
Activate Metrash on your relative's phone
On your wife's or child's phone, install the official Metrash app (publisher: Ministry of Interior, Qatar) and start registration with their own QID number. Enter the mobile number you registered for them, choose a password and type in the SMS code. From then on they log in with their own QID and password; they do not use yours. Ask them to set a password they do not use elsewhere and to keep the app updated.
Read guide: Metrash: registering and using Qatar's Ministry of Interior app →Find your family's records in your account
Your Metrash shows the people you sponsor. The redesigned app has residency services for sponsored persons and an inquiry area that lists them, so you can check each person's residence permit and expiry date in one place. Your profile also has a digital wallet with copies of documents such as QIDs and licences. When MOI added children's digital QIDs to the parent's wallet in 2021 (in Metrash2), it was for children under 18; look in your wallet for them and carry the physical cards too, because banks and clinics may ask for them.
Renew family residence permits from your account
Renewing a dependant's residence permit is the sponsor's job, done from your own Metrash under the residency services. You can renew several family members in one go and choose delivery or collection of the new cards. Check each person's date separately, because family members often expire on different days from you. Since 2025 a registered national address has been required for residence renewals, so make sure yours is up to date. Our QID renewal guide has the full steps, fees and the late-renewal fine.
Read guide: Renew your Qatar ID →Handle family visas and pay visa fees
Applications for family residence visas and family visit visas are made from the sponsor's Metrash in the Visa section. When an application is approved, pay the fee under Visa, then Operations, then Pay Visa Fee: the app lists the visas linked to you, you pick one, pay, and a copy of the visa is sent to the email registered on your Metrash account. Check that email address is correct before paying. Our family visa and family visit visa guides explain the documents and conditions.
Read guide: Bring your family to Qatar →Plan for long stays abroad and job changes
If your wife or children will be outside Qatar for more than six months, for example for a birth, treatment or school, you as sponsor request their return permit from your Metrash; our return permit guide covers the rules, timing and fee. Metrash also lets a sponsor issue approval letters (NOCs) for a sponsored person: under Residency, then Change Employer, choose Issue Sponsor Approval, enter their QID and pick either Legal Period Outside Country or Change to New Employer. Use the second only if your family member is moving to an employer's sponsorship, and read our guide on working while on family sponsorship first.
Read guide: Outside Qatar for more than six months: the return permit and keeping your residency →Pay your family's traffic fines
Fines are linked to the driver's QID and the vehicle's plate. If your wife drives a car registered in her name, her fines show in her own Metrash, but you can pay them from yours: since April 2026, Traffic, then Violations, has an Other Vehicle Violations option where you enter the plate number and the driver's QID and pay. Paying quickly matters, because unpaid fines can block travel and vehicle registration renewal. Our traffic fines guide covers discounts, objections and deadlines.
Read guide: Traffic fines in Qatar: check, pay, object, and avoid the travel ban →Keep phone numbers and emails up to date
If a family member changes their number, their Metrash codes will keep going to the old one. A resident with a number in their own name can change it on the MOI website (portal.moi.gov.qa) under Inquiries, then Metrash, then Metrash for Individuals. For a relative activated through family authorisation, we found no published change-number procedure; try registering the new number again under Register Relatives, and if that fails, visit an MOI service centre with their QID. Remember that Tawtheeq, the national login used by Hukoomi and other ministry sites, is a separate account with its own number.
Read guide: Tawtheeq (National Authentication System): signing up and logging in →
What it costs
| Metrash app | Free |
| Family authorisation (Register Relatives) | No fee announced by MOI |
| Residence permit renewal for a dependant (per year) | QAR 400 |
Official fees at the time of review. Fees change, so confirm before paying.
Common mistakes
- Typing the wrong mobile number in Register Relatives, so the activation code goes to the wrong phone
- Trying to activate on the relative's phone before the sponsor has completed Register Relatives
- Expecting a wife to renew her own or the children's residence permits from her account; renewals are done by the sponsor
- Checking only your own QID expiry date and missing a family member's, which often differs
- Leaving an old email address in your Metrash profile, so visa copies and permits go to an inbox you no longer read
- Letting a child stay abroad more than six months without the sponsor requesting a return permit in time
- Ignoring a spouse's traffic fines until the day of travel, when they can stop the family at the airport
- Assuming a Metrash number change also updates Tawtheeq or the bank; each is separate
Questions people ask
My wife's SIM is registered in my name. Can she still use Metrash on her own phone?
Yes. That is exactly what the family authorisation service is for. From your Metrash, go to Authorisation, then Register Relatives, enter her details and the number on her phone, and tap Add. She then registers in Metrash on her phone with her own QID and that number.
Can my wife renew her own QID or our children's from her Metrash?
Residence renewals for sponsored family members are requested by the sponsor, so they are done from your account. Having her own Metrash lets her see her records and use personal services, but we found no MOI announcement that makes her account able to act as sponsor. If you are away, plan renewals before you travel, since you can usually renew from your Metrash while abroad.
Do my children need their own Metrash?
Children under 18 do not normally need one; as sponsor you handle their services from your account. Older children who have their own phones can be registered through family authorisation. One 2025 alert describes the service as covering children aged 18 and over.
Can I see my children's QIDs on my phone?
MOI added children's digital QIDs to the parent's Metrash wallet in 2021, for children under 18, and the wallet carried over to the current app. Look in your profile's wallet. Carry the physical cards as well, because banks, clinics and schools may still ask for them.
How do I pay my wife's traffic fine from my account?
Use Traffic, then Violations, then Other Vehicle Violations, available since April 2026. Enter the plate number and her QID, tap to pay the violation amount and choose how to pay. Save the receipt and share it with her.
My relative got a new mobile number. How do we update Metrash?
If the new number is in their own name, they can change it on the MOI website under Inquiries, then Metrash, then Metrash for Individuals. If the number is in your name, no published procedure exists yet; try adding the new number through Register Relatives, and if that does not work, visit an MOI service centre with their QID.
I cannot find Authorisation or Register Relatives in my app. What should I do?
Update Metrash to the latest version, then log out and back in. The section may be labelled Delegation and Relative Registration depending on the version and language. If it still does not appear, call the Government Contact Centre on 109 or visit an MOI service centre.
Does registering my wife in Metrash also give her a Tawtheeq login?
No. Tawtheeq, the national login for Hukoomi and other ministry websites, is a separate account with its own registration and its own rules about whose name the mobile number is in. See our Tawtheeq guide for her set-up.
Official sources
- Qatar Living: Metrash allows users to authorise family members (Aug 2026) ↗
- Qatar Living (Arabic): MOI highlights the Metrash family authorisation service ↗
- Vialto Partners: Simplified access to Metrash for family members (Aug 2025) ↗
- The Peninsula: Metrash quick visa fee payment and visa copy by email (Jul 2026) ↗
- The Peninsula: Sponsor approval and legal-period exemption in Metrash (Aug 2026) ↗
- Qatar Tribune: Parents can access children's digital QID (2021) ↗
Always check the official source before acting. QatarSteps is independent and not a government website.