Fulbright Scholars Students

QU HR Guide for Fulbright Scholars/Students

These instructions are for Fulbright Scholars/Students.

1.0 Getting an Entry Visa to Qatar

Prior to Arrival

Entry Visa

An Entry Visa (also known as a permanent or official visit visa) is required for people who are coming to work in Qatar or for those coming to live as dependents of an employee. Qatar University will process your Entry Visa and email the information to you prior to your arrival into the country.

Requirements:

Please submit the following documents to the Recruiting Section as soon as you accept the offer.

1. Photocopy of Passport:

Applicant's Passport
Spouse and children (if applicable)

2. Photocopy of Certificates Required:

Marriage (if applicable)
Academic Degree or certificates
Children's Birth Certificate (if applicable)
Police Clearance Certificate of the candidate from his/her home country duly attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his/her country and from the Qatari Diplomatic Mission in his/her country. (For further details on this item please refer to the section on page 2 entitled “Getting a Police Clearance/Good Conduct Certificate.”)

Important Notes

The process takes approximately 4 - 6 weeks.
Copy of the official Visit Visa must be shown at Doha Airport upon arrival.
Fulbright scholars/students planning to stay in Qatar for more than a year must provide a police clearance from the country for which he/she is a citizen. (Refer to section entitled “Getting a Police Clearance / Good Conduct Certificate.”)

2.0 Important Notes

2.1 What you should do after you receive your affiliation letter from Qatar University:

As soon as you receive an affiliation letter from Qatar University, please provide the Recruitment Section of the University with a scanned copy of the following documents:

A copy of your passport, and that of your spouse, and dependent children
A copy of your highest educational certificate/degree
A copy of your marriage certificate (if applicable)
A copy of birth certificates of children (if applicable)

2.2 What happens after you submit the above documents?

Qatar University’s Recruitment Section will coordinate your permanent visa application through the University’s Passport Office.
Qatar University’s Passport Office will submit and follow up your application with the Labor and Immigration Department.
Qatar University’s Recruitment Section will email the visa to you once it is issued.
Print the emailed visa and present it to the authorities at the airport who will have your details in their computer system.

2.3 Getting a Police Clearance/Good Conduct Certificate:

Getting a Police Clearance or a Good Conduct Certificate is the responsibility of all who plan to stay in the country for more than a year. Each new comer must complete the process on his or her own. Please note that this is a State requirement; therefore, the University is not responsible for any short notice changes made by the Immigration Department.

Typically, you should provide the Police Clearance or the Good Conduct Certificate from the same country that you are holding a passport from or intend to use it to enter Qatar. For example, if you are planning to enter Qatar on a US passport, you will have to provide the University with a Police Clearance from the US, even if you are residing outside the US. The clearance must be notarized by the issuing agency. To do this, you should get the clearance authenticated/attested from the State Department and have it attested by a Qatari Diplomatic Mission in your country. Once the signatures are secured QU HR Guide for Fulbright Scholars/Students 3 by the Fulbright Scholar/Student, the University’s Immigration Coordinator will present the documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar for further attestation.

For Police Clearances issued in a foreign language other than Arabic, the document must be translated and authenticated at the Chamber of Commerce in Doha. Please note that the process involved in getting this document is often complicated and cumbersome. Therefore, you are requested to start the process as soon as possible prior to your arrival in Doha.

Please note that finger printing is a commonly requested procedure by your country’s authorities in order to issue a Police Clearance/Good Conduct Certificate. A separate set of finger prints will be taken in Doha to process your residence permit.

Since governments require finger prints in order to process Police Clearances, you need to be able to get finger printed at a local police station in your country prior to your arrival in Doha. However, if you are in Doha, you must first visit the US Embassy during their consular hours and obtain a letter from them requesting CID for finger printing. You must present the US Embassy with your passport for them to issue you with a letter. Use the finger print form (must be original – can be obtained from the US Consular Section) and take it along with the letter to CID.

American Citizens must present the CID with the following documents:
Letter from the US Embassy to the CID
Letter from QU to the CID
Form from CID (to be typed in Arabic by the QU Passport Office)
Downloaded FBI form from the FBI website or US Embassy’s website
2 Passport-sized pictures
Copy of your passport
Copy of your entry visa to Qatar
Copy of your degree

The University has made arrangements with the Qatari authorities to provide all faculty members with an exemption for one year if they do not have their Police Clearance ready. If you do not have your Police Clearance ready by the time you apply for a Residence Permit, you will be issued a Residence Permit valid for one year. Once you secure the Police Clearance, you can get your Residence Permit extended to three years. Therefore, for QU faculty members, having a Police Clearance on hand is not an entry criterion to Qatar. Please note that this exemption should not deter you from starting your Police Clearance application as soon as possible prior to your arrival in Qatar. Also note that the Police Clearance is for the employee only. Family members do not need a Police Clearance. It is essential to have the Police Clearance attested by your home country’s QU HR Guide for Fulbright Scholars/Students 4 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and attested by a Qatari Diplomatic Mission in your country. If you are in Qatar by the time you receive your Police Clearance, you may be able to further attest the document at your Embassy (if a diplomatic mission is available in Doha) and the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

HOW TO OBTAIN POLICE CLEARANCE

In order to obtain a police /security clearance please follow carefully the steps below:

You can either go through the FBI or through your state Police.

FBI (If residing in Qatar):

Go to www.fbi.gov to download a paper fingerprint card
Take your passport to the US Embassy in Doha and request a letter to CID in order to get finger printed
Mail finger prints to FBI as per instructions on the FBI website
The FBI will send a report to you in 4- 6 weeks
Once you receive the prints you need to bring them to Embassy and complete an affidavit form stating that the prints are yours. The affidavit will be signed and stamped by Officer
Get the document translated into Arabic
Take the document to the Chamber of Commerce for attestation
Document must then be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar for local use.

Police:

Go to your state police website and apply for online police clearance. Once issued in the United States.
Authenticate the report through Dept of State in Washington, DC procedure described at travel.state.gov/abduction/hague_issues/hague_issues_562.html Send the documents by overnight mail
Bring to U.S. Embassy in Doha for authentication. There is a fee of $30 USD.
Get the document translated into Arabic
Take the document to the Chamber of Commerce for attestation
Document must then be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar for local use

Getting a Police Clearance from the US

Any American employees coming to work at Qatar University should follow the instructions on the website below to get a proper FBI police clearance: https://qa.usembassy.gov/services/. That website will direct them to: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/fprequest.htm. Only those clearances from the FBI can be attested by the Consular Section. Please note this can be a long process, 16-18 weeks and people should start this process immediately.

For American citizens who have police clearances from a local or state police office, they will need to have them attested by the Department of State in Washington, DC. This can be done via the mail, FED EX, DHL, Aramex, etc. Instructions are available at http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/.

Only clearances that have been attested by the process at the State Department in Washington, DC can get a stamp from the Embassy here in Doha attesting to their validity.