UAE to Doha - Indian Nanny with UAE Visa | ExpatWoman.com
 

UAE to Doha - Indian Nanny with UAE Visa

152
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 23 August 2015 - 13:57

Hi Ladies,

I have a question. I am moving to Doha for work and I want to bring our nanny of 3 years with us. So far all I have read is that Indians are not allowed to have maid visas in the country.

This would make life miserable if she cant come. Anyone have any ideas of where I can look or alternatives I can consider?

Thanks so much!

DC_Diva

616
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 06 September 2015 - 18:05
Ok from your logic an Indian woman over 30 is free to work as a maid in Qatar? Can you let me know what you base that information on and explain why the market isn't flooded by Indian maids over 30 then? I've been here 9 years and have never known someone to sponsor an Indian maid. I don't dispute that India has special approval requirements for maids under 30. The situation in Qatar is that only nationals of certain countries are eligible for domestic visas. If you go to the authorities and say 'I want to hire a British national as a maid' they will say 'nope, Britain isn't on the list'. The article clearly says: "Up until this week, only women from the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Nepal could work as housemaids in Qatar. " [then more nationalities added that don't include Indian'>. If you say that the restrictions are only because of the home countries, how come (eg) the US isn't on that list? The US doesn't restrict where its nationals can work. As you've pointed out, the Indonesian authorities don't allow Indonesians to work here any more. You can still get a Qatari visa for an Indonesian maid - Qatar allows it, it's the home country that doesn't. A similar situation is the need to recruit Filipina maids through an agency. You can get someone a work visa in Qatar without going through an agency however the maid won't be allowed onto the plane in Manila unless they have this paperwork. You can bring in via HK (because Filipinas don't need visas for HK) saying they're going on holiday and then bring into Qatar from there. Qatar doesn't care if you use an agency or not, the Philippines does. I'm going to step out of this one now as we're arguing at complete cross purposes. OP, if you're confused, best bet is to ask a PRO company the situation and whether you can get a visa.
38
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 September 2015 - 17:36
lalala, thank you so much for the link, but the article in Doha News does not say a word about Indians working in Qatar on a domestic visa. So, when you post something like this: "It's not because of the Indian embassy - it's because Indian's don't qualify for domestic visas!" - it seemed like you're saying that Qatar isn't willing to grant Indians visas for domestic employment. Qatar is willing to, but India wants it's citizens to be protected, to have a decent wage, to have time off... all of the same rights that other countries want for their unskilled/domestic labor force. Quote from the article you are referring to: "Nepal only lifted a ban on its nationals working as housemaids in Qatar last year, after the government agreed that certain terms and conditions being met, including a guaranteed month off after a year’s work, life insurance coverage and the opening of a bank account in the maid’s name. Also last year, Nepal set an age bar for women seeking work in Gulf countries, citing widespread reports of sexual and psychological abuse. Nepalese women under 30 are no longer allowed to work in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. And in January, Indonesia temporarily suspended recruitment of domestic workers to Qatar, saying it could not afford to help the increasing number of runaway maids seeking shelter at its embassy." These are the same issues India has with allowing it's unskilled/domestic workforce to work in Qatar, hence, Indian women under 30 wishing to work in Qatar as a domestic worker require specific approval of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
616
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 06 September 2015 - 16:00
It is that simple and straight forward - situation hasn't changed since this report as far as I'm aware: http://dohanews.co/after-a-long-delay-five-new-countries-agree-to-send/ Happy to be contradicted but I would have thought the ability of Indians to obtain domestic visas would have been very highly reported. There may be dual restrictions but the main reason people say it's not possible is because you can't get the visa in Qatar. There may be employers who can get around this and it's always possible that begging the MOI might work miracles but the default position is only certain nationalities can legally work as maids in Qatar. The issues with approval of the authorities in India of course also something that has to be overcome but is it's not the driving factor here. I would have thought permission was fairly easy to obtain for someone who is already with the family (if the OP's maid is even under 30 in the first place).
38
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 September 2015 - 15:03
lalala, It's not that simple and straightforward. Indian women under 30 wishing to work in Qatar as a domestic worker require specific approval of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
616
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 06 September 2015 - 08:59
It's not because of the Indian embassy - it's because Indian's don't qualify for domestic visas!
38
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 September 2015 - 13:26
Have you tried contacting the Indian Embassy either in the UAE or in Doha? I think the reason you're hearing that Indian domestic helpers cannot come to Doha is because the Indian government may have put a ban on domestic workers coming to Qatar due to allegations of wide spread abuse of Indian domestic workers here. Anyhow, try contacting the Indian Embassies in Qatar and UAE and see what they have to say. Good luck!
616
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 02 September 2015 - 09:18
There are restricted nationalities that are eligible for domestics visas. Indians aren't. Some of the bigger employers can wrangle anything at immigration but they have to want to.
152
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 September 2015 - 12:32
Hi Lalala, Thanks for the response. May I ask why is it that she cannot come? I Can't seem to get through with anyone at the MOI to ask whether Indians can be sponsored, but I would hate to lose her as she is part of our family. TIA!
616
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 25 August 2015 - 09:54
She can't come. Only option would be to explore whether your employer might be willing to sponsor her separately but most wouldn't do this.