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Qatar Residence Permit (QID) Cost Calculator

Itemised residence permit and QID cost with a new-issue versus renewal toggle and a dependent line. Every row is labelled with who usually pays: the employer for a sponsored worker's own permit, the sponsoring employee for each dependent.

Fees change and many are employer-paid; confirm with MOI Qatar or your employer. Reviewed 2026.

New issue or renewal

Most permits run 1 year. Some employers process longer cycles in one transaction.

Dependent permits are paid by the sponsoring employee, not the employer.

Total residence permit cost

QAR 600

Renewal over 1 year

LinePaid byAmount
Residence permit (QID issuance)
QAR 500/year x 1 year
EmployerQAR 500
Health (Hamad) card
QAR 100/year x 1 year
EmployerQAR 100
Employer subtotalQAR 600

For sponsored employees the employer subtotal is normally paid by the company, not deducted from salary. Fees change and many are employer-paid; confirm with MOI Qatar or your employer.

Get your residence permit handledFull QID renewal walkthrough

What goes into a Qatar residence permit

A Qatar residence permit is not a single charge but a short stack of lines paid through the Ministry of Interior and the public health system. The core line is the residence permit fee itself, around QAR 500 per year, which is what is actually printed on the Qatar ID (QID) card. When people say they are renewing their QID, this is the fee they mean. The QID plastic card is not billed separately; its cost is folded into the permit processing. On top of the permit sits the annual health (Hamad) card at about QAR 100 per year for a non-GCC expat, which gives access to public health centres and must be renewed yearly alongside the permit.

A first-time permit adds two more steps that a renewal usually skips. The medical commission, a chest x-ray and blood screening at an MOI-approved facility, is a flat QAR 100 per person on the current MOI schedule; we show it as an estimate because fees can change. Fingerprint and biometric capture at the MOI fingerprint centre then follows, and this step carries no separate published fee. After the medical clearance and biometrics, the file goes to the MOI and the permit is usually issued within two to four weeks. The calculator above only adds the medical line when you select New issue, because the test is a new-issue and milestone requirement rather than an every-year charge. For the full renewal walkthrough including Metrash and document checklists, see the QID renewal guide.

Who pays what

This is the part that catches most expats out, so it is worth stating plainly. For a work-sponsored employee, the employer normally pays for the employee's own residence permit, medical commission, QID issuance and health card. These are a cost of employing you, not a cost you are expected to carry, and they should not appear as a deduction on your payslip. If they do, that is worth questioning. Dependents are the exception: when you bring in a spouse or child you become their sponsor, and the residence permit and health card for each dependent are your personal liability rather than the company's. That is why the calculator separates an employer subtotal from a sponsor subtotal. The employer subtotal is normally invisible to your budget; the sponsor subtotal is the real cash that leaves your pocket.

Line itemAmount (QAR)Usually paid by
Residence permit (employee)500/yearEmployer
Medical commission (new issue)100 (approx)Employer
Fingerprint / biometricsNo separate feeEmployer
Health (Hamad) card100/yearEmployer
Dependent residence permit500/year eachSponsor
Dependent health card100/year eachSponsor

Worked examples

ScenarioEmployer subtotalSponsor subtotalGrand total
1-year renewal, no dependentsQAR 600QAR 0QAR 600
New issue, no dependentsQAR 700 (approx)QAR 0QAR 700 (approx)
1-year renewal, 2 dependentsQAR 600QAR 1,200QAR 1,800

Example 1: one-year renewal, no dependents. The residence permit is QAR 500 and the health card is QAR 100, so the employer subtotal is QAR 600 and the sponsor subtotal is zero. Grand total QAR 600.

Example 2: new first-time permit, no dependents. Add the one-off medical commission of about QAR 100 to the QAR 600 base, giving an employer subtotal of roughly QAR 700. Because this is a new-issue cost paid by the company, the sponsor subtotal is still zero.

Example 3: one-year renewal with a spouse and one child. The employee's own QAR 600 stays on the employer side. Each dependent needs a QAR 500 permit and a QAR 100 health card, so two dependents add QAR 1,200 on the sponsor side. Grand total QAR 1,800, of which QAR 1,200 is the real out-of-pocket figure for the sponsoring employee.

Edge cases

Late renewal and overstay

An expired residence permit moves into overstay and accrues a daily fine, commonly cited at QAR 10 per day for residents, charged when the permit is finally renewed. The fine is on top of the standard fee. Use the Qatar overstay fine calculator to size the exposure before you renew.

Family sponsorship eligibility

Before you can pay a single dependent fee you have to clear the family sponsorship salary and housing test. If you do not meet the threshold, the dependent permits in the calculator above are moot. Run the family sponsorship eligibility checker first, and see the GCC family sponsorship salary requirements for the comparison across the Gulf.

Multi-year permits and GCC nationals

Some categories can process a longer validity in one transaction, such as a roughly QAR 900 three-year cycle, which lowers the per-year cost. GCC nationals and certain other categories sit on a different fee schedule entirely. The calculator uses the standard resident rates; if you are on a special category, treat the output as a ceiling and confirm your own bracket on Metrash. You can always verify a permit's live status using the method in the MOI Qatar visa check by passport number guide.

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Fees change and many are employer-paid; confirm with MOI Qatar or your employer. Reviewed 2026. For how this permit bill compares against the equivalent residency paperwork across the Gulf, see the GCC paperwork cost index, and for the wider picture of living and working in the country, the Qatar country guide. If overstay fines are a concern across the region, the GCC overstay fines compared guide puts Qatar in context.

Related calculators

The residence permit cost is one line in a connected stack. These free tools handle the adjacent numbers:

Frequently asked

What does a Qatar residence permit actually cost in 2026?

A standard one-year residence permit renewal runs about QAR 500 for the permit itself plus around QAR 100 for the annual health (Hamad) card, so roughly QAR 600 per year for a single sponsored employee. A new first-time permit adds the medical commission step, which is a flat QAR 100 per person (chest x-ray and blood screening); treat it as an estimate as fees can change. Fingerprint and biometric capture at the MOI fingerprint centre carry no separate published fee. For a worker sponsored by an employer, almost all of this is paid by the company, not by the worker. The figures are anchored to current MOI Qatar and Hamad health card schedules; confirm the live amount on the Metrash app before relying on the total.

Who legally pays the residence permit fees?

For a work-sponsored employee, the employer is responsible for the residence permit fee, the medical commission, the QID issuance and the health card. This is the normal arrangement and the cost should not be deducted from the worker's salary. Dependent permits work differently: the sponsoring employee pays for the residence permit and health card of each family member they bring in, because the employee is the sponsor of the family file rather than the employer. The calculator splits the total into an employer subtotal and a sponsor subtotal so the company-paid line and the personal-budget line are visible separately.

How much is the QID renewal fee?

The residence permit renewal that is printed on the QID card is QAR 500 for one year. Some sources show a combined longer-validity option such as QAR 900 for a three-year cycle for eligible categories, which works out cheaper per year. The QID card itself is not billed as a separate line; the card fee is bundled into the residence permit processing. Home delivery of the physical card by Q-Post adds about QAR 20 if you choose it instead of collecting in person.

Is the medical test required every year?

No. The medical commission (chest x-ray and blood screening) is a new-issue requirement, done when the residence permit is first granted and at certain renewal milestones rather than every single year. The commission fee is a flat QAR 100 per person (treat it as an estimate). The calculator only adds the medical line when you select New issue. The annual health (Hamad) card is separate from the medical commission; the health card is the QAR 100 per year card for a non-GCC adult that gives access to public health centres and is renewed yearly.

How much does it cost to sponsor a dependent's residence permit?

Each dependent (spouse or child) needs their own residence permit at roughly QAR 500 per year and their own health card at about QAR 100 per year, so budget around QAR 600 per dependent per year on the sponsor's side. A new dependent permit also triggers a one-off medical commission for adult dependents. Family sponsorship itself has a salary and housing eligibility test that sits before any of these fees; check the eligibility before you pay anything.

What is the difference between the residence permit and the QID?

They are two faces of the same thing. The residence permit (RP) is the legal right to live in Qatar tied to a sponsor; the Qatar ID card (QID) is the physical plastic card that proves it and carries your ID number, expiry date and sponsor details. When people say they are renewing their QID they mean renewing the residence permit, and the fee is charged as one transaction. The expiry date on the QID card is the date the residence permit lapses.

What happens if the residence permit expires?

An expired residence permit moves into overstay and accrues a daily fine, commonly cited at QAR 10 per day for residents, applied when the permit is finally renewed or when the holder is processed at a checkpoint. The fine sits on top of the standard renewal fee. Because the employer usually handles renewals through Metrash, most overstay exposure comes from a missed reminder rather than a deliberate lapse; set a renewal reminder 30 to 60 days before the QID expiry to avoid it entirely.

Can I pay these fees myself through Metrash?

Yes. The Metrash2 app lets a sponsor pay residence permit fees, track an application and manage sponsorship requests directly from a phone, and many dependents' permits are paid this way by the sponsoring employee. Employers typically use the corporate MOI channels and the company PRO to process the employee's own permit. Whichever channel is used, the underlying fee is the same; only the payer and the interface differ.