Change in law regarding driving license leaves many in a fix
Many expats employers and new recruits are in a turmoil due to the new rule that prohibits expatriates from converting driving licences issued in other GCC countries into Qatari licences.
Recruits, who arrived in Qatar recently or were expected to come soon, had driving licences from other GCC states and were hoping to get them converted in Qatar.
However, they will not be able to do so in view of the Traffic Department's recent directive.
While more on the new rule could be read in our news post titled “Expats from GCC countries cannot change driving license into a Qatari one”, the rule sums up that only citizens of other GCC states will be allowed to get their driving licences converted to Qatari ones.
Gulf Times reports that some employers said the inability of new recruits to get their licences converted here would likely affect the operations of a number of firms.
The officials had hoped the new employees would be able to get their Qatari driving licences quickly and start their duties without any delay. However, now these workers have to go through the entire training and testing process, which may take several months.
A senior official of a food supplier said they recruited more than 25 drivers who had earlier worked in a neighbouring GCC state, taking into consideration their experience and familiarity with the region's culture and nature of business activities.
The new rule has come as a setback to companies like theirs, he said, explaining that they now have to keep the new recruits "practically idle" until they clear the driving test.
It is learnt that more than 10 of the newly selected drivers have landed in Qatar over the past few days. The official doubted if the other new recruits would consider joining the company with the new rule coming into effect.
Some of the local entrepreneurs felt it would be better if expatriates holding GCC licences were issued temporary licences until they secured Qatari driving licences. Such a provision would help ensure that the operations of local companies were not hit, they said.
Many organizations and construction companies are reportedly facing a similar situation.
In my opinion getting or converting the license is not the solution for traffic. Besides this is a good business here in Qatar the more people wants to get license the more money comes business is business guys.Widening the road improve the road infrastructure is the best solution
yallaaaaaaaaaa... Lets go for CYCLING ;)
awwwwwwwh in summmer :'(
This is how their brain works....whatever comes out while they are on a tea break, they will implement immediately.
This is due to lack of Good Public transport network, that the ongoing race to own Vehicle and licence continues. Widening of roads is not only the solution to traffic congestion, they must look to develop public transport network like most of the Developed countries.
All these adopted procedures will only trouble expat ............and extract money.
Get a pilot license & fly back home...:)
I managed get to my UK license converted to Qatari license even though UK driving pattern is different from qatar(right hand driving)...
my colleague who has a American driving license denied the conversion even though the US have same driving pattern as Qatar (left hand driving).. very strange laws here..
no issue they want to stop buying cars, they should concentrate on Transport facility . which is .....
this is the Qatari style of management ...if they cannot manage busy traffic on roads they simply ban people from getting license..
first they had ban only for certain professions. but still many people managed to get the license.. next step is they gonna ban expats from buying cars..
British and UK are superior people in-font on GCC govt..
if we submit the UAE license, can we get direct road test or need to be obtain school ...
well said Khan and Loke ... this is not right .. If someone already has been driving for 5 to 10 years in the GCC , then he absolutely doesn't need an new license, for exemple in UAE DL is as hard to get as the QDL just a waste of expats money and time for the favor of driving schools.
Yes ........... nobody will stop them .............
how about an Asian holding a British license ?
can they still change to Qatari license ?!!!
As difficult as it is to get QDL, it is not recognized anywhere in the world(even in Dubai). Must set of people be enslaved mentally? Even when this wasn't implemented, getting QDL costs more than getting a Bachelor Degree time-wise.
shafqat-hayat: I have my own theory on this. In my opinion it is also a way of slowing the amount of drivers and cars coming on to Doha's roads...
Does any GCC citizen need Qatar Licence to drive vehicle here ???. in my knowledge, GCC citizens can drive and travel through any GCC countries by using their own driving licence. They don't want any visa or permission to enter. Then why and to whom this law is for...???
BriteExpat: indeed that is.. but how many use forged licenses among others?
indeed this is injustice, i totally agree with KHAN, when it comes to there own benefits they made excuses & procedures to delay it (i.e labor law), but whatever comes in there benefit Radar, they implement it in no time.
i agree for above comments... rules should be same for every one....
This is a very stupid change in rule, No GCC citizen will come to Qatar to take a licence. It was only good for expats having GCC license and now they have banned that. Just a move to extract money from the expacts in the name of training and school. People who have been driving in GCC countries for last more than 5 years need no such training and its just a waste of their money. They should definitely give some notice and some grace period for the people who were already in process of converting their license. But no such intimation was also given. It will simply create problems for people and delay the works. shame.
This is a very stupid change in rule, No GCC citizen will come to Qatar to take a licence. It was only good for expats having GCC license and now they have banned that. Just a move to extract money from the expacts in the name of training and school. People who have been driving in GCC countries for last more than 5 years need no such training and its just a waste of their money. They should definitely give some notice and some grace period for the people who were already in process of converting their license. But no such intimation was also given. It will simply create problems for people and delay the works. shame.
Khan: Is driving on forged licenses not an injustice ?
Allah commands justice and forbids injustice .
Peace and blessings be upon the Prophet of mankind, the Prophet of justice and mercy, Muhammad, who ordered us saying:
“Do not commit injustice, because injustice is darkness in the Day of Judgment." (Muslim)
at least 3 month before given this notice before implementation....
no draft... no under review ...... immediately implemented....
at least 3 month before given this notice before implementation....
no draft... no under review ...... immediately implemented....
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Those who came before you were destroyed because if a nobleman among them stole they would let him off, but if a weak and insignificant person stole they would carry out the punishment on him. By Allaah, if Faatimah the daughter of Muhammad were to steal, I would cut off her hand.” Saheeh – agreed upon.
Dear Qatar
Please respect Human beings Equally . Dont show partiality based on color.
If you stop direct test, stop it for All Nationalities. Why only for Asian and African countries only.
Because they are black in color compared to Europeans and Americans.
You should know that Asian and African countries nationals are poor. These poor are exploited and has to pay for driving school and tests and trainings and wait in the queue for months to get a test date. The other europeans and americans already are rich and again walk away without any charge for Driving test lessons....
This is really really bad on the Part of Qatar........ This is a wrong decision.
This is really really bad...Please reverse this decision. If a rule is made ...it should be for all.