Summary and Recommendations
Considering the number of immigrants in the State of Qatar, and the wide range of economic and social benefits that the citizens of the State are provided with, the access to citizenship is now significantly limited. The only way a non-Qatari person can become a citizen is through naturalization, which implies a lot of requirements. Additionally, naturalized citizens do not have all rights that native Qataris have, children of Qatari are not always considered as citizens, and women do not have equal rights with men. Nevertheless, the country needs foreigners to meet its development and labor market needs, so it should attract them.
We are suggesting you Highness to consider these recommendations as to the path to fulfilling the projected development and market goals: A) Simplify the procedure of naturalization and give new entrants access to permanent residency or even citizenship. B) Reduce economic benefits for citizens since it burdens the country.
Background
Qatar citizenship brings many benefits to its people: employment in the public sector, free health care facilities and education, free electricity and water, land grants, housing advantages, etc. However, the more the State offers to its citizens, the fewer people can be provided with citizenship. That makes it almost impossible to become Qatari and discourages foreigners that are needed in Qatar as the labor force. Presently, nearly 90% of the population are noncitizens, and the country still has to rely on the foreign labor force, although it does create the demographic imbalance. To meet the labor market demands, the Qatari population has to grow from 1.8 to 2.4 million.
Conclusion
Your Highness, the ongoing policy toward citizenship can no longer meet the country’s demands and help to fulfill the goals that Qatar establishes. To attract the foreign labor force, we need to provide foreigners with the opportunities to get permanent residence or even citizenship. To be able to do this without prejudice to the national economy, the benefits for citizens should be vastly reduced.