Moving to Qatar from Germany: documents, tax, social security and driving

Current travel advice

The German Federal Foreign Office advises against travel to Qatar. Its advice has been unchanged since 4 September 2026. It says the security situation in the region is volatile. Military strikes on targets in the region went on after the United States and Iran signed a declaration of intent in June 2026 to end the fighting. The risk of wider fighting and airspace closures remains, for Qatar too.

• Register on the Foreign Office’s crisis list, Elefand, and keep your details up to date.
• The German Embassy is in Tornado Tower, Majlis Al Taawon Street, Doha. Call +974 4408 2300.
• After hours and at weekends, the embassy’s emergency line is +974 5552 6672 until midnight. It also answers text messages.
• For emergency services in Qatar, dial 999.
• Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months when you arrive.
• In some cases, German citizens with roots in the Arab region have been refused entry with no reason given.

Deregister your German address

If you move out and take no new home in Germany, you must deregister with the registration office within two weeks of moving out. You can deregister at the earliest one week before you move.

• Many cities let you deregister online when you move abroad. Stuttgart does, for example.
• Deregistering affects your health insurance and your tax position. The sections below explain how.

Legalise your documents before you fly

Qatar is not in the Apostille Convention, so German documents for Qatar need legalisation. First a German authority certifies the document. This is the Vorbeglaubigung. You then take it to the Qatar Embassy, which legalises it.

Some countries also want a further certification from the Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt) after the Vorbeglaubigung. Ask the Qatar Embassy in Berlin what it needs.

• Which office gives the Vorbeglaubigung depends on the document and the state that issued it. School certificates, university degrees and civil records each have their own route.
• In Qatar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs finishes attestation. It charges QAR 100 for an academic certificate and QAR 100 for a marriage contract.

German tax when you move abroad

Germany and Qatar have no tax treaty. If you keep a home or your habitual abode in Germany, you stay fully taxable in Germany. Tax paid in Qatar can be credited against German tax. Qatar levies no tax on salaries, so there is usually little to credit.

A special rule applies to German citizens who move to a low tax country. Say you were fully taxable in Germany for at least 5 of the 10 years before you left, and you keep substantial economic interests in Germany. Then some German income can stay taxable in Germany until 10 years after the end of the year you left. The rule applies only in years when that income is over €16,500.

• Qatar levies no tax on salaries, so this rule can apply to you. Get advice from a German tax adviser if you keep investments, property or a business in Germany.

Health and pension cover

When you move your home and habitual abode abroad for good, compulsory German health insurance usually ends. Members insured through work lose cover when they deregister or their German job ends. Voluntary members usually have to cancel themselves.

Some statutory insurers offer an Anwartschaftsversicherung, a voluntary membership you keep while you live abroad. At Bosch BKK, for example, it is open for private stays abroad of 3 months or more. Ask your own insurer what it covers and costs.

Germany has social security agreements with about 20 countries outside the EU. Qatar is not one of them. Generally only Qatari citizens can claim a state pension in Qatar. Your employer may owe you an end of service gratuity instead.

German citizens who live abroad can pay voluntary contributions into the German statutory pension insurance from age 16. You cannot start once you reach the standard retirement age.

• In Qatar your cover also comes from your employer’s insurance and from public healthcare, which you register for once you have your Qatar ID. Our healthcare guide explains how.
• Carry a prescription and a medical report from the last 6 months. Controlled medicines need a Ministry of Public Health permit.

Family residence

Your employer sponsors you. You can then sponsor your family once your own residence permit is issued.

• Under Qatar’s 2023 rules, private sector staff need a technical or specialised job and a salary of at least QAR 10,000 a month, or QAR 6,000 when family housing is in the contract.
• Government and semi government staff need family housing from their employer, or a salary of at least QAR 10,000.
• You can sponsor a husband or wife, unmarried daughters of any age and sons aged 24 or younger.
• Unmarried couples may not live together in Qatar. To sponsor a partner you must be married.
• Children aged 6 to 18 must be enrolled in a licensed school in Qatar, or show they are enrolled elsewhere, before their residence permits are issued or renewed.

Driving

• On a visit or tourist visa, you can drive with a valid German licence for up to 7 days after you arrive.
• For longer, you need a temporary Qatari licence. It is valid for 3 months and can be renewed.
• An international licence lets you drive for up to 6 months after you arrive. To hire a car you also need your German licence.
• Get your international licence before you leave Germany.
• Anyone with a residence permit needs a Qatari driving licence.
• Using a phone at the wheel, drink driving and rude gestures can bring heavy fines.

Debts, contracts and travel bans

• Germans living in Gulf states have been stopped from leaving, most often after an employment dispute. An employer can ask the authorities for a travel ban even without a court case.
• Unpaid debts, or even a claim that you owe money, have also led to travel bans.
• Banks impose a travel ban automatically if your job ends and your account debts are not all paid. Your employer must tell the bank when your job ends.
• In a contract or employment dispute, Qatari authorities go by the Arabic text of the contract. Have the Arabic version translated before you sign.

Voting from Qatar

• Germans living abroad with no registered address in Germany are not added to the electoral register automatically. To vote in a federal election, apply in writing before each election.
• You qualify if, after your 14th birthday, you lived in Germany for at least 3 months without a break, and that was no more than 25 years ago.
• Sign the form by hand and send it to the municipality where you last lived, by post, fax or email.
• Once you are on the register, you vote by post.