Moving to Qatar from the UK: documents, tax, pensions and driving

Current travel advice

When we read it on 22 October 2026, the FCDO’s advice for Qatar, last updated on 19 August 2026, did not advise against travel. It warns that the situation in the Middle East remains unpredictable. Since 8 July there have been strikes and retaliatory attacks by Iran across the region, including in Qatar, against US military and civilian infrastructure, and there is a risk of more.

• Be ready for flight cancellations, airspace that closes at short notice and other travel disruption.
• Sign up for the FCDO’s email alerts for Qatar, follow the advice of the local authorities, and keep your travel documents up to date.
• If you are told to take shelter, stay indoors or go to the nearest safe building. Do not touch drone or missile fragments.
• Read the live advice before you accept an offer or book flights. It can change quickly.

Legalise your documents before you fly

Qatar accepts UK documents after three steps. The FCDO Legalisation Office in the UK adds an apostille. The Qatar Embassy in London then attests the FCDO signature. In Qatar, you or your employer take the document to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to finish it.

A degree certificate is not issued by a public official, so a UK notary or solicitor must certify it before the FCDO will legalise it. Birth and marriage certificates for family residence go through the same FCDO and embassy steps.

• FCDO fee per document: £45 for a paper apostille, plus postage, usually within 25 working days. An e-Apostille costs £35 and takes up to 2 working days.
• You cannot get an e-Apostille for birth, marriage or other General Register Office certificates. Those need the paper apostille.
• In Qatar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs charges QAR 100 for an academic certificate and QAR 100 for a marriage contract.
• Ask your employer exactly which documents they need before you pay for any of this.

Tell HMRC you are leaving

Tell HMRC if you are going to work abroad full time for at least one full tax year. Most people use form P85. If you file Self Assessment, use the residence pages of your return (SA109) instead, sent by post.

Once you are non resident, you do not pay UK tax on income you earn outside the UK. Depending on how split year treatment applies to you, that can start the day after you leave. UK income, such as rent from a UK property, can still be taxed.

There is no income tax on salaries or wages in Qatar, and the UK has a double taxation agreement with Qatar.

• If you work full time abroad, you can usually visit the UK for up to 90 days, as long as you work no more than 30 of them. New ties, such as buying a UK home or starting a UK business, can make you resident again.
• Tell your local council you are leaving, so you stop paying Council Tax.

National Insurance and your State Pension

Voluntary National Insurance contributions can protect your UK State Pension and benefit entitlement while you work abroad. The rules for people abroad changed on 6 April 2026.

Generally only Qatari citizens can claim a state pension in Qatar. Instead, your employer may owe you an end of service gratuity when you leave.

• From the 2026 to 2027 tax year you cannot pay voluntary Class 2 contributions for time abroad.
• You can apply to pay Class 3 contributions for time abroad after 5 April 2026 if you previously lived in the UK for 10 years in a row, or paid 10 years of qualifying contributions in total.
• For the 2025 to 2026 tax year and earlier, the older rules apply, which asked for 3 years.
• Voluntary contributions do not cover your health insurance abroad.

Student loan

• Tell the Student Loans Company if you leave the UK for more than 3 months, by updating your employment details.
• You are expected to keep repaying unless you can prove your overseas income is below the threshold.
• If you do not tell them, you can build up arrears on top of your regular repayments.

Renting out your UK home

If you live abroad for 6 months or more a year, HMRC treats you as a non resident landlord, even if you are still UK resident for tax.

Your letting agent, or your tenant if you have no agent and the rent is over £100 a week, must deduct basic rate tax from the rent. To receive it in full instead, apply to HMRC with form NRL1i and declare the income through Self Assessment. HMRC will not approve this if your tax affairs are not up to date.

Child Benefit

• Tell the Child Benefit Office if you go abroad for more than 8 weeks.
• Payments can continue for longer only in certain countries, or for Crown servants posted abroad. Qatar is not among the countries the government page lists.

Family residence

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

• The UK government’s guide says sponsors must earn at least QAR 10,000 a month, and that women can sponsor only in certain professions or as single mothers.
• Qatar’s 2023 rules also allow private sector staff on at least QAR 6,000 to sponsor when family housing is in the contract. Ask your employer which rule applies to you.
• You can sponsor a husband or wife, unmarried daughters of any age and sons aged 24 or younger. Stepchildren are decided case by case.
• You need bank statements for the past 6 months, a salary certificate and your attested marriage and birth certificates.

Health cover

Qatar has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK, so make sure you have health insurance. To use public health centres and hospitals, register for a health number once you have your Qatar ID. Our healthcare guide explains how.

Driving

• The UK government advises carrying a 1968 international driving permit with your UK licence until you hold a Qatari one, and says you cannot buy the permit outside the UK. In our experience nobody has asked for it, and car hire companies accept a UK licence alone.
• To drive for longer than 6 months you need a Qatari driving licence.
• You cannot renew or replace a UK driving licence while you live in Qatar.
• From our own visit to the Traffic Department in Madinat Khalifa: a UK licence can be exchanged for a Qatari one without a driving test only if you are also a British citizen. A UK licence held by someone of another nationality does not qualify. We could not find this written down anywhere, so check before you rely on it.
• Qatar has zero tolerance for drink driving, and using a phone while driving carries a QAR 500 fine.

Voting

• If you lived in the UK before, you can register as an overseas voter.
• Renew your registration every 3 years to keep voting while you live abroad.