Marriage to a Qatari Citizen

Every country has its own laws that apply to its citizens marrying a person from a different country. Getting married to a Qatari citizen with the goal of eventually bringing them to Canada to live is a process with many steps.

If you want to bring your Qatari spouse or partner to live in Canada, you must then file a sponsorship application for them to become a permanent resident. If they would like to visit you in Canada while their application is in process, they must also apply for a visitor visa. For more information, please see our family sponsorship page and our visitor visa page.

 

Qatari Marriage Basic Requirements

Muslim Marriages are performed at the Sharia Court, which is located on Al Rayyan Road near Mannai Ra in the Musheirib area. You must provide two witnesses for the marriage. Please note that the Sharia Court will only marry two Muslims. Even though marriages between Muslim men and Christian women are performed by Sharia courts in other Muslim countries, they are not performed in Qatar.

Non-Muslim Marriages

The only non-Muslim marriages granted offical recognition by the State of Qatar are Christian marriages preformed by churches registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by clergy recognized by the Ministry to preform non-Muslim marriages.

To obtain a Christian marriage in the State of Qatar, you must:

• Contact the Anglican, Catholic, Coptic, or Orthodox churches of Qatar and arrange a marriage ceremony. Following the ceremony, the church will issue a marriage certificate.
• Translate a copy of the marriage Certificate into Arabic through a translator recognized by the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI). You can find one if you search the Business Library of the QCCI website.
• Register the marriage certificate and Arabic translation at the Office of Land Registration and Legalization at the Ministry of Justice’s office in the West Bay. The Ministry will stamp the back of the marriage certificate with a registration number and keep the copy and Arabic translation for its records. The office is located across from the City Center Mall next to the Kahramma building.

 

Family Members

If your Qatari spouse has dependent children, this does not affect the Qatari Marriage document application.

If you have dependent children, they have no effect on the application to marry a Qatari citizen.

 

List of Qatari Consulates in Canada

Click here

Calling Qatar from Canada

011 – 974 – prefix – local number, where

• 011 is the exit code from Canada
• 974 is the country code
• Qatar does not have area codes

Landlines vs. Cells

• Landlines have a prefix of 44
• Cells use the prefixes 33, 55, 66 or 77

Some phone numbers cannot be dialled from outside of Qatar unless Qatar has an agreement with that country. These numbers include phone numbers – excluding the above prefixes – beginning with

• 1
• 20
• 99

 

Calling Canada from Qatar

Dial 00 – 1 – Area Code – local number

• 00- Exit code for Qatar, and is needed for making any international call from Qatar
• 1 – ISD Code or Country Code of Canada

Area Codes of Canada

Province	Code	Province	Code
Alberta	403 / 587 (southern Alberta) 587 / 780 (central and northern Alberta)	Nunavut	867
BC	236 / 250 / 778 (majority of BC) 236 / 604 / 778 (Metro Vancouver)	Ontario	226 / 519 (southwestern Ontario) 249 / 705 (northeastern Ontario) 289 / 365 / 905 (Greater Toronto Area) 343 / 613 (eastern Ontario) 416 / 647 (Toronto) 807 (northwestern Ontario)
Manitoba	204 / 431	PEI	782 / 902
New  Brunswick	506	Quebec	418 / 581 (eastern Quebec) 438 / 514 (Montreal) 450 / 579 (Greater Montreal) 819 / 873 (remainder of Quebec)
Newfoundland and Labrador	709	Saskatchewan	306 / 639
Northwest Territories	867	Yukon	867
Nova Scotia	782 / 902

 

Time Difference

Qatar is on Arabian Standard Time (GMT+3). Qatar does not participate in Daylight Saving Time.

Canadian Time Zone	# of Hours Qatar is Ahead	# of Hours during DST
Pacific (BC, Yukon)	11 hours	10 hours
Mountain (Alberta, western Nunavut, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan)	10 hours	9 hours
Saskatchewan	9 hours	9 hours
Central (Manitoba, Northwest Territories, central Nunavut, northwestern Ontario)	9 hours	8 hours
Eastern (most of Ontario, most of Quebec)	8 hours	7 hours
Atlantic (Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, eastern Quebec)	7 hours	6 hours
Newfoundland	6.5 hours	5.5 hours

 

Emergency Information for Canadians in Qatar

Canada does not have a diplomatic mission to Qatar. For assistance, contact the Canadian embassy in Kuwait.

Embassy of Canada in Kuwait City Villa 24, Block 4 24 Al-Mutawakkal Street Da’aiyah, Kuwait City Kuwait Postal Address: P.O. Box 25281, Kuwait City, Safat 13113 Telephone: 965 2256-3025 Fax: 965 2256-0173 Email: [email protected] Website: kuwait.gc.ca

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The Government of Canada’s Travel Alerts for Qatar

For travel alerts, click here

Sponsoring a Qatari Citizen to Canada

The sponsorship process can be lengthy and hard. To learn more about the application and what is required, click the button below:

Learn More