Case studiesImmigration & residency2025
Deportation stopped after a final conviction, once the violation was settled
Al Faisal was instructed after our client's conviction under the residency law had become final, with his deportation ordered. On our enforcement objection, built on the client's settlement of the violation with the Ministry of Interior, the Court of Appeal stopped enforcement of the judgment, including the deportation.
Handled by Faysel Al-Mohannadi
The judgment
- Result
- Enforcement of the judgment, including the deportation, stopped. The judgment itself was not formally cancelled.
- Court
- Court of Appeal, on an enforcement objection
- Time
- About two months, from our instruction to the court's order
- What was at stake
- Deportation under a final criminal judgment
- Our client
- A resident of Qatar
The case
In 2024 our client, a resident of Qatar, was convicted of violating the law on the entry, exit and residence of expatriates. The judgment ordered his deportation.
By the time we were instructed, the conviction was final.
In 2025, after we were instructed, the client settled the violation with the Ministry of Interior and paid the amount the law sets for a settlement. The Ministry issued a receipt.
What was at stake
The conviction was final, and the route of appeal had closed. An enforcement objection cannot reopen the merits of a judgment. It works only on facts that arise after the judgment.
Without such a fact, the judgment would be enforced, deportation included. The question was whether a settlement made after a final conviction could still count.
What we did
Looked for a new fact, not a new appeal.The conviction could not be reopened. But the residency law allows listed violations to be settled with the Ministry of Interior, and a settlement ends the criminal case.
Advised settling the violation with the Ministry.The client settled and paid the set amount. The Ministry's settlement receipt became the decisive document.
Filed an enforcement objection at the appeal level.Our petition relied on the settlement as a fact arising after the judgment. It asked the court to stop enforcement and to declare the criminal case extinguished by the settlement.
Aimed the objection at enforcement, not at the judgment.The conviction was final, so the petition did not try to reopen the merits. The settlement receipt and the earlier judgments were put before the court.
What the court held
An enforcement objection is not a way to attack a judgment. It is a complaint about the judgment's enforcement, based on facts that arise after it. So the objection was the right route, even against a final judgment. It met the required form (Criminal Procedure Code Art. 331) and was accepted in form.
Under Law No. 21 of 2015 on the entry, exit and residence of expatriates, listed violations can be settled with the Ministry by paying a set amount (Art. 42), and a settlement extinguishes the criminal case (Art. 43). The court applied this after a final conviction. The settlement was a fact arising after the judgment, and so a proper ground for the objection.
The court ordered enforcement of the judgment, including the deportation, stopped. It did not formally cancel the judgment.
Why this result matters
Here, a final conviction did not end the matter. Under the residency law, a settlement made after the judgment ended the criminal case, and an enforcement objection turned that into an order stopping enforcement. The judgment was not cancelled, but it is no longer enforced.
If you are in a similar position
- Check first whether the violation can be settled with the Ministry of Interior. Under the residency law, a settlement can end the criminal case even after a final judgment.
- An enforcement objection cannot reopen the merits. It needs a fact that arose after the judgment, such as a settlement, so complete the settlement first and file the receipt with the objection.
- Once the court stops enforcement, confirm with the immigration authority that the deportation has been cleared.
Who handled it
Faysel Al-Mohannadilawyer admitted before the Court of Cassation
Facing deportation under a court judgment? Bring the judgment, any appeal decision and any papers from the Ministry of Interior.