Amid talk of the Gulf Cooperation Council imposing limits on expatriate workers, an official at Qatar’s labor ministry says the country would not apply it to skilled professionals.

Mohammad Al Ubaidily, the director of the legal affairs at the labor ministry, said a proposed five-year residency cap was mainly aimed at unskilled laborers, Gulf News  reports, citing an interview in Al Arab.

There are an estimated 15 million foreigners in the Gulf.