JEDDAH, 13 August 2005 — The Labor Ministry has allowed Saudi companies and individuals more time to transfer sponsorship of their expatriate workers and comply with the country’s labor and iqama regulations.
The ministry took the decision in response to the demand of Saudi firms and individual sponsors in order to correct the legal situation of their foreign workers and help them hire locally available expatriates.
Many companies were facing problems as a result of a ban imposed last year by the ministry on the transfer of sponsorships.
Later the ministry gave companies up to February this year to transfer sponsorships. The period was again extended by six months. Now they have been allowed indefinite time to correct the flaws.
According to press reports, the ministry has not set any deadline this time for the transfer of sponsorships in order to allow sponsors as well as expatriates enough time to legalize their situation to avoid punishment.
Officers from the Passports Department and Public Security carried out a series of raids all over the Kingdom during the past months to arrest and deport overstayers as well as violators of labor and iqama regulations.
The Labor Ministry has taken a series of steps in recent months to restrict recruitment of foreign workers as part of efforts to create more job opportunities for Saudis.
Foreign and Saudi investors had earlier complained to the authorities that the ministry’s strict Saudization drive including the ban on sponsorship transfer and foreign recruitment was affecting their businesses.
There are more than six million expatriates in the Kingdom. Indians constitute the largest with 1.5 million, followed by Egyptians (923,600), Filipinos 850,000, Pakistanis 800,000, Sri Lankans 600,000 and Indonesians 500,000.
The government has increased the fees to discourage expatriates to transfer their sponsorship from one company to another. For the first transfer they have to pay SR2,000, for the second SR4,000 and for the third SR6,000.
The Labor Ministry has stepped up its efforts to employ more Saudis in the private sector. According to Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, more than 82,000 vacancies are now available for qualified Saudis.
He called upon unemployed Saudis to approach labor offices across the country and complete the formalities for placement in suitable jobs. The ministry provided jobs to 40,000 Saudis during the last five months after a nationwide campaign to register job seekers.
He said the ministry would continue to control recruitment abroad in order to limit dependence on foreign workers. Last year, recruitment visas for private companies were cut by 17.8 percent to 684,201 from 832,244 the year before.
A committee has been set up at the Labor Ministry to approve applications for the recruitment of foreign manpower and investigate complaints by companies whose recruitment applications have been rejected.
The minister has warned Saudi sponsors engaged in illegal transaction of labor visas to stop such businesses. “The government is very serious in its Saudization drive,” he said and urged businessmen to give priority to Saudi workers. Gosaibi also urged Saudi employers to encourage young Saudis to work for them by providing them with suitable job atmosphere and increasing their salaries.
“From Ramadan we will not allow any companies having 10 workers to recruit foreign workers, if they did not employ at least one Saudi,” he pointed out.
