JEDDAH: The desire to land lucrative jobs in Saudi Arabia drives many highly qualified foreigners to state in official documents that they are laborers to qualify for work visas.

Academically qualified foreigners opt to write low job descriptions on their papers because professions that suit their educational and experiential backgrounds are restricted to Saudis under a job nationalization program by the Ministry of Labor. Once in the Kingdom, such foreigners take up jobs that suit their education and experience, instead of working as laborers and other low-level jobs as mentioned on their visas.

An Arab expatriate, who preferred not to be named, told Arab News that although he is listed as a laborer on both his passport and iqama, he has been the CEO of a private company for several years. “I am a chartered accountant, but I accepted the occupation of laborer on my passport and iqama so that the Passport Department and the Labor Office would not object to renewing my iqama every two years,” he said.

Recruitment rules are relaxed when it comes to bringing foreigners into the Kingdom for some occupations, such as laborers and other low-paid jobs.

Ayman A., an Egyptian with a bachelor’s degree in science, came to the Kingdom as a laborer but is working in a company that produces foodstuffs. “I accepted the occupation of laborer because it would enable me to enter into the Kingdom and also renew my iqama. This is despite the fact that people with such positions are deprived of many benefits, including the right to bring families to live with them or on visit visas,” he said.

Ayman said he tried many times to change his occupation to make it commensurate with the job he is doing but was told either to accept his current situation or leave on a final exit visa.

Fadi Abdul Mumin, a Syrian who came to the Kingdom on a laborer’s visa, is working as a teacher in a private school. He said his employers asked him to come to the Kingdom on a laborer’s visa because the recruitment of teachers from abroad was very complicated. “It is a lot easier to enter the Kingdom on a laborer’s visa than any other profession,” he said.

Nureddin Al-Maghrabi, a Moroccan, said he came to the Kingdom on a private driver’s visa but is now working as a secretary for a Saudi businessman. “I do not care much about what is written on my passport or iqama. The important thing for me is to be able to maintain my family, which includes a wife and six children back home,” he said.

Foreign women also do the same. Many of them come to the Kingdom on maid visas and work as teachers or in beauty shops. Sahab Rasheed, a young Tunisian woman, said although she came to the Kingdom as a maid she has never worked as a domestic help. She questioned the rationale behind the restrictions imposed on many professions, adding that Saudi society is steadily progressing and is in need of people with different skills.

According to official Labor Office statistics, about 30 percent of the seven million foreign workers in the Kingdom are laborers, followed by maids who number around 400,000, then drivers and nurses. Statistics published last year showed that the number of labor visas increased by more than 115 percent.