JEDDAH, 28 October 2007 — The Ministry of Labor has set new conditions for the recruitment of housemaids and drivers. It has also agreed to issue replacement visas before those presently serving as housemaids and drivers leave the Kingdom on an exit-only visa.
The ministry insisted, however, that applicants should have the necessary financial capability and should prove their need for servants. This specific condition was included in order to prevent illegal transaction of visas.
A Saudi applicant should have a second wife or extra children or the need for taking care of parents in order to apply for a second housemaid visa, the ministry said. In order to be granted a second driver visa, the family head should have a second wife, school-going children and unmarried working daughters, it added.
In order to obtain visas for rest houses, the Labor Ministry said such facilities must be registered with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, should have an area of at least 1,000 square meters and should be owned by the applicant.
Saudis suffering from old age, disease and handicaps will have the right to apply for visas for the recruitment of a driver, maid or nurse. The application must include a medical report.
Saudis can apply for replacement visas soon after getting final exit visas stamped in the passports of their present servants. The applicant should, however, give an undertaking that he/she would ensure that the present servants leave the Kingdom.
Referring to financial capability, the ministry said the applicant should have a monthly salary of SR3,500 in order to apply for the first visa, SR8,000 for a second visa, SR12,000 for a third visa and SR20,000 for a fourth visa. Applicants who are not working in public and private sectors must produce their bank balance. People applying for more than four visas should get permission from the recruitment committee at the Ministry of Labor.
The ministry has also increased the probation period for house servants from three to six months. “If a housemaid or driver refuses to work during this period, the recruitment office must give them a replacement without charging any fees,” the ministry said.
According to a senior Labor Ministry official, 99.2 percent of visas issued by the ministry in 2005 were for house servants. During the same year, the ministry issued 82,740 visas for drivers and 254,455 visas for house servants.
Runaway maids is one of the major problems facing Saudi families. This has created a black market for maids in the country. About 95.8 percent of participants in a recent survey said the introduction of an insurance scheme would protect both house servants and their sponsors.
A study has pointed out that Bangladeshi workers represented 27.7 percent of runaway house servants, followed by Pakistanis (14.4 percent), Indians (12.1 percent), Filipinos (2.1 percent), Sri Lankans (1.6 percent), Turks (1.9 percent), Nepalese (1.5 percent), Indonesians (0.7 percent and Afghans (0.2 percent).
