Various embassies and consulates, especially of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India are organizing job fairs to help their citizens find jobs and correct their status before the amnesty period of July 3.

Last week, job fairs were held at the Bangladeshi Consulate and the Pakistani International School, Aziziah.

After the success of the last job fair, the Pakistani Consulate organized a recent fair, with the participation of 45 companies offering over 5000 jobs. Pakistani Consulate is now opening at 6 a.m. in the morning to facilitate as many people as possible.

“We are trying to accommodate and facilitate maximum number of people who are coming for passports, out passes, registration or any other help they need. For this purpose, the consulate has changed its timings and is working from 6 a.m. in the morning,” said Pakistani Consul General Aftab Khokhar.

He said 400 passports are handed over daily while around 100 to 200 passports are renewed, and those who want to go back are given out passes. Almost 8000 out passes have been given to people, although some of them are looking for jobs at these fairs.

He said that the process of sending workers back home is quite slow at Tarheel due to a lack of manpower and equipment.

So far 15,000 people have gone through the biometric process. 

Khokhar advised the workers to get jobs according to their professions and skills. He emphasized workers to sign the agreement before joining the firms they want to work for, in order to know about their salaries and rights.

“We requested the Saudi government to extend the deadline but in the absence of any such extension, we must stick to completing our work before the given time. The main aim of the consulate and embassy is to provide jobs to those who need it and legalize their status in accordance with the Saudi law,” he said.   The Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh is holding a job fair on daily basis. 

Meanwhile, around 12 companies have put up stalls in the Bangladeshi job fair, saying around 500 workers attended the event.

Shahjahan Chanchal, a Bangladeshi worker in Saudi Arabia, said, “ Bangladeshi workers should grab the opportunity.”