Undocumented foreign workers, frustrated by delays in legalizing their status ahead of the Nov. 3 deadline, are seeking government intervention to penalize sponsors who hurt the interests of their employees.

Concern is growing among some distressed foreign workers because the Ministry of Labor had warned that the current grace period would not be extended beyond Nov. 3

The ministry’s position is that while the initial three-month period may have been insufficient, seven months are more than enough for anyone to legalize their status.

Expatriates are seeking a system of accountability for sponsors who inadvertently harm the residency status of expats through delayed processing of relevant documents.

Ahmad Said, a Yemeni national, says he was offered a better job at a private company but that his sponsor is stalling and is refusing to co-operate in completing the process.

Alaa As Samkari, an engineer at a contracting company, says that “my sponsor agreed to release my documents after stalling for more than four months”.

Ahmad Al-Humaidan, deputy minister of Labor Affairs, had ruled out any further extension of the grace period.

“The ministry has given everybody the opportunity to benefit from the grace period,” he was quoted as saying by the local media.

“The ‘shadow labor workforce’ was not under supervision and moved freely within the market. For us, this is a big problem, especially in cover-up businesses,” he said.

“We believe that we have now given everybody the opportunity to act responsibly. We will adjust our ‘Nitaqat’ nationalization system to accommodate the outcome of the legalization campaign. We want the system to be flexible,” said the deputy minister.