Widows of foreign workers are facing an uphill battle to renew their residency permits.

Many have not been able to find work with their expired residency cards, and are unable to enroll their children in government schools.

Khaleedah Abdurub, the widow of a Yemeni electrician, lives in her mother’s house with her three children. “Our residency permit expired three years ago. The sponsor of my husband promised to solve this issue, but he never called,” she said.

“I have been trying to get legal status under a Saudi sponsor for two years. The Ministry of Interior’s lengthy procedures are a major problem. They have told us to come to the office several times with different documents but this is sometimes difficult,” she said.

An Indian widow, Fatimah, said: “My iqama expired a few months after my husband’s death. My husband’s sponsor couldn’t renew the iqama. I tried to find a new sponsor for me and my children but with the new laws in the Kingdom it is difficult.”

She said that the family has many problems and their only option is to return home.

Karima, an Ethiopian widow, who lives with her daughter in Jeddah, is in a similar predicament. She has been trying unsuccessfully to transfer her iqama to a Saudi for a year. “I am now trying to get my daughter’s iqama transferred because the Ethiopian school has issued a circular that all students should have valid identity cards. The civil affairs office has time-consuming procedures.”

She said that it would be helpful if the government passes a law to assist widows.