With only a few days left for the amnesty deadline for job normalization, expatriates who have yet to legalize their work status now fear deportation.

Expatriates living and working in the Kingdom, who account for about 9 million of the total population, have been given until Nov. 3 to set their papers in order or risk severe punishment and deportation.

An earlier three-month amnesty deadline, which ended on July 3, was extended to Nov. 3 after calls for appeal and extension were made to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

“My ordeal began when my sponsor took my iqama for renewal at the end of March,” says Talha Hareel, a Pakistani accountant at a company in Jeddah.

“My sponsor took SR6,000 from me and was not able to renew my iqama, as he had no Saudi employees in the company. I took up another job in order to legalize my status, but had to leave soon after due to my expired iqama. I then managed to find another job, where the employer is exploiting my weak position, paying me an extremely low salary with no allowance, no medical insurance, no family status and a vacation only every two years.”

Hareel said the company he currently works for was in the green zone of the nationalization system but then went into the yellow category. “I am in trouble because even though the transfer has been made, iqama renewal is still pending. The company is searching for eligible Saudis and it will be too late, as only a week is left for the amnesty to end. So when will I get my iqama renewed?” asks Hareel.

Several companies who have employed experienced expatriates with hopes of correcting their status before the amnesty ends are equally alarmed, as sponsorship transfer failed despite several attempts.

However, Fayez Abdullah Al-Harbi, regional manager at Al-Harbi Trading and Contracting Company, thinks the ministry’s amnesty period of more than six months is enough time for illegal expatriates to correct their status.

“I’m certainly not in favor of punishment and deportation that many people fear,” says Al-Harbi. “I think that the ministry should fine those found in violation of the labor laws after the deadline.”

Al-Harbi, who is also a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the ministry and other government departments should continue to monitor the legal status of expatriates. “They must be flexible with companies without dishing out harsh punishment.”