Ministry: No plans to reduce fees of housemaid visas

The Ministry of Labor has denied any plans to reduce fees for housemaid visas in the Kingdom that would reduce them to similar levels as those in other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
“It is absolutely incorrect that the ministry has plans to reduce the fees for domestic workers’ visa,” Deputy Minister of Labor Dr. Mifarrij bin Saad Al-Haqabani was quoted by local media as saying.
A ministry spokesman, Hattab Al-Anize, said that although the question of reducing such fees had been discussed at Shoura Council earlier, no report was submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval. Any reduction of fees would necessitate the approval of the Council of Ministers.
A number of citizens who were following recruitment formalities at the Ministry of Labor office in Riyadh said fees for domestic worker visas are high compared to those levied in other GCC countries.
“It’s unacceptable to equate fees for domestic workers with the fees for technical workers,” one man quoted as saying. He demanded that fees for domestic workers not go above SR 500.
According to an informal survey conducted by the local media, recruitment fees for domestic workers in the Kingdom were found to be the highest in the GCC. Fees in Kuwait stood at KD 3 (SR 39), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) AED 110 (SR 115), Oman OR 20 (SR 200),Qatar QR 300 (SR 303). In Bahrain, visas for domestics are issued free of charge.