Many Kingdom-based expatriates who have been sent abroad by their parents for higher education have been told that they must have their degrees endorsed by a local Saudi Embassy and that the endorsement would only come through after landing a job contract in the Kingdom.

Yet many expats students are still finding considerable difficulty finding jobs, while other students who wish to postpone working to continue their higher education are facing the same dilemma.

This procedure has been applicable since 2006, but foreigners were still able to find jobs relatively easily until the introduction of the Nitaqat nationalization scheme in 2011.

"Private companies do not demand that expat graduates from foreign universities endorse their academic certificates in order to be employable. The university’s name is enough to hire them,” Fadal Abu Ainain, an adviser for several Saudi private companies, told Arab News.

“Private companies in the Kingdom ask expat graduates from lesser known universities to get their certificates endorsed through government departments to ensure that their degrees are authentic. However, reputable universities are instantly recognized by private firms, both in Saudi Arabia and globally,” Abu Ainain added.

Omar Mahmoud, a Sudanese expat living in Jeddah, said: “I graduated from the University of Jordan in 2013. I got my degree endorsed by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Saudi Embassy in Amman, however, refused to endorse my degree without my having a job contract in the Kingdom.

"I currently live in the Kingdom with my family, where I am looking for a job at a private company, but it has become increasingly difficult to find jobs with the introduction of the nationalization scheme.”

Emad Mamdouh, an Egyptian expat working in Riyadh, said: “I graduated in 2007 from the University of 6 October in Egypt and I am working at a private company. I had not endorsed my degree at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo and have never been asked to do so by my company.”