JEDDAH: Agents are reportedly using visit visas that are renewable every six months to recruit household workers, particularly from Gulf countries, pushing up the price of each worker to around SR26,000.

“Brokers recruit about 140 household workers per month, especially from the Philippines and Sri Lanka, with recruitment periods ranging from one month to four months and salaries of up to $300 (SR1,125) per month,” owners of recruitment offices were quoted as saying by local media.

This method increases the cost delays the recruitment, they said. “Recruitment through Gulf countries increases the price and floods the market with violating workers, as well as results in closure of 30 percent of recruitment offices in the Kingdom.”

The owner of one office, who preferred not to disclose his name, said there is cooperation between brokers and their counterparts in Gulf countries to recruit workers to the Kingdom via visit visas that are renewable on a six-month basis. “There is an agreement that the employer pay up to $7,000 (around 26,000) and wait for up to four months for the worker to arrive. Recruitment from Sri Lanka costs up to $5,000 and a monthly salary is SR250.”

The Ministry of Labor has been consistently conducting inspection campaigns to ensure that companies abide by the regulations pertaining to recruitment of workers. Recruiting workers, including housmaids, is a smooth process if the rules and regulations in the Kingdom are followed.