Fakeih hopes expats will take advantage of grace period

Labor Minister Adel Fakeih yesterday called on all illegal foreign workers to make use of the three-month grace period given by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to correct their status.

“It’s a good opportunity for serious expats to correct their situation as there is no justification for the stay of foreigners who work for firms other than their sponsors or for their own accounts,” the minister said.

He said his ministry would provide all facilities for expatriates to correct their status, while urging everybody to cooperate to protect the interests of the nation as well as the labor market.

He said many expats could not renew their iqamas or residency permits because of their own reasons or that of sponsors, who may have slipped into the red or yellow categories of the Nitaqat system for failing to employ the required number of Saudis.

The minister said firms in green and platinum categories would benefit during the correction period as they would be able to recruit those workers of companies in the red and yellow that failed to correct their status.
“This will help them save the expenditure for foreign recruitment,” he added.

He said the correction campaign would help Saudis get more jobs as companies in red and yellow would try to employ more of them to correct their status. He expected platinum and green companies to recruit more Saudis to maintain their Nitaqat position.

“The move against violators will also enable Saudis to open small and medium enterprises and they will not face any competition from illegal cover-up businesses,” he said.

Fakeih said the expats already know what violations they have committed and there is no need of explaining it to them again. He said police would support labor officials in their campaign against illegal workers.

Saudi Arabia appreciates the efforts being made by foreign workers in the Kingdom’s development. “At the same time it asserts that they should follow the country’s law,” the minister added.