ABHA — The Ministry of Labor (MOL) announced that expatriate workers seeking to change their sponsorship without their current employer's approval and work for another employer in the Kingdom have to meet two conditions in order to effect a successful transfer.
The ministry, while spelling out these two conditions, stressed that the foreign worker would be able to effect the transfer of his sponsorship only if he fulfills either of these two conditions.
The ministry said the first condition when the sponsor's (kafeel) consent would be waived to allow the expatriate worker in transferring sponsorship from the establishment he is working in is when a work permit is not issued to the worker with the firm being in the red or yellow zone of Nitaqat.
The ministry's second condition states that the expatriate can seek a transfer without the sponsor's consent when a work permit is not issued to the worker during the three months of his arrival in the Kingdom.
The Ministry of Labor confirmed that in such a case where the expatriate worker has not been issued a residence permit (iqama) for any convincing reasons, then he has the right to look for another employer. Then his procedures will begin with the Ministry of Labor and then the Passports Department (Jawazat).
Earlier, in May, the ministry had indicated that expatriate workers would soon be able to change their sponsorship without their current employer's approval.
The ministry is enforcing the new decision to provide expatriates with more flexibility when it comes to job change.
The relaxed law will increase competitiveness between Saudi and non-Saudi labor. Employers will also compete with one another to attract Saudi and non-Saudi labor, creating equal job opportunities for all.
