THE Ministry of Labor's latest decision to allow dependents of expatriates in Saudi Arabia to work in the private sector without the need of transferring their Iqama (residence permit) brought joy to many expatriates residing in the Kingdom. The decision to open the doors for them to work even if it was in limited fields is a good start and will solve many issues. Dependents will not be unemployed and made to stay at home but will be allowed to contribute to society with their expertise by filling the vacant jobs that cannot be taken by Saudis. According to the news, Labor Minister Adel Fakeih has decided to give employment opportunities to the males and females accompanying expatriates with residence permits. He believes that this enhancement to the system is better than recruiting from abroad, which is something many people have been repeatedly saying before. The company or establishment wishing to employ the expatriates' dependents must be in the green Nitaqat zone, be eligible for recruitment and must have the consent of the expatriate who is sponsoring the dependents. The dependent must also have a valid Iqama, aged below 60, does not have a work contract with any other establishment and is qualified for the job that cannot be taken by a Saudi are the conditions that need to be fulfilled as the rule stipulates. According to sources, the ministry made this decision after it liaised with the Interior Ministry on the status correction of expatriates. This is according to the news published in this paper last week. In order to come under the rule's purview, dependents need to register with 'Ajeer', a Labor Ministry service, which is monitored by the Ministry of Education. Like I have been saying before, the expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia are playing an important role in developing the Kingdom. I urge fellow dependents of expatriates to register with this service. I hope that this system will include other fields that have not yet been fully Saudized and suffer from manpower shortage. This is a win-win situation where dependents of expats can benefit by gaining experience and also benefiting society by working and contributing constructively. Hiring dependents of expatriates would benefit all. First, it will benefit the country by limiting the number of people being recruited from abroad. This decision will also benefit the expatriates themselves because not only will they be able to work, earn money and support their family, but with their dependents working they will be able to supplement their household income. The decision will also benefit the Saudi companies a lot because they will be able to save the money they usually spend on recruiting workers from abroad and instead find more skilled workers in the Kingdom at zero cost. It will also save lot of time and money because the dependents will be hired to work immediately and it will be music to the ears of companies to know that these workers will not be under their sponsorship, which means lesser obligations. Another advantage is that the dependents are already used to living in the Kingdom so there is no psychological issues like culture shock that the newcomers suffer from when they arrive in new countries. One thing that Ajeer needs to take care of is to ensure that the contract between the company and the locally hired expat is fair to both because of the fear that some companies take advantage and victimize the domestically recruited workers. The advantage of this system, if implemented and regulated properly, is that it will curb the black market in labor because everything will be done through Ajeer and there will be no need for it. Another benefit for the families of expatriates is that, instead of traveling abroad to work, the dependents can find jobs here in a field that is not competitive with Saudis. Since the cost of living is getting expensive day by day, most Saudi families have both the wife and husband working to make ends meet. Now even expatriate families will have the opportunity to do the same. We need to see more such decisions that would benefit both the country and expatriates keeping in mind that all residents could be viewed as economic assets and should be used in such a way that they benefit the economy. An important element that I want to focus here is the added advantage to an expatriate, who does not need to transfer the dependents from his sponsorship, thereby allowing them to plan as a family in terms of holidays, house rents and renewal of their permits or in the event when the sponsor gets an exit or goes on exit. We need to monitor this system closely and evaluate whether we can once and for all abolish the sponsorship system, a system that has victimized expatriates mostly. If an expatriate can work with a company without transferring his Iqama, we need to focus on the relationship between the two while weighing up the pros and cons as this might be a move toward abolishing the sponsorship system.
— The writer can be contacted at [email protected]. Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
