RIYADH – The Ministry of Labor will receive applications to issue visas for Bangladeshi domestic workers starting Monday, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting a ministry official. Tayseer Al-Mofrej, director of the media center at the ministry, said applications should be submitted through recruitment offices to the ministry's Musaned electronic portal. Al-Mofrej said Saudis who want to hire housemaids could choose any of the 337 licensed recruitment firms, which will facilitate the hiring process with their counterparts in Bangladesh. The costs, visa validity and other details will be published on the portal on Monday. Al-Mofrej urged anyone interested in hiring Bangladesh workers to visit the portal (www.musaned.gov.sa) for detailed information on the recruitment companies. He asked would-be employers to inform the ministry in case of any violations through email to [email protected], by calling customer service center number 19911 or by directly approaching the ministry's branch offices across the country. All procedures for the recruitment on the basis agreements signed by the two countries two months ago have been completed. The bilateral agreements guarantee resumption of hiring domestic workers from Bangladesh to the Kingdom in a systematic way in line with the mutually agreed terms and conditions aimed at protecting the rights of all parties concerned. Bangladeshis aspiring to work in the Kingdom as domestic workers should have no criminal records or health problems. Possible candidates underwent intensive training at centers run by the Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). A Saudi delegation recently carried out field visits to the centers where Bangladeshis were being given training to work in Saudi households. Earlier, the ministry launched the Musaned portal to receive applications for recruitment of Bangladeshi workers. Bangladesh has more than 200 recruitment offices but each Saudi recruitment firm is allowed to deal with two of them only. According to sources, the cost of recruitment of housemaids from Bangladesh ranges from SR8,000 to SR10,000 and the monthly salary fixed at a minimum of SR800.
