RIYADH — The six-month validity period of a “visitor's card” will be counted from July 8, the end of the rectification grace period for Yemenis, the Passports Department (Jawazat) said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Sunday. The correction campaign will continue till July 7. The visitor's card will enable Yemenis to work in the private sector. The Passports Department called on Yemenis covered by the generous royal order to visit the correction centers to benefit from the remaining period of the amnesty. They will get visitor's identity cards issued through the rectification centers set up in various parts of the Kingdom. To get acquainted with the rectification centers, conditions and other requirements, Yemenis illegally residing in the Kingdom before April 9 should visit the Passports Department website www.gdp.gov.sa or contact through gdp.gov.sa@992. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman issued a royal order to help all illegal Yemenis who have been residing in the Kingdom before April 9 obtain papers to stay and work in the country legally. Under the correction procedures, each Yemeni will be issued with a six-month renewable “visitor's card” that will enable its holder to take jobs in the private sector. The amnesty is going to help more than 400,000 Yemenis who have been illegally staying in the Kingdom. Till last week, the Directorate General of Passports (Jawazat) had issued 78,200 visitor's cards to illegal Yemenis residing in the Kingdom. A Jawazat spokesman said the Yemeni Embassy and consulates delivered to the concerned authorities more than 240,000 new passports needed for status correction. Yemeni women who have corrected their status as per an amnesty can also work during the six months of their legal stay in the Kingdom. They are allowed to join any sector and occupy any job except for 16 occupations restricted to Saudi men and women such as jobs in the health, educational and engineering sectors which require the permission of specialized Saudi commissions like the National Society for Engineers.
