Expat outrage over Saudi visa cap

in 

Saudi Arabia

Expatriates in Saudi Arabia have voiced their disappointment over the new plans to place a six year cap on the amount of time the can stay in the country.

Earlier in the week the Saudi Arabia Labour Minister, Adel Al Faqih, announced that a cap was to be placed on the amount of time an expat spent working in the country, in an effort to create more jobs for a Saudi Arabia native population that is experiencing high levels of unemployment.

Reports also surfaced of other new rules, including new quotas for the amount of Saudi’s to be employed by companies, rules that are to be implemented within five months.

Predictably, expats in Saudi Arabia were less than pleased with these announcements, not to mention confused regarding the actual details of the plans.

However, the Labour Minister has attempted to clear things up by divulging further details. According to the Minister only workers in the private sector will be affected by the cap, and also those working for companies who are deemed to not have a reasonable amount of native Saudi employees.

The Labour Minister issued a statement: “My ministry will see to it that every single query of yours is answered. Without your support, the new Saudization drive will not succeed. Unemployment is a serious problem and therefore we are making serious efforts to solve it.”