JEDDAH — The fees to be paid by expatriates for their dependents will be effective from July 2017 and will be collected along with the fees for Iqama (residence permit) renewal, according to sources at the department of passports (Jawazat). The sources, however, said the Jawazat is still waiting to receive instructions on the mechanism to collect the fees. They recalled that the "Financial Balance" document, which was released with the General Budget on Thursday has referred to monthly fees to be imposed on all establishments in which expatriates outnumber Saudis. Private sector establishments are currently paying SR2,000 annually for every expatriate worker. Now companies will have to pay extra fees for expats who outnumber Saudis and also for those expats who are in equal number to the nationals.But expats will have to pay SR100 from next July per dependent per month. In January 2018, companies where expats outnumber Saudis will have to pay SR400 every month for each expat worker and SR300 for each expat worker in companies where expats are in equal number to the nationals. The monthly fees on expats for each of their dependents will be raised to SR200. The fees on expats outnumbering the Saudis will be increased to SR600 per month from January 2019 while those of equal number will be increased to SR500. The fees on dependents will be increased to SR300 per dependent per month. At the start of 2020, the fees for expatriates outnumbering Saudis will be increased to SR800 monthly and to SR700 for expatriates who are in equal number to Saudi workers in a company. The monthly fees on the dependents will be raised to SR400 per head from mid 2020. Labor market sources believe that regardless of the fees to be imposed on expatriates during the coming three years, the Saudi labor laws remain to be one of the most liberal in the entire world.
