Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM — The number of Saudi women in the Eastern Province who have obtained housemaid visas after the government scrapped a rule requiring them to have a male guardian present before they could hire domestic help has reached nearly 7,000. Saudi women who are married to foreigners are also allowed to recruit household labor provided they bring a letter from their banks certifying they are financially able to recruit labor if they are not employed in the public sector. Saudi women who earn less than SR3,500 are not allowed to recruit domestic workers without a guardian, including divorcees and widows. A year ago, recruitment was not allowed for Saudi women without the presence of their legal guardian because of the difficulty verifying their identity. This persuaded the Labor Office in the Eastern Province to submit an official request to the Ministry of Labor to open a section staffed by women. The newly opened section in the recruitment department in Dammam has only two employees who receive papers from women, verify their identity and then refer their applications for approval. According to the sources, the number of applications has reached 6,750, including nearly 300 new applications that have not yet been approved. The women's department receives daily around 20 applicants who can have their paperwork finalized without a legal guardian, a rule that had been mandatory until a month ago. Applications from women who earn less than SR3,500 are not approved, while those who earn above this level but less than SR8,000 can only recruit either a housemaid or a driver. Female employees who earn more than SR8,000 can recruit both a driver and a housemaid. A local newspaper met a number of Saudi women at a recruitment office in Dammam. All of them said they were allowed to review the status of their paperwork without a male guardian in all departments, not just the women's section. The criteria for recruiting domestic help are the same for both men and women except a rule regarding women's marital status. The local newspapers reported last week that the Eastern Province Labor Office was experiencing increased demand for Filipino domestic workers from Saudi women. It follows a 15-month ban on the recruitment of workers from the Philippines, which was lifted recently. The office was visited by a large number of citizens after Filipino domestic workers were allowed to be recruited. It received at least 1,240 applications for labor from the country. The number of applicants visiting the office has increased by nearly 60 percent since issuance of visas for Filipinos started again. Filipino workers are expected to get better contracts that will be issued through local recruitment offices after a deal was struck between the Kingdom and the Philippines. Currently, contracts are being issued through the recruitment offices of the Ministry of Labor.
