AMONG many others, the great characteristics ofCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah include his love for the weak, poor, widows and people in need, whether they are Saudi citizens or foreigners living in the Kingdom even if they are staying illegally. For these reasons, he has kindly granted foreigners violating residency or work rules a three-month grace period to correct their status. More than two months of this period have already passed and still a large number of foreigners have not been able to rectify their situations. They are not to blame for this inaptness. The procedures for correction entail renewing their passports or getting new ones, getting fingerprints and other paper work. Resources at their embassies and consulates are limited. They are unable to cope with the large numbers of their subjects wishing to renew their travel documents or obtain new ones. Some countries, especially from Southeast Asia, have about two million citizens waiting to rectify their status. As the grace period was granted by a royal decree, we hope that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques will be kind enough to extend it by another royal decree until the end of the current Hijra year so that all the violating foreigners will have a chance to correct their status. The country does need the foreign manpower so we should give them an opportunity to become legal residents. Many of them are still queuing up in front of their embassies and consulates to complete their procedures but the short time left will not enable them to do so. Many of them have stayed irregularly for more than 30 years so how can we expect them to correct their status in three months? The grace period of three months was a kind gesture from the King. We hope that he will approve a further extension of this grace period until the end of the Hijra year so that every violating foreigner will be able to rectify his status. Allah will help His servant as long as this servant is helping others.
