Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH – Informed sources disclosed that the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) through its Chairman Saleh Kamel has sent a request to higher authorities to extend the grace period for rectification of the status of expatriate workers, which is set to end on July 3. In its letter, the JCCI confirmed that not extending the grace period will lead to delays in numerous projects, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported on Friday. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah issued a royal decree in April granting several concessions to illegal foreign residents to rectify their residency and work status within a three-month grace period. Khalaf Al-Otaibi, chairman of the Building and Construction Committee and member of the Industrial Committee in JCCI, called on the Ministry of Labor to write a letter to King Abdullah explaining the need to extend the grace period beyond the July 3 deadline. “The private sector has proved its patriotism and responded to the decisions of the Ministry of Labor. All companies and establishments hurried to rectify the status of their workers but many of these processes take a long time and there is crowding in all the related departments due to the grace period being so short,” said Al-Otaibi. “Furthermore, the Ministry of Labor did not issue directives for the process except after the passage of six weeks from the beginning of the grace period. This reduced the chances for everyone to complete the necessary procedures despite all related authorities working in coordination with each other to make the best use of the royal grant and benefit from the unprecedented concessions,” he added. Al-Otaibi said: “There is another problem facing contracting companies and many companies that have a large number of workers. Current regulations do not allow the registration of newly-hired Saudi employees except after three months whereas the rectification of status leads to an increase of expatriate workers and the shifting of some establishments from the green zone to the yellow and red zones of the Nitaqat job nationalization program. This matter will hinder the operations of these firms if the grace period is not extended and the demands of the private sector are not looked into.” He stressed that businessmen and large companies are facing problems in rectifying the status of their workers because the Passport Department and the Ministry of Labor have put a condition that the amounts paid as fees should not exceed SR20,000 a day. Sometimes this amount is insufficient to cover three or four workers if there is transfer of sponsorship for the third time or there are dependents. Al-Otaibi said extending the grace period at least until the end of the current Hijri year would enable firms to rectify the status of all their workers.
