The number of expatriate workers employed in fields other than those listed on their Iqama (work permit) is a growing concern of Saudi employers. Many workers looking for an opportunity to come to the Kingdom accept any work visa in the hope of changing their profession once they arrive in the country. Saudi Gazette spoke to a number of expatriate workers who for one reason or another are not working in jobs that are the most suitable for their training and experience. “I was a teacher in Egypt, but when I decided to come to the Kingdom, there were no visas available for teachers. This gave me the idea of coming on a driver's visa, which I, in fact, did many years ago,” said Anwar Mahalawi, an Egyptian taxi driver in Jeddah. He added, “When I got a driver's visa, the passport office asked me for a driving license so that they could approve me to work as a driver.” Although he has been working as a taxi driver for many years, Mahalawi said that a teacher's job is better that driving a taxi. This is the reason that he is looking for a suitable opportunity to teach in a private school with a view to going back to his original profession. “I would like to work as a teacher again, as I would earn more than what I am getting as a taxi driver. But the problem is that I must have a teacher's visa which I cannot get,” Mahalawi lamented. Youssef Sonair, a Turk employed as a bakery worker for several years in both Turkey and Jeddah, was forced by circumstances to work as a chef preparing food and barbecues. “I was working under the sponsorship of my Kafil (sponsor) in a small restaurant as a baker here in Jeddah. There were two other workers who were in charge of cooking the food and preparing barbecues,” he added. “When those two workers left the restaurant, my Kafil asked me to take over the work that they had been doing. The difficulty was that I had never ever worked in this field.” According to Sonair, in the beginning he faced many problems, and customers complained about the quality and taste of the food he prepared. But after about five months of on-the-job training, he improved and became a professional chef. Saudi laws, however, ban any expatriate from working in a profession that is not on his Iqama. “Saudi laws prevent a person from working in a craft other than his original profession. He is liable to be arrested, tried and jailed if the passport office discovers any irregularity, and his Kafil will be fined,” said lawyer Khaled Abu-Rashed, vice president of the Paris-based International Justice Organization and a member of the London-based International Arbitrators Institute, arbitrator at the Arbitration Center in the GCC and authorized arbitrator in the Saudi Ministry of Justice. He added, “Passport offices should carry out regular inspection tours in order to check workers' Iqamas and other relevant documents. They should also make sure that the person is working in the same profession mentioned in his Iqama.” According to Abu-Rashed, citizens should also come forward to help the government by informing the authorities in the labor office or passport office if they come across any irregularities or illegal workers. Abu-Rashed emphasized that the Kingdom's laws are very clear. Workers from other countries should find job opportunities that are suitable for them before coming to the Kingdom. An official from the Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry explained that part of the problem was that passport offices allowed workers' profession to be changed. “We are planning to issue a directive not to change the career in anyone's passport until the passport office makes sure that the worker's profession tallies with his original qualifications, certificates and documents,” the official added. “Otherwise, workers will be allowed to change their professions according to the job opportunities that they find,” said Khaled Saber, a member of the JCCI Council for Welfare Communities Professions. He added, “Such a step should be coordinated by the labor and passports offices.”
