Saudi Arabia added conditions to a new package of labor reforms for foreign workers that could curtail the greater freedom of movement the changes had promised.
The reforms, announced in November and applied on Sunday, are meant to help level the playing field for overseas workers and citizens in a bid to reduce domestic unemployment while continuing to draw foreign talent. It’s a major shift away from the kingdom’s controversial “kafala” or sponsorship system, criticized by human rights groups as allowing employers to trap and exploit foreign workers.
And indeed, technically, non-Saudis no longer need their employers permission to change jobs, travel abroad or leave the country permanently.
But a guide published by the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development suggests that expatriates won’t be free to breeze in and out of the country. Vacationers will still need to pay for single-use government permits and then wait 10 days for approval, according to the guide, summarized in the Okaz newspaper on Monday. Multiple-use permits must be requested through employers.
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