Saudi Arabia allows dependents of foreign workers to seek jobs

Saudi Arabia’s labor ministry has issues new regulations allowing dependents of foreign workers to seek jobs according to conditions, Deputy Minister of Labor Mufarrej bin Saad al-Haqbani said on Wednesday.

Among those conditions, a dependent of a foreign worker has to be 18 years old, has lived in the kingdom for at least one year, and obtained the sponsorship from a firm that seeks to employ him or her.

Firms seeking to employ dependent of foreign workers should obtain the approval of the dependent’s main sponsor and should be eligible according to a regulation known as the Nitaqat' Saudization fulfillment program.

The regulation requires that the dependent should be replacing a foreign worker and not a Saudi national.

If a dependent leaves his or her employment and goes back to being a dependent of a foreign worker, he or she must remain in that status for at least one year before seeking another job.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to regulate the market of migrant employment to create more jobs for its growing young population.