Expat work permit fee hasn't been increased: Saudi

Jeddah - 52,898 labour violations unearthed in various parts of the Kingdom

There has been no increase in the work permit fee for expatriates, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development has clarified. It pointed out that any decision by the ministry in this regard will be announced officially, Saudi Gazette reports.
The ministry will implement the new Saudization percentages in Nitaqat programme from September 3, 2017.
On November 15, 2012, the Labour Ministry began implementing the decision to increase the fee on expatriates and started collecting SR200 per month, reaching SR2,400 per year on all private sector companies where the number of expatriate workers is more than that of Saudis,Saudi Gazette quoted Okaz Arabic daily.
The ministry also denied any increase in the fees for issuance of visas for domestic workers. It said that the services for issuance of domestic workers' visas can be obtained from the Individuals Recruitment (Istiqdam) administrations Kingdom-wide.
The ministry announced that its inspection campaigns uncovered 52,898 labour violations in various parts of the Kingdom, Saudi Gazette reports. These were unearthed by labour inspectors after they carried out 141,827 visits to private sector establishments from October 2, 2016 till July 23, the report pointed out.
Ministry spokesman Khaled Abalkhail was quoted in the report as saying that inspection campaigns will continue in all Saudi regions with the help of related government entities. He said these campaigns are meant to ensure implementation of labour laws, detect violations and impose penalties on erring workers and employers.

• Saudi Arabia