Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — The Qiwa online portal of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has codified the percentage of workers of some nationalities who are entitled to work in private sector establishments, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from well-informed sources.

It has specified that the maximum limit of Indian workers allowed to work in a firm is 40 percent of the total workers. The same is the percentage of Bangladeshi workers while the maximum limit of Yemeni workers has been set at 25.

The portal has notified some establishments about the percent system through emails, a copy of which was obtained by Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

In the email, it has conveyed to the establishments that the percentage of workers of Indian nationality cannot exceed 40 percent and that the same percentage is also applicable to Bangladeshi workers. As for the Yemeni and Ethiopian nationals, the upper limit is 25 percent and one percent respectively.

With regard to establishments where the number of workers exceeds the specific percentage, Qiwa clarified that the establishments will be allowed to issue and renew work and residency permits for the workers, but the restrictions will be there for issuing new visas or the transfer of services of additional workers of the same nationality to these establishments.

Earlier, the owners of establishments were unable to issue visas or transfer services to establishments where the number of employees exceeded the percentage specified for each nationality in the system.

The owners of establishments received the following message when they made a request for the hiring of workers or the transfer of services of workers:

“You have exceeded the permissible limit of the number of workers for this nationality. So you can request one visa for this nationality in the event that there is no employee of this nationality with you.”

The ministry had previously confirmed that there are specific percentages of workers’ nationalities for each establishment, based on their eligibility according to the system. It is noteworthy that the Qiwa platform provides the ministry’s services and solutions to enhance the electronic services provided to the labor sector.

It aims to combine efforts and consolidate workforce services under one platform and develop governmental services provided to the private sector electronically.