JEDDAH: Many young expatriates who have been in the Kingdom as dependents of their parents claim that they face difficulties to transfer their sponsorship even after finding jobs in big companies.
According to Saudi law, residents who turn 25 years have to change occupation on their iqamas (residence permits) from "student" to a job title and are no longer allowed to be under the sponsorship of their parents.
However, many major employers postpone transferring the sponsorship of their new employees. In these cases, the expatriate employee is forced to look for a temporary Saudi sponsor until his employer transfers the sponsorship.
The requirements of transferring sponsorship consist of a letter from the new sponsor certified by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a copy of the original iqama and the passport, a pro forma from the Labor Office, and a payment of SR2,000 in government fees.
Ahmad Hussain, an expat working for a construction company in Jeddah, is under the sponsorship of his father as a student. He is trying to transfer the sponsorship to his employer, but the company is in the red category of the Nitaqat program.
According to Nitaqat, companies in the red category are prohibited to transfer the sponsorship of their employees. As a result, Hussain is unable to find someone to transfer his sponsorship to.
In Saudi Arabia, there are more than 8 million expatriates, but the majority thinks the difficulties of transferring sponsorship threaten their future in the Kingdom.
"I don't want to leave Saudi Arabia. I was born in Jeddah and lived my whole life in the Kingdom. However, I face difficulties to transfer my sponsorship to my current employer, as he is in the red category," said Khaled Essam, a Syrian resident working in the private sector.
According to Ali Al-Shemaisi, HR manager of a major company in the real estate sector, many companies in the Kingdom currently cannot transfer the sponsorship of their expatriate employees, as they are unwilling to dismiss their foreign employees and hire Saudis instead.
"Previously, any company could easily transfer the sponsorship of their foreign employees. However, the situation is different now. The private sector focuses on specific occupations to hire foreign employees, and many companies need to increase the Saudization percentage to meet the requirements of the Nitaqat program," Al-Shemaisi added.
"As a temporary solution, I could transfer my sponsorship to a small office in the construction sector," said Ahmed Mohie Al-Deen, an Egyptian working in the private sector. "The occupation on my iqama currently reads 'worker,' although I am working for another company as an accountant."
Al-Deen said he would transfer his sponsorship to his employer, but his boss was deferring this, as the company is in Nitaqat's red category.
© Arab News 2011
