Saudi Arabia plans to cap work permits of expatriates at 6 years

Saudi Arabia will restrict the work permit for expatriate workers to six years, in a bid to revive market for local labour and to regulate the flow of overseas labour -
a move that will affect the prospects of job seekers from India.

Saudi Arabia will soon bar foreigners who have lived in the kingdom for six years from renewing their work permits, Al Watan reported, citing labor minister Adel Faqih.

The governmenmt will give companies five months to adjust their positions after the start of the programme, the newspaper said.

Saudi Arabia has around half a million unemployed nationals, the newspaper said, citing official statistics.

The new rules will also help the Saudi authorities to tackle the menace of black market for employment visas. The Saudi labour ministry said it will go ahead with strictly implementing the programme, the paper quoted Al Faqih as saying.

The move, however, has met with opposition from the beginning with a number of prominent Saudi businessmen and academics objecting to the six-year residency cap saying it will create acute shortage of labour in the country.