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Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Sattam Al-Harbi has announced that Saudi Arabia will remove a number of restrictions on foreign workers, amid the Kingdom’s efforts to reform labor market policies , in the hope of attracting foreign talent and increasing the flexibility of the labor market. Al-Harbi said in an interview with Bloomberg yesterday (Wednesday) that it will no longer be necessary for an expatriate to obtain permission from his Saudi sponsor to change jobs, travel abroad or leave the kingdom for good. He said notifications from expatriates escaping their sponsors will be canceled and replaced with a procedure that includes cancellation of the contract with the expatriate. Al-Harbi said the new reform measures would go into effect on March 14. He added that it would apply to all expatriates working for the private sector, regardless of salary level. He described these changes as very important. He revealed that the Saudi government has been studying these changes for two years. In the prospective system, the expatriate will have to pay the prescribed fees to obtain an exit visa from the Kingdom, but he will apply for it himself via the electronic system “Absher”, without the consent of his employer. The expatriate can also use the Absher system to change sponsor, whether their current sponsor approves or opposes it. Al-Harbi stressed that the new changes will not include domestic workers, which Bloomberg estimated at 3.7 million. He explained that the competent authorities are working on another approach to develop controls for domestic workers and fully reconsider their conditions.
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