Expat dependents not exempt from Nitaqat

The Labor Ministry has denied issuing any regulation that allows the private sector to employ expatriates’ dependents. The ministry said they would not be automatically considered under the green category.
The ministry issued the statement following erroneous reports in a section of the media.
“The news report is incorrect as the ministry has not issued any such regulation,” Labor Ministry spokesman Hatab Al-Anazi said in a statement reported by the SPA yesterday.
According to media reports, the decision to allow expatriate dependents work legally was taken after discussions between the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Interior.
Such dependents will be covered by the Labor Ministry’s program to facilitate change of profession and sponsorship in order to rectify their status, which is scheduled to launch next week.
Recent reports that the ministry was studying the prospects of issuing wives and daughters of expatriates work permits had revived hope for a number of women workers, especially those working in private and international schools in the Kingdom.
The ministry’s denial is also feared to affect private schools especially those teaching foreign languages. A major problem faced by the private schools in the Kingdom is the shortage of teachers, especially for science, math and English.
Some experts in the field are pessimistic about the future of the private education sector including the international schools if a strict ban on expatriate dependents is implemented because of the paucity of Saudi hands in many disciplines.