Hundreds of female expats working in schools and salons have been excluded from Saudi Arabia’s amnesty on illegal workers, raising fears they will be deported.
Many women in the kingdom on their husbands’ or fathers’ sponsorship work in places such as private schools, retail and homes without the permission of the government, which does not allow dependants of foreign workers to also be employed.
The kingdom has announced a three-month grace period for any illegal worker or expat on the wrong visa to either legalise their status or return home as it moves towards its Nitaqat program, which aims to decrease the unemployment rate among nationals.
The move led many private schools to claim they would be forced to shut down because they relied on the female employees.
Meanwhile, authorities claim hundreds of expatriate housewives who overstayed their Haj and Umrah visas are exploiting a loophole that allows them to become domestic workers. But they were not actively working as a maid, according to Arab News.
It is believed the women sought the domestic helper visa after her husband could not get a family visa because he lacked the required academic qualifications.
About 25,000 pilgrims are believed to have stayed in Saudi Arabia illegally following the 2012 Haj, according to the Ministry of Haj.
Nearly 10,000 of them were Pakistani, while Egypt was second on the list with 3,519.
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