Dependents’
fees to be taken at the time of Iqama renewal
By Adnan Al-Shabrawi
JEDDAH — The fees to be paid by expatriates for their
dependents will be effective from July 2017 and will be collected along with
the fees for Iqama (residence permit) renewal, according to sources at the
department of passports (Jawazat).
The sources, however, said the Jawazat is still waiting to
receive instructions on the mechanism to collect the fees.
They recalled that the “Financial Balance” document, which
was released with the General Budget on Thursday has referred to monthly fees
to be imposed on all establishments in which expatriates outnumber Saudis.
Private sector establishments are currently paying SR2,000
annually for every expatriate worker.
Now companies will have to pay extra fees for expats who
outnumber Saudis and also for those expats who are in equal number to the
nationals.But expats will have to pay SR100 from next July per dependent per
month.
In January 2018, companies where expats outnumber Saudis
will have to pay SR400 every month for each expat worker and SR300 for each expat
worker in companies where expats are in equal number to the nationals.
The monthly fees on expats for each of their dependents will
be raised to SR200.
The fees on expats outnumbering the Saudis will be increased
to SR600 per month from January 2019 while those of equal number will be
increased to SR500.
The fees on dependents will be increased to SR300 per
dependent per month.
At the start of 2020, the fees for expatriates outnumbering
Saudis will be increased to SR800 monthly and to SR700 for expatriates who are
in equal number to Saudi workers in a company.
The monthly fees on the dependents will be raised to SR400
per head from mid 2020.
Labor market sources believe that regardless of the fees to
be imposed on expatriates during the coming three years, the Saudi labor laws
remain to be one of the most liberal in the entire world.