Officially .. Saudi Arabia cancels the “sponsor” system and replaces it...

Today, Wednesday, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched an initiative to improve the contractual relationship, which will lead to the formal abolition of the “sponsor” system.

The ministry’s initiative comes after press reports, which indicated the official abolition of the sponsorship system in place for decades, according to the newspaper “Sabq”.

The ministry stated in a statement that the initiative provides 3 main services, which are: job mobility service, development of exit, return and final exit mechanisms, and the initiative’s services include all expatriate workers in private sector establishments within specific controls that take into account the rights of the parties to the contractual relationship.

What is the new “contractual relationship improvement” system?

The contractual relationship improvement system is relatively flexible, compared to the sponsor system, as it allows a migrant worker to move to another job upon the end of his work contract without the need for the employer’s consent, and the exit and return service allows travel outside the Kingdom with the employer’s electronic notification.

The contractual reference in the labor relationship between the employer and the worker will also be activated, based on the work contract documented between them through the contract documentation program, which contributes to reducing the disparity in the contractual procedures of the Saudi worker versus the expatriate worker, which will be reflected in the increase in employment opportunities for citizens in the labor market. And attract talent.

The “job mobility” service allows the expatriate worker to transfer to another job upon the end of his work contract without the need for the employer’s approval. The initiative also defines the mechanisms of transfer during the validity of the contract, provided that the notice period and the specified controls are adhered to. The exit and return service allows the expatriate worker to travel outside the Kingdom upon submitting the request with Notification of the business owner electronically.

The “Final Exit” service enables the expatriate worker to leave immediately after the end of the contract with notifying the employer electronically, without requiring his approval, in addition to the possibility of leaving the Kingdom with the worker bearing all consequences of the termination of the contract, noting that all these services will be available through the “Absher” platform. »And the“ Goui ”platform of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.

The ministry indicated that the initiative “to improve the contractual relationship” is expected to have positive economic effects locally, including: the flexibility of the labor market and its development, raising the productivity of the private sector, attracting highly skilled competencies, and contributing to achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 program through the “National Transformation” program. ».

How was the “sponsorship” system unfair to migrant workers in Saudi Arabia?

The sponsorship system is known as a legal system approved throughout the Kingdom on all expatriate men and women working in it.

This system requires that the expatriate be sponsored by a Saudi person, whether he is a person or a company, and under this guarantee, the expatriate is allowed to enter and leave the Kingdom, buy a car, obtain a loan, or other procedures or transactions that allow the expatriate and the expatriate to enjoy many privileges within the borders of the Saudi state.

The sponsor issues an exit and re-entry visa to enter and exit Saudi Arabia, the so-called exit and return permit must be obtained, which means the sponsor’s approval of the expatriate’s movement outside the borders of the Kingdom for a certain period starting from two months to a year where the cost of the permit varies according to the period required by the expatriate.

It also issues residency to the sponsored person, which makes the residency of an expatriate legal. This residency is annual and renewed in return for a certain amount of money that the sponsor pays the Labor Office in order to issue and renew the residency of its employees, and the same applies to medical insurance.

Workers in a specific company or establishment cannot move from it to another field of work anywhere in Saudi Arabia, unless the sponsor has agreed to transfer the guarantee to another sponsor. In the event that the expatriate is not able to obtain the approval of the current sponsor to transfer to another field of work, the expatriate must obtain a final exit from the Kingdom and return to his country and start the work of recruitment procedures for Saudi Arabia on the sponsorship of the new person. This process takes at least 3 months.

As long as the expatriate or expatriate is sponsored by a Saudi entity, workers in Saudi Arabia can bring their family, consisting of the husband or wife and children, to live with them on their personal sponsorship and obtain residency permits for them to live legally in the kingdom, provided that the expatriate bears the entire family residency expenses like any other sponsor.