Saudi Arabia is an attractive destination to work by hundreds of thousands of expats from all parts of the world. With a strong economy and a consistent growth; Saudi economy provides tons of job opportunities in different domains. With a huge number of expats, there is a big number of dependents of these expats living in Saudi Arabia at dependent visa. However, these expats were not able to work in KSA despite having enough skills and education due to visa limitations. Now, Saudi Arabian Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has defined new conditions under which Expat Dependents Can Work in Saudi Arabia and avail the job opportunities.

Conditions Under Which Expat Dependents Can Work in Saudi Arabia

MHRSD has allowed Expat Dependents to work in Saudi Arabia and avail the job opportunities if all of the below conditions are met:

• The dependent expat should be qualified and meet the specialized requirements for the job. This condition means that a dependent of expat should possess necessary degrees, skills and experience to meet the requirements of the specific job opportunity.
• The terms and conditions of Nitiqat Saudization program should be met. This means that dependent can be employed only for those jobs which are not under complete Saudization. There are many professions which are completely reserved for Saudi nationals and hence, neither expats nor their dependents are eligible for any positions under those professions.
• Expat dependent should get required membership of specialized profession. E.g. engineers need to register with Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE), health professionals with Mumaris Plus, Accountants with SOCPA.
• The employment of dependents by any company should not result in downgrade of Nitiqat Status for that company.
• If dependent is applying for a job which requires qualifying test–that test must be passed to be eligible for hiring.

It is important to mention here that formal process of Iqama Transfer will be required once an expat dependent is hired for a job in Saudi Arabia.

Benefits of the decision about allowing Expat Dependents to Work Saudi Arabia

The decision of authorities in KSA to allow expat dependents to work in Saudi Arabia is a much needed step. This decision will not only help expats to have more productive role but it will also help companies to find talent locally from the expats already inside KSA.

Companies will find it less costly and less hectic to fill the positions with talented and qualified dependents of the expats. Expats and their dependents already living in KSA are much easier to mix and adopt the local culture and become productive part in any organization. For expats; it will help them to earn more and reduce the costs related to dependents.