Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has announced to impose a fine of SR100,000 (Rs 19,98,947) on any establishment that employs foreigners in violation of the labour and residency regulations, local media reported on Wednesday.
The Saudi Arabia General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) has warned that the same penalty will be imposed on any establishment that allows its foreign workers to engage in jobs for their own personal benefit or work with employers other than their original employers.
Defaulting establishments will also be banned from hiring foreign workers for up to 5 years. The names of the establishments will be published in local media at their own expense, Saudi Gazette reported.
According to media reports, managers involved in the illegal recruitment of foreign workers will be sentenced to one year in prison, followed by deportation if he/she is an expatriate.
The Jawazat explained that the fine will be doubled by the number of expatriate workers involved in the violation.
Jawazat urged the public to be informed of cases of breach of residence, labour and border security rules by calling 911 in Makkah and Riyadh areas and 999 in all other parts of the Kingdom.
More than 5.6 million violators of residency, work and border security systems have been arrested in the Kingdom. Since the campaign began on November 15, 2017 — and up to June 16, 2021 — there have been 5,615,884 offenders, including 4,304,206 for violating residency regulations, 802,125 for labour violations and 509,553 for border violations.