06 November 2013 – The Saudi Government has informed the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, through a formal diplomatic note, of the new rules that will govern foreign workers violating labor and residency laws following the end of the correction period.

Following is a summary of the most salient provisions of the new rules:

·         Foreign workers who work illegally for their own account, absconded from their sponsors, and overstayers will be apprehended, penalized and deported;

·         Those who employ illegal or absconded workers, provide cover, harbor or transport them, or “aids them by any means” will also be pursued;

·         Employers will bear the cost of deportation of illegal workers, except where the foreign worker works for himself in which case he will bear the cost of his own deportation;

·         Illegal workers who are unable to afford the travel ticket will be deported at the cost of the Saudi Government;

·         Overstayers will be deported at the expense of the employer, or, if he works for himself, the company or person who sponsored his visit will bear the cost of deportation;

·         All companies and individual employers, including government agencies, shall ensure that their workers obtain and renew their iqamas in due time;

·         Deported foreign workers shall be prohibited from returning to the Kingdom;

·         Offending foreigners will be accommodated in Saudi Government centers pending deportation.

The Embassy urges all Filipino nationals in the Kingdom to familiarize themselves with the new rules.

In the meantime, the Embassy and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah advise all those who have taken steps to process their final exit and repatriation to remain calm and not panic.  The Embassy and the Consulate continue to coordinate with concerned authorities for the processing of the final exit visas of those waiting to be repatriated. 

The Embassy is currently confirming the procedures and timeframe for those who lost their original residence card or iqama, their passport with the border number, or those who have not encoded their fingerprint.  The Embassy has already been advised on procedures for females and is currently coordinating with concerned Saudi authorities for the applicable procedures for males.

The Embassy and the Consulate have also created special roving teams that will go around jails, prisons and detention centers around the Kingdom to any violators that have been detained and provide them with travel documents to facilitate their early deportation.

The Embassy assures the Filipino community all over the Kingdom that the Philippine Government is ready to provide all appropriate assistance to Filipinos.

For inquiries, Filipino citizens in Saudi Arabia may call the following 24-hour hotlines:

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