The Saudi Council of Engineers announced Wednesday that it had detected more than 30,000 foreign engineers with fake degrees and urged public and private firms to only employ engineers registered with the organization. “We have so far seized more than 30,000 fake engineering degrees,” said Hamad Al-Shaqawi, its president.
The council, which regulates the Kingdom’s engineering sector, also instructed authorities not to accept any engineering designs or jobs not drafted by its accredited engineers.
“This is essential for strengthening the engineering sector by improving its quality and for protecting the Kingdom’s institutions and achievements,” Al-Shaqawi said. “As part of organizing the sector, we have been providing engineers with professional ratings based on their qualifications.”
He said the organization has stopped a large number of fake engineers who were not qualified to do the job and held false degrees. He thanked the Interior Ministry for its support to the SCE’s professional accreditation program, since foreign engineers have to register with the organization to get their iqamas (resident permits) issued or renewed. “This measure has considerably helped organize the engineering profession in the Kingdom.”
The SCE is responsible for verifying and certifying both Saudi and foreign engineers and consultants. It consults international companies that specialize in identifying authentic and counterfeit certificates.
“When we discover a fake degree of an engineer, we immediately notify the Interior Ministry, as well as the firm or the consultancy employing that “engineer,” said Al-Shaqawi, adding that the SEC was working to attract qualified engineers.
Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, president of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasized the need to get rid of fake degrees in the Kingdom. “Fake engineering certificates are available all over the world and people holding such degrees come to the Kingdom using driver and farmer visas,” he told Arab News.
Al-Zamil praised the role of the SCE in preventing such engineers from getting positions. “It’s very easy to get fake certificates from Europe and the US and this creates a huge problem.” He emphasized that the ongoing Labor Ministry campaign would help flush out such engineers.
Hassan Assainar, a senior engineer with nearly 30 years experience in the Kingdom, said Saudi embassies and missions abroad have introduced a scientific system to verify certificates. “It is very difficult for people to enter the Kingdom with fake certificates,” he told Arab News.
Embassy officials will contact the interior and foreign ministers, as well as the universities or institutes that issued the certificates before endorsing them. Fake engineers will not be able to produce mark lists, he added.
30,000 fake engineers netted
30,000 fake engineers netted
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Kingdom key player in regional peace, EU official says
- Hana Jalloul Muro highlights Riyadh’s role in regional stability, economic growth and advancing EU-Saudi strategic ties
Riyadh: Hana Jalloul Muro, vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has praised Saudi Arabia’s role as a “reliable partner” to the EU.
Describing the Kingdom as a “key international actor,” she highlighted its pivotal role in regional stability, including brokering peace talks on Ukraine, promoting peace in Palestine, and supporting stable governments in Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic.
“Saudi is a reliable partner because it is a country that has demonstrated that with Vision 2030, only in the last five, six years, it has changed impressively. It has a major women’s labor force, a very low youth unemployment rate and is growing very fast,” Muro told Arab News.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, she added: “Saudi Arabia is becoming a key major player in the international arena now — for peace conversations on Ukraine, supporting the Syrian government, paying Syria’s external debt, stabilizing the government in Lebanon, promoting peace in Gaza, in Palestine and pushing for a ceasefire, too.
“So, I think it is a very key international actor, very important in the region for stability,” Muro added.
Explaining why she considers the Kingdom a reliable partner, Muro said: “It’s a country that knows how to see to the East and to the West.”
Muro also serves as the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Saudi Arabia, and is responsible for drafting reports on legislative and budgetary proposals and other key bilateral issues.
In mid-December 2025, the European Parliament endorsed a road map to elevate EU-Saudi relations into a full-fledged strategic partnership, which Saudi Ambassador to the EU Haifa Al-Jedea described as “an important milestone” in bilateral ties.
The report highlighted the possibility of Saudi-EU visa-free travel, reaffirming the EU’s commitment to advancing a safe, mutually beneficial visa-free arrangement with the five GCC countries to ensure equal treatment under the new EU visa strategy.
“One of the key hot topics is the visa waiver to Saudi Arabia, which I always support,” Muro said. “Saudi Arabia has, as you are aware, been in cascade for five years, and I think we need to work toward a visa waiver.”
The report also highlighted the economic significance of Saudi tourists to EU member states, particularly for the hospitality, retail and cultural sectors, while emphasizing that Saudi citizens do not pose a source of irregular migration pressure.
When asked about the status of the visa waiver, Muro said: “The approval, it is the recommendation to the commission to take into account its importance. We need to advance on that because we are in the framework of this strategic partnership agreement that covers many topics, so this is why the visa waiver is a central key issue.”
She added: “I think by now we recognize the international role of Saudi Arabia and how important it is to us as a neighbor — not only for security, counter-terrorism and energy, but for everything. We need to get closer to partners like the GCC, Saudi specifically.
“And I think that we need to take Saudi Arabia as a very big ally of ours,” Muro said.
During her time in Riyadh, Muro took part in a panel at the forum focused on the EU-KSA business and investment dialogue, and advancing the critical raw materials value chain.
On the sidelines, she met Saudi Vice Foreign Minister Waleed Elkhereiji to discuss ways to further strengthen Saudi-EU relations.
She also met Hala Al-Tuwaijri, chairwoman of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, saying: “I have to congratulate you and the government, your country, on doing a great job.”
