JEDDAH: Undocumented expat workers seeking to correct their status during the new 90-day-amnesty will be able to return to the Kingdom by adhering to legal procedures, the General Directorate of Passports (GDP) announced Monday on their official Twitter account @AlJawazatKSA.
By approaching the Passport Departments to solve their status starting March 29, illegal workers “will be exempt from the consequences associated with the “deportee fingerprint system” and will be able to return to the Kingdom on the condition of pursuing legal methods to gain entry.
The statement also added that illegal immigrants working on correcting their status during the 90-day grace period under the Interior Ministry’s “Nation without Violations” campaign would be cleared of any fines or penalties linked to violating the Saudi residency law, labor system and boarder security in the Kingdom.
Those affected by the campaign are over-stayers, who came to the Kingdom for a Haj or Umrah visit or transit.
Other individuals that will benefit from the amnesty are workers who came to the Kingdom with a work permit but did not obtain an Iqama identity card within 90 days after arrival; infiltrators crossing the Saudi border; residents with expired Iqamas; pilgrims who performed Haj without getting a Haj permit; and workers who escaped from their employers.
Previously, illegal workers and over-stayers who have their fingerprints taken prior to deportation under the “deportee fingerprint system” were not allowed to re-enter the country.
In 2013, a similar campaign took place to legalize the status of undocumented workers in the Kingdom. Back then, a three-month amnesty was announced in April 2013 before late King Abdullah extended the grace period to November 2013.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said that over 2.5 million violators left the country under that campaign.
90-day amnesty period allows illegal workers to return to Saudi Arabia
90-day amnesty period allows illegal workers to return to Saudi Arabia
UN chief visits KSrelief HQ in Riyadh
- 2 sides discuss humanitarian, relief priorities
- Officials present overview of center’s global portfolio
RIYADH: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Saudi aid agency KSrelief in Riyadh on Thursday, where he held talks on strengthening cooperation between the UN and the Kingdom’s leading humanitarian institution.
Guterres met Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah — adviser at the Royal Court and supervisor general of KSrelief — along with senior officials, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Wasil, Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN in New York, was also present.
The two sides discussed humanitarian and relief priorities, as well as ways to expand collaboration between KSrelief and various UN agencies, the SPA added.
Officials also presented an overview of the center’s expanding global portfolio, which has now reached 3,881 projects across 109 countries, worth more than $8 billion.
Projects highlighted included the artificial limbs program; the Masam demining initiative in Yemen; the scheme to reintegrate Yemeni children formerly associated with armed conflict; voluntary medical missions; and KSrelief’s Conjoined Twins Program.
The center’s work on digital relief platforms, international documentation and registration, and other humanitarian initiatives was also showcased.
Guterres later toured KSrelief’s permanent exhibition, which featured an interactive map of beneficiary countries; multimedia human-interest stories; volunteer program displays; and a “messages of hope” corner at which he used a virtual-reality headset which attempted to simulate the experiences of refugees and displaced people.
The UN chief also met Saudi medical volunteers involved in KSrelief missions abroad, and heard their accounts of delivering assistance on the ground.
He then visited offices of partner organizations and international bodies housed within the center, receiving briefings on their joint programs with KSrelief.
