Job Discussion Forums

[rollingk]

. . . and especially now they can't take any chances, what with their recently ramped up battle against extremism.

[nomad soul]

These numbers seem to include non-employed expats (i.e., family members with iqamas) but likely not those foreigners on business/work visit visas.

85 percent expatriates are from 8 countries
Saudi Gazette report | 9 September 2014
Source: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140910217634

MAKKAH – Eight nationalities make up 85.6 percent of the total number of expatriates in Saudi Arabia, according to an American research website, which defined an expatriate as a person who stays for one year or more in a country in which he was not born.

In a report issued on Wednesday, the website — Bio — estimated the number of expatriates in Saudi Arabia at 9.06 million people in 2013. It said Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis account for the largest number compared to other nationalities of the world. Egyptians, Yemenis and Sudanese nationals formed the largest number among their Arab counterparts.

The report said Indian nationals form 19.4 percent, Pakistanis 14.5, Bangladeshis 14.4, Egypt 14.3, The Philippines 11.3, Yemen 5.07, Indonesia 4.19, Sudan 2.5, and other nationalities form 15 percent of the expatriate population.

The report also gave the number of expatriates from each country: They are: India 1.76 million; Pakistan 1.32 million; Bangladesh 1.31 million; The Philippines 1.03 million; Sri Lanka 150,000; Indonesia 380,000; Yemen 460,000; Somalia 30,000; Afghanistan 20,000; Nepal 20,000; Thailand 20,000; Kuwait 130,000; Syria 140,000; Jordan 170,000; Palestine 120,000; Turkey 100,000; Lebanon 60,000; Britain 30,000; Sudan 230,000; South Sudan 30,000; Egypt 1,300,000; Ethiopia 30,000; Eritrea 40,000; Nigeria 10,000; Morocco 20,000; Chad 10,000; Tunisia 10,000 and United States 40,000. Less than 1,000 expatriates are from the rest of the world, the report said.

(End of report)

[veiledsentiments]

130,000 from Kuwait? Out of only 1.2M Kuwaitis? Does anyone else find that odd? They are in the top 20 per capital income in the world. Is it the Bedoon? But I thought that most of them didn't have passports...

But only 140,000 from Syria with 20 times the population and gross unemployment... not to mention the current mess.

VS

[Amerrycan Muslim]

[veiledsentiments]

My surprise was the huge number of Kuwaitis... not the number of Syrians (though, yes, it seems too small).

VS

[scot47]

There are many Saudis who are also Kuwaitis. In the border area around Hafr Al Batin many locals have dual allegiance - although often treated as second-class Kuwaitis when in that country.

I had the strange experience of working in Hafr Al Batin for two years before retiring in 2011. Quite close to that bit that used to appear on maps as "Neutral Zone". It disappeared a while back when KSA and Iraq did a deal. They did not tell anyone so it stayed on many maps as "Neutral Zone" long after Iraq and Kuwait had divvied it up !

I seem to have strayed far from the original topic. Senility is my only excuse.

[SheikMilkShake]

why are the numbers like 130000, Britain 30,000; Sudan 230,000; South Sudan 30,000; Egypt 1,300,000; Ethiopia 30,000; Eritrea 40,000; Nigeria 10,000; Morocco 20,000; Chad 10,000; Tunisia 10,000 and United States 40,000.
Why not like Britain 29844, Nigeria 8897, Tunisia 99385, US 40,001 etc?
very strange!

I agree with VS.
but one Kuwaiti guy told me that Kuwaitis moved to KSA during Iraqi occupation and Saudi governments built housing/ apartment buildings in Riyadh ( you could see them in Riyadh now housing expat families, some Kuwaitis bought homes and moved out from those condos, and also in Jeddah..
After the war, they opted to stay on without returning to Kuwait.

[johnslat]

Dear SHakeMilkShake,

Pretty much true - except the Saudis didn't build the housing for Kuwaitis. There were some overbuilt apartment complexes that had been vacant for some time. They went into those.

Regards,
John

[The Fifth Column]

[nomad soul]

Expatriates in low green zone firms not allowed to switch sponsors
Saudi Gazette | October 25, 2014
Source: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20141026222372

RIYADH — Companies in low green zone of the Saudization program will not be allowed to transfer sponsorship and obtain visas, according to the new Nitaqat updates which the Ministry of Labor started implementing Saturday. However, these firms will continue to enjoy services like change of profession, renewal of work permits, and a six-month grace period for services if the Zakat and income certificate has expired.

In yellow zone companies, the period of stay of expatriate workers will be reduced from six years to four years. The period will be further reduced to two years from April 20, 2015. The period of stay will be calculated from the date of the issuance of first work permit. The Ministry of Labor had blocked the firms in the yellow and red zones from accepting applications for new visas, transferring sponsorship and changing profession of their workers. They were also not allowed to issue work permits for new expatriate workers.

The ministry will begin calculating the percentage of Saudization in private sector firms from Dec. 23, 2014.

The Labor Ministry has decided to allow the dependents accompanying expatriates to work in the private sector without the need to transfer their iqamas, a local newspaper reported on Thursday. Quoting what it called its own private sources, the newspaper said the ministry has decided to open the doors wide for expatriates’ dependents to take any job at the private sector.

Nitaqat is a Saudization program introduced by the Ministry of Labour in 2011. The implementation deadline for the program expired in 2013. The program classifies the country’s private firms into four categories: Premium, Green, Yellow and Red. Premium and Green categories include the companies with high Saudization rates, while Yellow and Red include the ones with low rates.

The classification of other companies is based on the Saudization percentage (% of Saudi employees) and the total number of employees. The companies with less than 10 employees are exempt from the program, but still need to employ at least one Saudi citizen.

(End of article)

[veiledsentiments]

So who are in the green and yellow zones? What color are teachers?

VS

[coder]

delete

[coder]

..

[lcanupp1964]

I don't think even Pres. Reagan's "shining city on the hill" met to exclude Americans not "born and bred" there.
{Double negative/too lazy to rewrite alert}

I can almost see Madam Liberty out in HY Harbor holding her head down in shame. If you have a U.S. passport, you are an American - same as some white redneck born in GA. Of course, I'm not speaking of myself. I'm a redneck that was born in VA, but grew up in GA.

If I had to find fault in the whole premise regarding "real" vs. "fake" Americans. I would find it in those people that might try to misrepresent themselves as being better able to teach English only because they now have a freshly printed American passport to show when they were educated in a non-English speaking country. Sorry about my off-topic comment. In addition, I respect the opinion of the person who posted the shining hill line - it just made me feel enough to share my opinion.

[Betrayer of Hope]

The concept of switching employers sounds reasonable, however practically speaking it may not be possible. Most Saudi employers retain their employees' passports, even though this practice is illegal under Saudi labour law. What makes you think employers will simply hand over an employee's passport, just so they could join a competitor. Chances are, the employer will try to make life miserable for any employee who wishes to transfer.