No sponsorship transfer for female dependents of foreigners

Hundreds of expat women, who are under their husbands’ or fathers’ sponsorship, are working in private schools, beauty salons and many other places in violation of labor laws, which clearly stipulate that dependents of expat workers cannot take up jobs. When the crackdown on undocumented and illegal workers began in March, many private schools and places where such women were working closed down. The grace period announced by the King gave them a reprieve and a hope that working expat women too will be covered under the amnesty and allowed to transfer sponsorship. Now many private schools have advanced their final examination schedule so as to finish the academic session before the expiry of the grace period. Madawi Al-Hasson, a Saudi businesswoman and owner of a beauty salon, said she is in the dark about the sponsorship transfer procedures for her employees. “Each day the list of requirements from officials gets longer,” said Hasson, who is facing difficulty in bringing under her sponsorship the female staff at her salon. Nadia Fitaihi, a member of the women’s school committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that though they have worked hard on the Saudization of their Arabic section, they are expecting a sympathetic and humanitarian approach from the authorities to allow foreign teachers to work and train Saudis. Abeer Ghazawi, owner of a school, said the Ministry of Education allows hiring of non-Saudi sport teachers but it does not approve foreigners for any other specialization. “We need immediate solutions for girls’ schools,” she said, adding: “We contacted the Ministry of Labor when the amnesty was announced, but were told that the ministry is waiting for guidelines from the Ministry of Interior. We need to solve this problem either by importing teachers or transferring sponsorship.”