New Age Requirement For OFWs in Saudi Arabia

Are you thinking of working in Saudi Arabia as an overseas worker but are below 21 years of age? Unfortunately, a new rule on minimum age requirement would prohibit you from pursuing your plans. The Saudi government recently issued a new policy that requires all Filipino workers to be deployed as household service worker, baby sitter, nurse, flight attendant, and family driver in their country to be at least 21 years old.

This is the content of the new memorandum issued by Consul Faisal H. Al-Kahtani, Ambassador of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in the Philippines. The memorandum was sent to the Philippine recruitment agencies to inform them of the new age limit.

Al Kahtani stressed that this new policy is for “strict compliance."

Aside from the job positions listed above, there is also a new minimum age requirements for the following categories:

• Dressmakers, 30;
• Barber and physical therapist, 35; and
• Salesman for textiles and ladies wear apparel shops, 40.

The largest group of manpower agencies in the country, the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) found the new rule on age limit to be reasonable and would actually benefit the Filipino workers.

Victor Fernandez Jr., PASEI said in an interview conducted by GMAnews.TV,

 “Reasonable ‘yun, para matured silang papasok sa trabaho [That’s reasonable, so that they are already matured when they start working]. Maigi na ‘yun, at least protektado sila [That’s actually better, at least they’re protected]," "

The age limit has been proposed and urged by Philippine labor and welfare officials assigned in the Middle East. They want an change in the age limit especially for the domestic helpers.

This is because reports from the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, showed that many domestic helpers in the Middle East who were said to be mentally unstable are below 21 years old. Majority of them are are adolescent Muslim girls from Mindanao. They either escaped from their employers or were fired.