Undocumented foreign workers, including Filipinos, must abide by the new rules that the Saudi Arabian government imposed governing those violating labor and residency laws following the end of the amnesty period.

"The embassy urges all Filipino nationals in the Kingdom to familiarize themselves with the new rules," the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh stated.

In the statement, the embassy provided a summary of the most salient provisions in the new rules:

• Foreign workers who work illegally for their own account, absconded from their sponsors, and overstayers will be apprehended, penalized and deported;
  
  

• Those who employ illegal or absconded workers, provide cover, harbor or transport them, or “aids them by any means” will also be pursued;
  
  

• Employers will bear the cost of deportation of illegal workers, except where the foreign worker works for himself in which case he will bear the cost of his own deportation;
  
  

• Illegal workers who are unable to afford the travel ticket will be deported at the cost of the Saudi Government;
  
  

• Overstayers will be deported at the expense of the employer, or, if he works for himself, the company or person who sponsored his visit will bear the cost of deportation;
  
  

• All companies and individual employers, including government agencies, shall ensure that their workers obtain and renew their iqamas in due time;

• Deported foreign workers shall be prohibited from returning to the Kingdom;
  
  

• Offending foreigners will be accommodated in Saudi Government centers pending deportation.
  
  

Those who have taken steps to process their final exit and repatriation are urged to remain calm and not panic.

The embassy and the consulate continue to coordinate with concerned authorities for the processing of the final exit visas of those waiting to be repatriated.

"The embassy is currently confirming the procedures and timeframe for those who lost their original residence card or iqama, their passport with the border number, or those who have not encoded their fingerprint. The Embassy has already been advised on procedures for females and is currently coordinating with concerned Saudi authorities for the applicable procedures for males," said the embassy.

Both the embassy and the consulate have created special roving teams that will go to jails, prisons and detention centers around the Kingdom to assist detained Filipino violators and provide them with travel documents to facilitate their early deportation.

Filipinos may call the embassy's 24-hour hotlines for further inquiries:

Embassy's Assistance to Nationals Section: 056 9893301
Consulate’s Assistance to Nationals Section:055 5219613
POLO-Riyadh: 054 5917834 / 050 7537997
POLO- Eastern Province: 050 126 9742

News Source: ABS-CBN Global Filipino Section