Illegal domestic workers urged to legalize residency status

Nearly 17,000 domestic workers who have an invalid visa and 6,000 who have an expired residence permit needs to have their residency status corrected as soon as possible, the LMRA stated. Domestic workers holding invalid visas and resident permits will need to have their legal status corrected as soon as possible, authorities cautioned.

Labour Market Regulatory Authority has called on employers to renew visas and resident permit of their domestic workers before the implementation of the new system for domestic workers next year. The new system would allow the employers to submit an application online.

According to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) vice-president for operations Ali Al Kooheji, the new system will save the employers’ time by up to 50 per cent by reducing the number of visits to government offices. He said that there are 6,000 domestic workers in the Kingdom with expired residency permits while 17,000 have an invalid visa. According to the latest LMRA statistics, 15pc of the expatriate workforce are domestic workers.

“Some employers have been negligent in following the procedures to legalise domestic workers, such as through completion of medical examination which is an important step to be taken for the worker as well as the family,” Mr Al Kooheji pointed out. He added that invalid permits will be cancelled when the new system is launched.