^{Image Credit: https://www.ft.com}

Iqama is a residence permit which is issued to foreign workers. According to the nature of your employment visa, Iqama allows you and your dependents to live in Saudi Arabia. You and your dependents must have Saudi Arabian Iqama if you are living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Source Credit to: Razia Bano Via https://www.quora.com

When I was first employed in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in November 2012, I wasn’t that lucky in terms of the wages. I gave up my job in the Philippines knowing that working abroad might help us in our daily needs especially at that time my late bro was being bedridden because of a damn thalamus cancer.

Normally, here in the KSA the contract that you’ll be signing is either 12 months or 24 months mostly depending on the position you’re applying. But it doesn’t mean that after the contract (12 or 24 months) you are obliged to go for exit in fact, the employer will automatically renew employee’s IQAMA as it also serves as the working permit of the expat employees.

^{Image Credit: https://prosfa.vn}

After 2 years, my contract has been ended and I have decided to leave the company. I applied and submitted my resignation letter 3 months before my Iqama expiration. But the HR warned me the I am going to pay the remaining month of my iqama. At that time the iqama cost was 2,400SAR/640USD per year approximately but of course, it should be paid by the employer. In this amount rate, I might pay 600SAR for the 3 months remaining of my iqama and that’s a good money for me. I could buy five sacks of rice in the Philippines for that amount. So I waited for the exact time and finally got home in December 2014.

5% VAT IMPLEMENTATION

In my second employer here in the KSA where I am currently working, I was hired last March 2016. In my first year working here in the Kingdom seems everything is fine. Just this year the Kingdom announced that 5% VAT to all the products will be implemented. The reason why the products here in the KSA was a lot cheaper than the other country because of the vendor/suppliers were not paying taxes, It was 0% VAT. We are actually experiencing this price hike and it really hurts our pocket you know, because we used to the previous pricing.

^{Image Credit: https://virtusgroup.ca}

This year, the iqama cost 4800SAR per employee it increases 100% compared to the previous cost. The government gives discount to the companies that are having more Saudi employees. By next year it will cost 7200SAR and by the year 2020 it will rise to 9600 per expat/employee.

As you can see the table below, it shows the rate of the working permit/iqama for expats that should be shouldered by the employers.

^{Image Credit: @g10a}You may check HERE for more info.

I think the government is doing a good role here they are letting their own people work with different companies in the kingdom. But there are numbers of establishments owned by non-Saudi that has been shut down already they might fail the new government requirements.

MASSIVE END-OF-CONTRACT

This might be the reason why some of the companies are forced to let their expat employees finish their contracts so they will not be able to renew their working permit/iqama. That’s what I’m thinking but not so sure about it. It’s possible, like what happened to our colleagues here in the office I think there are 7 or 10 expats that are already advised for the non-renewal of their working permits. So they don’t have any other choice than going home.

I do really feel them, coz’ I know they need money for their families too. And we heard rumors that there are 500 people on the list including the site workers were already informed for the non-renewal of their permits. I really don’t know what will be going to happen sooner or later so we should be prepared.

^{Image Credit: http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk}

I believe that the government is not asking the expat to leave from the Kingdom coz in fact they really need us. What will happen if all expats will be going home? We are aware that in seeking a job abroad KSA is the easiest country compared to the other nations where you need a bunch of documents in order to obtain your working visa.

Well if I may, I would love to work in my home country particularly in my hometown. Your family is always at your side, you’ll not miss birthdays, Christmas, new year’s eve and anniversaries. Celebrating those events together with the family is real happiness. But for us OFW, going abroad is the best option as of the moment to support our families and keep them away from hunger.

That’s all for now see’ya!

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