Saudi Arabia’s visa rules are becoming stricter, what will be the impact on India?

Saudi Arabian labor authorities plan to expand an occupational verification program to more than 160 countries as part of a plan aimed at checking the skills of workers to be employed in the kingdom and regulating the labor market. Launched earlier this year by the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the program has been gradually implemented in 62 countries. This program includes two types of tests – practical and theoretical. To get a labor visa, first you have to pass both these tests, only then the foreigners will get the visa for Saudi Arabia.

Practical and theoretical tests

The program, which includes practical and theoretical tests, targets 23 sets of occupational categories and links the issuance of worker visas to passing the tests in the homeland. Nawaf Al Ayadi, head of the Occupational Accreditation Program at the Ministry of Human Resources, said the occupational verification program targets workers in occupations such as plumbing, electricity, etc. It has been launched in four main countries, covering 80 percent of the migrant workers in the state. They are India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. This program targets workers holding degrees. Employee’s certificates are verified. The program has been launched in 62 countries and aims to cover 160 countries.

What will be the impact on India?

Lakhs of workers from India move to Saudi Arabia in search of work. Union Minister of State for Skills Rajiv Chandrashekhar told the Lok Sabha that every second candidate trained under the Skill India International Center (SIIC) and seeking employment abroad between April 2022 and December 2023 reached Saudi Arabia. According to the data, 13,944 skilled candidates got jobs in Saudi Arabia, followed by Qatar (3,646), United Arab Emirates (2,832) and United Kingdom (1,248).