Saudi Arabia exempts eight categories from expat fees

The Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development will exempt eight categories from expat worker fees, to be charged starting Monday, Jan. 1, the ministry said on its Twitter account.

These categories include female and male expats who are married to Saudis, dependents of Saudi women married to expats, microenterprises with up to five workers, as well as the labor force at recruitment agencies for domestic workers.

Nationalities with residency relief, namely the Myanmarese, Turkistani people, Palestinians holding Egyptian passports and The Baloch, fall also under these categories.

Other GCC nationals, and only four workers in small enterprises that employ a maximum of nine people in case the owners are working on a full-time basis are also exempt from the new levy, the ministry added.