Grace period for illegal workers will not be extended — ministry

AMMAN — The Ministry of Labour will not extend the grace period given to illegal guest workers to rectify their status and obtain work and residency permits, according to a government official.

The grace period, which started on March 16, will end on Wednesday, Ibrahim Saudi, Labour Ministry assistant secretary general and head of its guest workers department, said.

“Wednesday is the last day of the grace period and there are no intentions of extending it for any reason whatsoever.”

"The grace period was sufficient and planned in accordance with the concerned embassies in Amman,” Saudi added.

He noted that the Ministry of Labour has issued 79,000 work permits over the past month; 70 per cent of them were for Egyptian guest workers.

The permits were issued during the grace period for illegal guest workers to rectify their situation and renew their documents, according to the ministry, which has collected JD20 million in fees for the work permits.

Saudi underscored that the ministry will launch a nationwide crackdown on illegal guest workers in cooperation with security forces on May 18, highlighting that inspection teams will be increased to 50, and that they will start work at 8am and finish at 10pm.

Illegal guest workers who fail to rectify their status during the grace period will be sent back to their countries in cooperation with their embassies, according to the ministry.

According to Saudi, the ministry is planning to adopt a new system for work permits, under which issuance fees will increase at varying rates for certain sectors.