Grace period extended for illegal guest workers to rectify status

AMMAN — The Cabinet decided to extend the grace period granted to guest workers to rectify their status in the Kingdom for one month as of April 15, but this time without exemptions, Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi announced on Monday.

The Labour Ministry has issued around 146,000 work permits in the first quarter of the year, marking a 60.4 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, Ghezawi said during a Cabinet session, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The Kingdom received 11,488 guest workers between January and March 2017, compared to 22,505 workers in the same period the previous year, marking a 50 per cent drop, Ghezawi said during the Cabinet session.