PAM to Cancel 10,000 Expats' Work Permits

The Public Authority of Manpower (PAM) plans to cancel 10,000 expatriates' work permits that are registered with the authority, but are not valid. 

PAM has started the legal procedures for the cancellation of work permits after verifying the validity of the data with the interior ministry. The cancellations will be initiated after the Eid Al Fitr holidays.

The authority is taking this step based on Article 35, which specifies that the authority can cancel work permits automatically for those workers who have been abroad for more than six months unless they have an exemption from the General Department of Residency. 

The permit can also be cancelled if it expired while the worker was abroad or if he or she were deported for any reason. Other reasons for cancelling these permits include failure to provide authentic documentation and unaccredited education certificates. 

In April 2023, 2,500 work permits are expected to be cancelled. The authority will also refrain from issuing permits to people who have obtained them in any way that violates the law, through inaccurate academic certificates, or through inability to qualify in professional tests.

The authority will also coordinate with the interior ministry on this issue, which means that if anyone's work permit gets cancelled, he or she will become an illegal resident. 

Many ministries will be assigned the responsibility to reduce unnecessary expat workers in the markets. The Ministry of Interior is to review the conditions for approving expats' driver's licenses and the conditions for approving their mobile taxi licenses.