Saudi Interior Ministry: 100,000 riyal fine and imprisonment for those who employ residency violators

The Ministry of Interior renewed its strict warnings to all establishments and employers within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against employing expatriate workers who violate regulations, or concealing them, or allowing them to work for their own account, stressing that the penalties will be deterrent and firm towards anyone proven to be involved in these violations, within the framework of its continuous efforts to regulate the labor market and enhance security.

Details of the penalties imposed on violating establishments

The ministry explained in its statement that any establishment proven to be employing expatriates who violate residency, labor, and border security regulations, or that allows its workers to work for others or for their own account, or even to use other people's workers illegally, will face a severe package of penalties including the following:

• Imposing a financial penalty of up to 100,000 Saudi Riyals.
• The ban on recruitment for up to 5 years directly affects the operational capacity of the facility.
• The penalty is imprisonment for up to one year.
• deportation of the responsible manager, if he is an expatriate, after the prescribed penalty has been carried out against him, and he will be prevented from entering the Kingdom again.

The context of the security campaigns: “A nation without violators”

These warnings come as an extension of the intensive security and field campaigns carried out by the Ministry of Interior and various security sectors across the Kingdom, under the umbrella of the “A Nation Without Violators” campaign. These ongoing efforts aim to track down and apprehend violators of residency, labor, and border security regulations in all regions of the Kingdom, ensuring full compliance with the state’s sovereign laws and regulations. The relevant authorities regularly update their monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure there are no loopholes that violators could exploit to remain in the Kingdom illegally, reflecting the state’s seriousness in resolving this issue definitively.

Security and economic dimensions of implementing sanctions

The importance of implementing these penalties extends beyond regulatory and legal aspects, encompassing crucial security and economic dimensions for society and the state. Economically, eliminating illegal employment helps protect the labor market from unfair competition, reduces the size of the informal economy, and combats the phenomenon of commercial concealment, which harms the national economy and hinders the growth of legitimate businesses.

On the security and social level, controlling violators of border security and residency regulations enhances the stability of society and reduces crimes and negative practices that may arise from the presence of irregular groups that are not subject to official control and do not possess valid identification documents, thus making the work and life environment safer for everyone.

Reporting and Community Cooperation Mechanism

In closing, the Ministry of Interior called upon all citizens and residents to demonstrate their national responsibility and cooperate with security authorities by immediately reporting any violations of residency, labor, and border security regulations. The Ministry emphasized that all reports will be treated with complete confidentiality and that the reporter will bear no responsibility. Reports can be submitted via the following official numbers:

• The number (911) is available in the regions of Makkah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province.
• The number (999) in the rest of the Kingdom.