Expatriate visa ban to cover more sectors in Oman

Expatriate visa ban to cover more sectors in Oman

November 25, 2018 | 09:51 PM

By Times News Service

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Expatriate visa ban to cover more sectors in Oman

Expatriate visa ban to cover more sectors in #Oman


Muscat: Oman’s Ministry of Manpower has extended the ban on issuing employment visas to expat workers across some professions, as the government actively pursues its policy of Omanisation.

The professions included are those of purchase and sales representatives and workers in the construction, cleaning, and workshop sectors, meaning that companies in these fields will no longer be able to receive new permits in order to employ people for these jobs.



The move from the ministry is the latest addition to the freeze on expat visas, which was first issued across 87 professions at the end of January 2018, and then extended for another six months last July.

According to the ministry decision number 487/2018, “Permits for non-Omani manpower will cease to be released for the next six months for the following professions: Sales Representative/Promoter, Purchase Representative. Permits for the replacement of existing employees will continue to be released.



“This law will apply to all private establishments, replacing the earlier decision. Finally, this law will apply starting from November 30.”

Saif Al Badi, head of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Al Dhairah Governorate headquarters, was hopeful that this visa ban would be temporarily lifted so as to help upcoming businesses in the country.

“We were hoping the visa ban for these jobs would be halted or opened for a temporary period but the decision is exactly the opposite and that will not attract entrepreneurs to start businesses in these sectors,” he told Times of Oman.

Balram Manji, an HR consultant in the country, said that what Oman was doing was in keeping with global practices, where countries around the world gave preference to their own people. These “sons of the soil” programmes are established internationally and Oman is also going the same way.

“I know there are some people who will not like this, but the reality is that the government will always take care of its people first,” he revealed.

“It is very similar to what the US and many European nations are doing in terms of prioritising their own people. For example, in America, before the Bureau of Immigration proceeds with any visa issuance, they always ask the company in question if there is an American who will do the job. These ‘sons of the soil’ programmes are very common in other nations and Oman is also doing the same thing.”

“The immigration laws in many first-world nations are now being tightened and it is becoming more difficult to emigrate to many countries, because they realise that they need to give priority to their people,” added Manji.

“If you look at the US and the scaling back of their H1B visa programme, that is the best example.”

With the government also looking to add more jobs to the existing workforce through its Tanfeedh programme of economic expansion, young Omanis such as Mazin Al Balushi, who recently set up his own business, said that young Omanis now needed jobs, adding that many of his friends were fresh graduates.

“Many of my friends and I are recent graduates, and we have been looking for jobs for a while,” he said.

“This is a good move because many young Omani people want to enter the workforce and haven’t had the opportunity so far. The government has many programmes for the future and we are hopeful that we will get jobs.”

“Many of us also want to set up our own businesses, and the government has said that the rules will not be so strict for SMEs so this is also a good sign,” added Al Balushi. “We hope this means more work will be available in the future.”