RIYADH: Indians wishing to work in the Kingdom will need to receive police clearance before being granted an employment visa.
Saudi missions in India will request so-called Police Clearance Certificates (PCCs) when considering visa applications.
The Saudi Embassy in New Delhi and its consulate in Mumbai have told all passport offices and foreign recruitment companies in India to comply with the new rule, which comes into force on Monday.
Managing director of recruitment company Charisma Travels For Recruitment, Ibrahim Kutty, told Arab News on Friday that the new rule would end the chances of any Indian recruit with a criminal record coming to the Kingdom. He added that an applicant’s local passport office would issue the PCC.
Ibrahim claimed the new move would contribute to a criminal-free expatriate society in the Kingdom.
The passport offices issue PCCs on the request of police stations nearest to them. At least 50 passport offices are located throughout India .
The Saudi Consulate in Mumbai issues around 4,000 entry visas daily, while the embassy in New Delhi grants around 800. There are around 1.8 million Indian workers in the Kingdom, including professional, skilled and unskilled workers and housemaids.
Employment visa applications from Indians will also need to be supported by a visa request from their prospective employers.
These certificates have to be certified by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and countersigned by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
According to an official from the Indian Embassy, the new PCC rule is being implemented with the consent of both countries.
“This will ensure only law-abiding people come to the Kingdom, which would help the country maintain an Indian community free of offenders,” the source said.
However, Riyad Kheneini, who is the deputy chief of mission at the Saudi Embassy in Colombo said no such rule had been implemented for employment visas for Sri Lankans.
“The rules differ from nation to nation depending on the understanding between the two countries,” he said. However, foreign recruitment agents in Colombo told Arab News that Saudi embassies in Pakistan and Bangladesh do insist on a PCC for employment visas.
Last week, a draft statute for the extradition of prisoners and criminals was finalized in New Delhi between the Kingdom and India .
At least 1,300 Indians are languishing in Saudi jails. Minor offenders are deported home on completion of their jail terms by the embassy in cooperation with prison authorities.
The Kingdom has the highest number of Indian prisoners in the Gulf region, followed by the United Arab Emirates , which has 1,221.
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