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	Males	Females	Total	% of total
India	465,467	6,421	471,888	28.8
Pakistan	286,519	704	287,223	17.5
Egypt	236,301	3,432	239,733	14.6
Philippines	159,722	27,312	187,034	11.4
Nepal	130,084	3,278	133,362	8.1
Sudan	57,066	499	57,565	3.5
Yemen	53,570	244	53,814	3.3
Sri Lanka	38,332	2,464	40,796	2.5
Indonesia	20,853	5,214	26,067	1.6
Turkey	21,833	74	21,907	1.3
China	20,059	61	20,120	1.2
Jordan	18,290	750	19,040	1.2
Bangladesh	10,347	270	10,617	0.6
Vietnam	7,505	2,337	9,842	0.6
Lebanon	6,760	404	7,164	0.4
Kenya	2,561	4,285	6,846	0.4
UK	4,815	741	5,556	0.3
USA	4,779	646	5,425	0.3
Morocco	4,480	899	5,379	0.3
South Korea	2,485	2	2,487	0.2
Other countries	20,587	4,204	24,791	1.5
Total	1,572,415	64,241	1,636,656	100.0

Source: Ministry of Labour

1. Definitions

The labour visa allows the worker to enter Saudi Arabia. It is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Ministry of Labour issues its agreement.
In order to employ workers from abroad, the sponsoring company must first file a “Block Visa” request with the Ministry of Labor, requesting pre-approval to sponsor foreign employees.
Once the Block Visa request is approved, the sponsoring company in Saudi Arabia should obtain a visa authorization number and an electronic power of attorney authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia.
Foreign nationals may then apply for work visas through Saudi consular posts in their country of residence. Several documents are required before issuance of work visas, including medical certificate.
Therefore, work visas are more than the actual workers present in the country and granted labour permits, as some eventually do not terminate the procedure, or are rejected at a later stage (entry visa; residency procedures…).

Temporary or seasonal visas are alloted for short-term and limited employment duration, for example for the provision of sevices during the Hajj season in Makkah and Madina, or in agriculture.

2. Institution which provides data

Ministry of Labour of Saudi Arabia (http://portal.mol.gov.sa/Sites/default.aspx)

3. Data availability

The figures are published in the Ministry of Labour’s website (open data section) (in Arabic).
http://portal.mol.gov.sa/ar/Statistics/Pages/opendata.aspx?m=8

Last date of access: 18 December 2015.

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