Muscat: There is hope for expatriates as a top official from the Ministry of Manpower has clarified that they are looking at a possible change in the two-year visa ban.
“We will make it clear to the departments concerned that expatriate employees may be allowed to change their jobs if they have completed their contract without restrictions,” Said bin Naser Al Sadi, advisor to the minister of manpower, told the Times of Oman.
“If an expatriate employee completes his contract, he will be free to decide whether he wants to continue with the same employer or move to another company,” said the advisor, adding that there will be an issue only when the employee quits without honouring the contract.
Last year, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) announced that no employment visa would be issued after July 1, 2014, to any expatriate who has worked previously in the Sultanate and has not completed two years from the date of last departure.
However, those possessing a no-objection certificate (NOC) from their existing employers were allowed to return to Oman to join their new employers.
This year in June, talks aimed at changing the two-year visa ban affecting expatriates wanting to change jobs without an NOC were also held between the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), Oman's Trade Union and the Ministry of Manpower, in which some called for reducing the ban to one year.
Following the advisor's comment, when the Times of Oman contacted the ROP official, he said they would continue to follow the old rule.
“There is nothing new in the two-year ban rule, and the immigration department still insists on an NOC when an expatriate wishes to change jobs,” said the ROP official, adding that they had not received any update from any authority regarding the lifting of the ban.
“We still demand the letter from the first employer as the system does not accept any change of employer for an expatriate employee unless he provides the NOC,” said the official.
Meanwhile, an official from the OCCI said that they have to look into the advisor's proposal in detail. “We have to look into the proposal, discuss it and then devise a solution. We cannot comment on this now. The ban was put in place to stop wrong practices,” said Ahmed Al Hooti, the OCCI official.
A top official of a construction company welcomed the advisor's initiatives to lift the two-year visa ban. “Lifting the ban will ease the problems we are facing in the labour market. The paucity of skilled workers is affecting us. Skilled workers from Asian countries are not willing to come to Oman due to the visa ban and other restrictions, and the market has been affected,” said the official.
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