Visa ban extended in some sectors for six months

Muscat: Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al Bakri, Minister of Manpower, has issued Ministerial Decision 2019/200 to temporarily suspend the recruitment of expatriate workforce in some sectors, based on the Labour Law promulgated by Royal Decree 35/2003 and Ministerial Decree 2014/338. Article 1 of the decision states that the recruitment of expatriates in the private sector establishments engaged in construction and cleaning work shall be not allowed for a period of six months. Article 2 states that the decision is not applicable to establishments with 100 employees or more, establishments involved in the implementation of government projects, establishments with a full-time management and registered with the Public Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and insured by the Public Authority for Social Insurance. Establishments with rated as excellent or based in the free zones are also exempted from the decision.