2.8 million residence permits of all kinds issued

In cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, the immigration report issued by the Central Department of Statistics revealed that the total number of residence permits granted to expatriates of all kinds during the past year amounted to 2,838,613 residences, an increase of 318000 residences compared to 2021.

The largest increase in annual residence permits was distributed between the domestic workers and private sectors, at a rate of 162,000 new residence permits for domestic workers and 165,000 for the private sector last year. The report stated that the total number of residence permits granted for the first time last year amounted to 123,359, 67.2% of which were for expatriates coming from non- Arab Asian countries, according to the report, a copy of which has been obtained by Al-Qabas daily.

The private sector witnessed the entry of only 22,258 workers last year, which is the largest percentage after stopping the entry of workers during the Corona pandemic during 2020 and 2021. The family sector also witnessed a wide entry of domestic workers, with a total of 42,800 workers, which is the largest number compared to the past three years, in addition to the increase in the number of families joining an average of 23,416 residents.

The report revealed that there were 27,690 violators of the residence law registered during the past year, 34% of whom hold the No 20 visa, followed by 32% of those who entered the country on a visitor or “temporary residence” visa. The sources indicated that 64.4% of residency violators are non-Arab Asians, with a total of 17,850, followed by 7,582 Arabs