Musaned stops receiving visa applications for Filipino domestic workers

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s Musaned portal in Saudi Arabia has suspended all visa applications for Filipino domestic workers as of this week, according to officials at a number of local recruitment agencies in the Kingdom.

This decision, came after the Philippines Labor Department’s recent decision to temporarily suspend sending domestic workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
What is Musaned?
Musaned is a platform launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in Saudi Arabia to deal with the hiring of domestic workers for the Kingdom.

When will the new Contracts and Visas will be resumed for Filipino Domestic Workers?
– Hakim Al-Khunaizi, one of the investors, said in press statements that the Musaned portal has frozen all applications for new work contracts and visas for Filipino domestic workers 5 days ago, stating that, the door for new contracts and visas will not be opened unless the Philippines reconsiders the decision to send workers.

– Al-Khunaizi explained that the cost of recruiting Filipino domestic workers costs between 21,000 riyals and 22,000 riyals, including VAT, while the cost of transferring a domestic worker between an employer costs between 25,000 and 30,000 riyals, given that transferring the service requires the approval of domestic workers.

– Another investor, Dr. Saleh Al-Qahtani said, “There is an increase in the number of applications for Filipino professional workers. He also stated that the procedures for local assistance visas issued earlier are going very slowly from the Filipino side, and some transactions take between 3 to 4 months.

Why did the Philippines stop the recruitment of Filipino Domestic Workers ?
The suspension from the Musaned portal for receiving applications for the recruitment of Filipino domestic workers came against the backdrop of the Filipino authorities suspension, which the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh explained that the temporary suspension of the recruitment process came as a result of the adoption of new regulations issued by the Ministry of Labor in Philippines that regulate the contractual relationship between Filipino domestic workers and their foreign employers.