Saudi Arabia: 'Ghar Wapsi': Why Indian expats in Saudi Arabia are sending their families back home

There are concerns that the trickle of Indian workers sending away their families from Saudi Arabia can turn into a tide into the near futu..

Fleeing from fee

The Saudi government has started levying fee on various services it offers to the expatriate population. The imposition of an annual Residence Fee + , based on per person, on expatriates has forced several migrant Indian workers there to send back their families to India. Earlier, the Saudi government charged the fee per family.

Skinning the expats

The fee for dependents, which is currently Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) 100 per month per dependent family member, will double from July 1, 2018, to SAR 200, with further increases scheduled from July 1, 2019, to SAR 300 and to SAR 400 from July 1, 2020. Which means a family of four will shell out SAR 9600 (Rs 1.72 lakh) for the year starting July 1.

Dipstick survey

While there are no exact numbers on how many non-resident Indians have returned, an increasing rush for admission of children of expats in schools in Hyderabad has brought to light this issue.

Sources at various schools said they are giving admissions to considerable number of NRI students. Schools in Hyderabad that are popular for NRI children are those that offer CBSE syllabus, because the same system is followed by Indian schools in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

Homeward bound

Of the nearly 32.5 lakh Indians working in Saudi Arabia, expat Malayalees form the largest chunk, at 40%, followed by those from Telangana, at 20-25%. The remaining expat workers hailing from Maharashtra, UP and Rajasthan. From Telangana, the most number of NRIs are from Hyderabad, Karimnagar and Nizamabad.

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