♤ Agreement on Labour Cooperation for Domestic Service Workers Recruitment, was signed in 2014.

♤ In 2016 external affairs ministry and the Saudi labour ministry also signed an agreement on labour cooperation for recruitment of general category workers

♤ In April 2013, King Abdullah announced a grace period allowing overstaying expatriates to correct the status, get new jobs or leave the country without facing penal action till the end of the grace period i.e. November 3, 2013. More than 1.4 lakh Indians availed the amnesty and returned back to home without facing penalty.

♤ Saudization, officially known as Saudi nationalization scheme, or Nitaqat system in Arabic, is the newest policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia implemented by its Ministry of Labor .

♤ The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been following the policy of Nitaqat (Saudization), since 2011. This broadly aims at increasing the employment opportunities of the Saudi citizens both in the public and private sectors by reducing dependence on the expatriate workers.

♤ These efforts of the Saudi side have of late gained momentum after the ongoing slowdown of the economy due to continued low crude oil prices. From September 2017, only a handful of organisations with high grades - based on number of Saudi nationals employed by them and other criteria - will be able to apply for new block visas for migrant employees.

♤ The policy is not specifically directed at Indian nationals and the Saudi Government is exercising its prerogative and sovereign right by following this policy uniformly in respect of all foreign nationalities.