Oman to get OMR310m from expat visa fees

Muscat: Oman expects to generate around OMR300 million as fee on expatriate licences in 2017, the state budget data released on January 1 reveals.
Detailing the tax and fee revenues in the 2017 state budget, the Ministry of Finance says that OMR310 million is expected to be collected as fee for non-Omani labour licenses.
In 2017 state budget, the aggregate revenues are estimated at OMR8.7 billion, increasing by (18 per cent) as compared to projected actual revenues for 2016.
These revenues consist of oil and gas revenues of OMR6.11 billion, representing (70 per cent) of total revenues.
Non-oil revenues are estimated around OMR2.59 billion i.e. (30 per cent) of total revenues, such revenues are to be collected.
However, more details on how the OMR310 will be raised is not mentioned in the budget report.
Wait and see
An official from Royal Oman Police (ROP) said that the Ministry of Manpower will decide on the fee and ways it has to be implemented.
As it is not clear, an official from a construction company said that they have to wait and see on how it will affect them.
“Last year, the government had increased the visa renewal fee by 50 per cent. Now, whether they will increase it again or have some other fee structure, we have to wait and see,” Sunil Kumar KK, a senior official at Najmat Al Fujairah Trading Construction Company, said.
Job visa fees
Last year in November, the Ministry of Manpower had announced that job visa fees for expatriate workers will be increased by 50 per cent.
The fee to obtain a new visa or to renew the same for an expatriate worker was increased from OMR201 to OMR301.
For domestic workers, camel herders and farm workers, the fee was also changed.
Mohammed Furqan, an expatriate worker from Bangladesh, said that as he is working with a small company, the employer is forcing him to pay the new fee.
“Already he is pushing us to pay the increased fee. Now, if the government is again going to increase the fee, then it would eventually fall on us and become an extra burden,” the worker added.
Oman’s population touched 4,546,830 by the end of November, marking a 0.3 per cent increase over September figures, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The number of Omanis stood at 2,465,768 who constitute 54.2 per cent of the total population, while the number of expatriates stood at 2,081,062.