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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 21836325" data-attributes="member: 218596">Several expats employed in <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Saudi-Arabia" target="_blank">Saudi Arabia</a>  are planning to send their dependants back with the kingdom set to  introduce, from July 1, a monthly 'dependant fee' for expats.       The fee — 100 riyals (approx. Rs 1,700, as on Tuesday) per month for  each dependent — is likely to prove a big financial burden for the  Indian expats.       At 41 lakh, Indians form Saudi Arabia's largest expat group.       "Some families I know have made plans to return to Hyderabad as they  feel they cannot afford to stay there any longer," said Mohd Taher, a  computer professional who lives in Dammam.       Migrant rights activist Bheem Reddy Mandha said several people had  already sent their families back in the past four months. "The men have  become forced bachelors," he said.       Saudi Arabia issues the family visa to people with a salary of 5,000  riyals (approx. Rs 86,000) per month. So, an Indian expat living in the  country with his wife and two children would have to pay 300 riyals  (approx. Rs 5,100) a month.       Moreover, this tax is set to go up by 100 riyals per dependant every  year till 2020. This means that, in 2020, a family would have to shell  out 400 riyals (approx. Rs 6,900) for each dependant every month. To top  it all, this fee has to be paid in advance. For instance if a man's  dependant wife is to stay in Saudi Arabia for one year, a total of 1,200  riyals has to be paid in advance at the time of the renewal of the  'iqama' (residence permit).       So, for a family of three dependants (wife and two children), the  employee will have to pay an advance tax of 3,600 riyals or around Rs  62,000 per year. While some companies are planning to compensate their  employees for the 'dependant fee', most people have no option but pay it  themselves.Asked what effect the 'dependant fee' would have on Indian expats in  Saudi Arabia, a senior official in the ministry of external affairs  (MEA) said nothing could be said as yet. "But it will affect all  expats," the MEA official told TOI.</blockquote>

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