Omanisation Rules OK As 34,000 Expats Thrown Out Last Year

Oman’s Omanisation strategy was ramped up last year, with recently released figures showing some 34,000 expat private sector workers headed back to their home countries.

It isn’t clear how many of those who gave up and got out were Western expats, but the Sultanate’s construction industry was a major employer of those who left. Other sectors replacing expat workers with Omani nationals are retail and wholesale businesses, fisheries and agriculture, manufacturing, services and admin and support service providers, with the majority of expats employed having arrived from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. According to the report, as a result of Omanisation some 17,000 nationals are now employed with the majority finding jobs in the construction industry.

Meanwhile, for long-stay first-world expat professionals who genuinely want to stay in Oman, it seems the only way round the push for Omanisation is to acquire citizenship. According to legal experts, the first requirement is proof of having been living and working in the emirate for 20 years or more, a term which is reduced to 15 years should the applicant be married to an Omani citizen. The rule applies equally to both men and women. Paperwork requirements start with a valid residency visa and copy of passport, details of the applicant’s first entry to the country if any, copies of a valid residency card, marriage contract, ID card and spouses’ and childrens’ passports and birth certificates if relevant.

Also required are copies of Ministry-issued marriage certificates, police clearance and health certificates, permission from the home country as regards renouncing citizenship, salary certificates, the applicant’s written declaration as regards relinquishing the former nationality and also written declarations as regards the names of any children under the age of majority. Once this extensive portfolio has been assembled and presented and a fee paid, new Omani citizens must agree not to spend more than six months every year outside the Sultanate for the first ten years.