By Muskan Mustaqeem
To secure a work visa in Saudi Arabia as an Indian employment seeker, one must qualify the practical and written competency test in five occupations.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) will launch the first phase of the Skill Verification Program (SVP) in India at the end of this month, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The SVPs trial stage of the external track will be conduct in the New Delhi, capital city of India, and Mumbai, the largest city and commercial capital of the country.
The ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), launched the SVP in March 2021 to ensure the competence of skilled workers in the Saudi labour market.
The SVP targets at advancing the professional capability of the skilled workers in the Saudi labour market. It will help boost the productivity of workers and elevate the standard of expert services. it will aid in the effort to decrease the influx of unqualified workers in Saudi Arabia Labour Market.
The ministry has chosen to focus on 23 specific categories of work in an effort to help train skilled workers with the skills required by the Saudi’s local labour market and in line with the international standard.
For the first stage, five occupations are chosen for the skill testing, including plumber, electrician, welder, refrigeration/air conditioning technician, and automobile electrician. Under the program, written and practical tests of skilled workers will be carried out for the Indian workers before they can apply for a Saudi work visa.
The country’s vision 2030 aims to draw more skilled workers, and by giving foreign workers the right to switch occupations and leave the country without their employers’ consent, the Saudi labour market hopes to attract a more skilled workforce. This initiative will not only help blue-collar workers easily go for more desirable employment, but they will also benefit from upgraded knowledge & skills, increased wages, and help regulate irregular migration.
The program aims to verify that all skilled workers in the Kingdom have the required skills to carry out effectively the profession for which they were recruited and will include practical and theoretical examinations in the workers’ specialized fields. The first track of SVP aims to assess the skills of qualified workers currently in the Kingdom and that is in cooperation with local examination centers, while the second track aims to examine professional labour before their arrival, and that is in cooperation with some accredited international examination centers.
In September 2022, the ministry launched the first phase of SVP for five professions in Pakistan. Under the program, a dozen examination centers were established to conduct written and practical tests of skilled workers in Pakistan before they could apply for a Saudi work visa. The examination centers were established in collaboration between Takamol of MHRSD and Pakistan’s National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTCC) in eight cities to conduct the tests.