A deportation order is a distressing moment for any worker. But few workers know that Saudi regulations themselves explicitly protect their financial rights in exactly this situation — a protection clearly stated in Ministerial Decision No. 1809 of 1434H, issued by the Ministry of Interior.
💰 The Most Important Clause: A One-Month Window to Settle Your Dues
Clause 7 of the decision explicitly states that all dues owed to the expatriate must be settled within one month from the date of the deportation order. This means your outstanding salary, end-of-service gratuity, and any other financial dues do not simply vanish upon issuance of a deportation order — the law commits to a defined window for their collection.
"All rights owed to and by the expatriate shall be settled within one month from the date of the deportation decision, and he must authorize whomever he deems fit thereafter to carry this out in accordance with the instructions governing this matter."
📝 What if you are deported before your dues are settled?
Here comes the important practical part: the text itself grants you the right to "authorize whomever he deems fit" — meaning you may authorize someone you trust (a lawyer, a relative, or a specialized office) to pursue collection of your financial dues on your behalf, even after you have left Saudi territory. The law does not require your personal presence to complete this procedure.
The decision defines the main deportation cases: conviction for specific crimes (Clause 1), or a sentence of three months' imprisonment or more, or forty lashes or more (Clause 2) — with leniency for someone whose mother or wife is a Saudi citizen in less serious cases, where a first-time pledge suffices (Clause 3). These are the grounds for deportation, entirely separate from your right to collect your financial dues, which remains regardless of the deportation's cause.
✅ Practical steps if you face a deportation order
- Do not verbally waive any financial dues in exchange for speeding up your departure procedures — your right to settlement within a month is guaranteed by law.
- Authorize someone you trust (via a notarized power of attorney) to follow up on receiving your salary and end-of-service gratuity if you leave before settlement is complete.
- Document all your dues (payslips, employment contract, any bonus agreement) before you leave to make collection easier for whoever you authorize.
- Use Sanad to understand the exact value of your dues and how to draft an effective power of attorney to collect them.
- Ministerial Decision No. 1809 dated 14/4/1434H — Regulatory Provisions on the Deportation of Expatriates, Ministry of Interior