An increasing number of expatriate workers seem to be applying for occupation change with the Ministry of Labour considering most such requests favourably, official figures suggest.

Close to 950 people (945) applied for occupation change in the first quarter of this year and the Permanent Recruitment Committee at the labour ministry approved 759, or over 80 percent, of them.

Similarly, the percentage of approving work permit requests for women expatriates who are here on the sponsorship of their husbands or fathers was quite high at 99.5 in the first quarter.

Statistics released by the Committee suggest that the labor ministry has also become lenient in favourably considering requests from companies for changing nationality of foreign workers they wish to hire.

Figures show that the ministry received almost 13,000 requests for changing the nationality of workers after the work visas were actually approved.

In the first quarter, the Committee received more than 28,000 requests for work visa issuance and renewal. Of them, 8,600 requests were made for recruiting foreign workers afresh.

While the remaining 19,700 requests were for work visa renewal, Al Sharq reported yesterday citing figures released by the Permanent Recruitment Committee.