The Ministry of Labour has agreed to work alongside the Prime Ministry to make the employment process legal for expats who are married to Jordanian women and wishing to work in Jordan.

The Minister of Labour, Ali Thaher Al Ghazawi, said in a statement on Monday that “the Ministry of Labour has coordinated with the Prime Ministry to set new laws for non-Jordanian men who are married to Jordanian women and who have been working illegally in the Kingdom, after they were fined for working illegally and were not able to receive work permits due to their mounting fines.”

However, conditions will apply: the expat must have at least one child with the Jordanian woman, and a sum of 100 JOD must be paid for each year that the expat has worked without a permit in Jordan.

The expat will also have to pay a fee for acquiring a new work permit.

The decision to legalize those foreign workers came into effect on Monday and workers have three months to get their paperwork done, according to Ghazawi.

The expats have been urged by the Ministry of Labour to visit their nearest labour department in order to issue their work permits before the set deadline.