Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

has mandated a six-year cap on the residency of foreigners in the country, as part of its programme to control the local job market, and any

Hajji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

or illegal overstayers are met with a mandatory prison sentence followed by swift deportation. Many illegal immigrants are those who have overstayed their visit, employment or Hajj visas, although there are many who sneak into the country without border staff noticing. However, some nationalities don't need a visa to enter the country, which include the members of the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf ( ar, مجلس التعاون لدول العربية الخليج ), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ar, مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, interg ...

(GCC), for instance. Furthermore, there are many stateless people (known as

Bidoon The Bedoon or Bidoon (fully Bidoon jinsiya, ar, بدون ''Bidūn'' ar, بدون جنسية, 'without nationality') are stateless people in several Middle Eastern countries, but particularly in Kuwait, where there is a large population of state ...

in Saudi Arabia) who live here.

References

Society of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

{{Saudi Arabia-stub

See also

References