A non-Saudi may work in Saudi Arabia only with a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), which the employer obtains and pays for, together with the residence permit (Iqama). Under the Labor Law as amended from 19 February 2025, a non-Saudi’s employment contract must be written and fixed-term, any probation is capped at 180 days in total, and the contract is documented electronically on Qiwa, where the employee can approve, reject or ask to amend it. This guide sets out what a Saudi employer should state or provide, from HRSD’s own pages, opened on 4 October 2026.
It is written for readers outside the Kingdom and for residents changing jobs. It does not cover domestic workers. Open jobs are listed under Jobs in Saudi Arabia.
First: is the job open to non-Saudis at all?
Some Saudi channels are for citizens only. HRDF’s Jadarat platform states that “The applicant must be a Saudi national”, and its Tamheer graduate programme requires Saudi nationality. Saudi Aramco publishes graduate postings in a portal section headed “For Saudi Applicants” and advertises other roles on separate portals for applicants outside the Kingdom. HRSD also sets Saudisation quotas by profession: in April 2023, for example, it announced 50% localisation for procurement jobs in establishments with 3 or more workers, and 15% for sales jobs in establishments with 5 or more. Before you apply, read the nationality line and where the job is published; our guide to nationality wording shows real examples.
What the law requires for a non-Saudi hire
| Requirement | What the official text says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Work permit | A non-Saudi “may not engage in or be allowed to engage in any work except after obtaining a work permit from the Ministry”. | Labor Law, Article 33 |
| Timing | The establishment “must issue a work permit to the expatriate employee within the first 90 days after his entry into the Kingdom”. The permit is one of the conditions for issuing or renewing residency. | HRSD service “Issue and Renew Work license” |
| Who pays | The employer bears the fees for recruiting non-Saudi workers, issuing and renewing the Iqama and the work permit, change of profession, exit and re-entry visas, and the return ticket to the worker’s home country at the end of the relationship, plus fines for delays. | Labor Law, Article 40 (HRSD knowledge centre) |
| Contract form | “The employment contract for a non-Saudi worker must be written and of a fixed term.” If no duration is stated, it is one year from the actual start date, renewed for a similar period if work continues. | Article 37, as amended |
| Probation | Must be stated in the contract with its length; the total “does not exceed one hundred and eighty days in all cases”. Either party may end the contract during probation. | Article 53, as amended |
| Contract documentation | The establishment creates the contract electronically; “the employee can approve, reject or request to amend the contract” through Qiwa Afrad. Once both agree, HRSD treats it as certified. | HRSD service “Contract Management” |
| Housing and transport | The employer must provide suitable housing, or an appropriate cash allowance with the salary; and suitable transport from residence to workplace, or an allowance. | Article 61, paragraphs 5 and 6, as amended |
The 2025 amendments in brief
The Saudi Press Agency reported on 18 February 2025 that HRSD’s amendments to the Labor Law would take effect on 19 February 2025, amending 38 articles, deleting 7 and adding 2. Three of them change what you should expect in a contract:
- Probation: the earlier text allowed 90 days, extendable in writing to 180. The amended Article 53 sets 180 days as the total ceiling and requires the length to be written in the contract.
- Contract length: the earlier Article 37 tied an unstated duration to the work permit. Now an unstated duration means one year.
- Wage: Article 2 now reads “Wage: Means the actual wage”, which the law defines as the basic wage plus the other increments due. This matters for the end-of-service award, explained in our guide to reading a Gulf job offer.
Some pages we found while researching this guide still describe the pre-2025 rules. If a recruiter quotes a 90-day probation “extendable” or a contract “for the length of the permit”, ask which text they rely on.
International organisations in Saudi Arabia
Not every employer in the Kingdom recruits like a private company. The Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah posts jobs by grade (E2 to E4 in our records) on fixed-term contracts and states no nationality restriction, but it is owned by its member countries, so our records advise non-members to check eligibility with the Bank. We have not found an IsDB statement on which of the rules above apply to its staff, so we do not apply them to IsDB jobs; ask the Bank’s recruitment team if it matters to your decision.
Saudi Aramco is another example of separate channels: its AI/ML systems engineer role is advertised on the company’s portals for applicants outside the Kingdom and states no nationality restriction, while its graduate programmes sit on the Saudi portal.
What a Saudi posting or offer should tell you
From the rules above, these are the points to find in writing before you accept. Where a posting is silent, ask:
- Whether the role is open to non-Saudis, and on which portal it is advertised.
- The contract length (fixed-term) and the start date.
- The probation length, if any (180 days at most in total).
- The basic wage and each allowance, including housing and transport or the cash amounts paid instead.
- That the employer will issue the work permit and Iqama and pay their fees, the exit and re-entry visas and the return ticket.
- That the contract will be documented on Qiwa for you to approve, and that it matches the offer.
What we could not confirm
Qiwa’s own public pages on hiring non-Saudis and on work permits did not load for our checker on 4 October 2026, and the Absher/MyGov page on issuing an Iqama returned an error. We therefore do not describe Iqama steps, medical tests or visa-stamping procedures here. The employer’s HR or government relations team handles them; ask for the list in writing.
Advice: before you resign from a current job or book a flight, wait until the contract is visible in your Qiwa account and matches the offer you accepted.
Under Article 40, recruitment fees are the employer’s to pay; anyone asking you for money to “process” a Saudi visa is a warning sign (see our scam signals guide). Listings are always free; we never ask for documents or payment to apply. Apply on the employer’s official page via careermena.com.
