An iqama is the residence permit that every foreign worker in Saudi Arabia must hold. It is issued after the employee enters the Kingdom on a work visa, and it is tied to the sponsoring employer, who applies for it, pays for it, and must keep it valid. Without a current iqama, an expat cannot legally work, open a bank account, rent a home, or leave and re-enter the country.
The sequence is fixed. The employer obtains a work visa allocation and the employee enters Saudi Arabia on it. From the day of entry, the employer has 90 days to complete the medical test, register the employment, and have the iqama issued. Miss that window and the worker is out of status through no fault of their own, which is the employer’s violation to answer for.
The permit itself is digital now. It lives in the Absher app for the employee and in Muqeem for the employer, which is also where renewals, exit re-entry visas, and validity checks happen.
The iqama is inseparable from the work permit levy, the fee Saudi Arabia charges for each expat employee. The levy runs at SAR 700 per month for companies where Saudis outnumber expats, and SAR 800 per month where they do not. Dependents cost a further SAR 400 per month each, a fee usually passed to the employee but worth stating in the contract either way.
Add the issuance and renewal fees, medical insurance, and the exit re-entry charges, and the true annual cost of keeping one expat in status runs well into five figures in riyals. It is the single line item that surprises new market entrants most.
Everything about an expat’s legal life in Saudi Arabia hangs off this one document, and the document hangs off the employer. Sponsorship transfers, called naql kafala, now run through Qiwa and no longer always require the current employer’s consent, a major reform of the old kafala model. But the daily reality stands: if the employer lets the iqama lapse, the employee’s bank card stops working.
That is why iqama administration is a core duty in any EOR arrangement. The provider owns the renewal calendar, and the levy, medical insurance, and renewal fees appear as predictable lines on the monthly invoice rather than as emergencies.
An employer obtains a work visa allocation and the employee enters Saudi Arabia on it. From the day of entry, the employer has 90 days to complete the medical test, register the employment, and have the iqama issued. Miss that window and the worker is out of status through no fault of their own, which is the employer's violation to answer for.
Typically one year, renewable, with the renewal payable by the employer. Fees can be paid quarterly or annually through the government platforms.
Fines escalate with each occurrence, government services freeze for the worker, and the employer's compliance record takes the hit. Repeat violations can block the company from new visas.
Yes, through a sponsorship transfer on Qiwa. Reforms since 2021 let many workers transfer at contract end, or earlier in defined cases, without the old employer's approval.
The EOR is the sponsor, so the iqama sits on its file. The employee works for you day to day; the renewal obligations and levy sit with the EOR in Saudi Arabia.