Saudi Arabia Caps Instant Work Visas at 5 for New Businesses: Step-by-Step Guide to Check Your Company’s New Qiwa Allocation

Saudi Arabia has implemented a massive update to the MoHRS Qiwa platform, shifting the recruitment of FDI into the country’s non-resident labour force. The new rule restricts startups to five maximum instant visas for foreign workers, making strategies for hiring the workforce its priority rather than increasing the workforce, thereby giving it more time to sort out its Saudisation efforts.

The move will form part of Kingdom’s wider labour market reforms to facilitate a more structured approach to the recruitment of businesses in different sectors, while supporting local employment practices and making better planning of employment.

New Two-Tier Visa Allocation System

Those companies with less than 2 years of operation can receive up to 5 instant work visas. In the majority of cases, these businesses will be issued only two visas initially and further visas shall be awarded based on compliance with their Saudisation quotas.

Established businesses, after two or more years of operation, get to claim an extra 50 instant jobs visas. These visas may be applied for in each instance, or in several applications within the same week.

Why Does the New Rule Matters for Startups?

With the new policy, startups need to be careful how they recruit their employees. Companies should create a well-rounded team without having to staff with a large international population, but comply with Saudi labour regulations.

Companies that improve their Nitaqat rating and keep their operations running in compliance, will enjoy greater future opportunities in expanding their recruitment.

Step-by-Step Guide to Check Your Qiwa Visa Allocation

The process of checking the allocation for your company’s visa is very simple and is a digital process.

Step 1: Log into Qiwa

Go to the Qiwa website and login with your National Unified Login (Nafath) details. Once you’ve signed in, choose the business facility that you want to manage.

Step 2: Open Recruitment Services

From the dashboard, go to “Hire Employees,” and then click on the “Instant Work Visa” service.

Step 3: Review Your Available Quota

The system will automatically check for compliance, and indicate your Recruitment Quota Balance. It reflects the number of visas available and the number that have been allocated.

Compliance Requirements Every Business Must Meet

A visa slot doesn’t mean you will definitely be granted a visa. Failure to comply will lead to Qiwa rejecting the visas.

The companies that currently have expatriates will have to comply with all Business requirements for active commercial registration, have valid work permits for their existing expatriates. The businesses are required to meet with Medium Green or higher Nitaqat status, with no major labor violations.

Wage Protection System will have to be completed with sufficient government balance of payments, and locations will have to be registered, and where the company has 10 or more workers, they will have to complete the annual self-assessment.

Business owner or authorised representative must also be 18 or older and the business must be considered active to ministry records.

How Businesses Can Prepare?

It is important for Startups to continuously review their dashboard on Qiwa, stay within payroll compliance, boost Saudization targets and verify all employee records timing.

Additionally, compliance checks by HR teams and PROs should include routine audits for unexpected restrictions that might impair recruitment initiatives or business growth plans.

FAQs

What will be the new instant work visa for new businesses in Saudi Arabia?

The businesses operating for less than two years are now able to access a maximum of five instant work visas via the Qiwa platform subject to compliance requirements.

How many visas are initially available to new companies?

The visas most new companies are initially granted are two work visas and added visas will be issued after inputting Saudization targets.

What is the procedure to check the allocation of visas for my company in Qiwa?

Login to the Qiwa portal with Nafath credentials, go to the “Hire Employees” section and choose “Instant Work Visa”, then all the Recruitment Quota Balance information will appear on the Dashboard.

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