JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has rolled out a comprehensive regulatory framework governing the issuance of instant work visas via the Qiwa platform. The updated policy enforces strict limits, operational benchmarks, and compliance rules tailored to a company’s age and localization performance.
Under the newly structured quotas, startups and newly established entities operating for less than two years are restricted to a maximum of five instant visas. For mature corporations operating for more than two years, the ceiling has been capped at 50 instant visas per week, which can be drawn down through single or multiple corporate applications. Furthermore, entities enrolled in specialized establishment programs will initially receive an allocation of two visas, with the provision for incremental increases tied directly to the escalation of their Saudization metrics.
To successfully secure non-Saudi human resources from abroad, employers must fulfill 10 mandatory regulatory criteria through the Qiwa ecosystem:
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Operational Validation: The enterprise must maintain an active status, hold a valid commercial registration (where legally required), and ensure all current personnel possess valid work permits.
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Labor Compliance: The company must be ranked in the “Medium Green” tier or higher within the national Saudization framework. It must also show full compliance with the Wage Protection System and clear any outstanding regulatory violations.
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Digital & Financial Readiness: The business must maintain a positive financial credit balance across Ministry of Interior platforms (Absher and Muqeem), complete mandatory annual self-assessments, and register all employee work locations transparently on Qiwa. The sponsoring employer must also be at least 18 years old.
The ministry confirmed that the streamlined recruitment pipeline will process three distinct visa classifications: Permanent work visas for standard long-term contracts, Temporary work visas for short-term projects lasting up to three months, and specialized Seasonal Hajj and Umrah work visas, which remain subject to direct ministerial oversight during peak pilgrimage timelines.
