If you want to work and live in Saudi Arabia for a while, you need to get a visa first, except if you’re from a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country. There are different kinds of visas, but we’ll talk about getting an employment visa specifically.
Work Visa Requirements
To work in Saudi Arabia, you need someone in the country to sponsor you. Usually, your employer handles most of the paperwork, but you must give them all the documents they need. Also, if you work in certain technical jobs, you might need to pass a test to show you’re qualified before getting your visa.
Documents Required
To get a work visa, you need certain papers. These include a passport, a small photo of yourself, proof that you paid the visa fee online, a filled-out visa application, a doctor’s note saying you’re healthy, a letter from the company offering you the job, a copy of your university degree, and a report from the police showing if you’ve ever been in trouble with the law.
Step-by-Step Procedure for Obtaining a Work Visa
- Employer Registration: The sponsoring employer must register with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior.
- Immigration File Opening: The Ministry of Interior will open an immigration file containing information about all expatriate employees.
- Work Visa Application: The employer submits a work visa application to the Ministry of Labor.
- Visa Authorization Number: Once approved, the Ministry of Labor notifies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which issues a Visa Authorization Number within two weeks.
- Employee Application: The employee submits their employment visa application to the relevant Saudi embassy along with the required documents.
- Visa Issuance: The embassy issues the visa within one to three weeks, allowing the employee to travel to Saudi Arabia.
- Residency Permit Application: In Saudi Arabia, the employee applies for a residency permit, or iqama, through the Ministry of Labor.
- Iqama Issuance: The Ministry of Labor forwards the approved application to the Ministry of Interior, where the iqama is issued through the Directorate General for Passports.
Other Considerations and Important Information
In Saudi Arabia, workers must always have their iqama with them to show they’re legally allowed to be there. They also have to follow the country’s laws, and only Islam is openly practiced. If workers want to bring their family to Saudi Arabia, they need to get special visas for them.
This guide helps people apply for a work visa in Saudi Arabia. If they follow each step and fulfill all the requirements, they can work in the country.
