If a new Saudi company is offering you a job from abroad, check how long it has been running before you pay anyone a recruitment fee. Through the Qiwa platform, Saudi Arabia now limits how many instant work visas a business can get, and the limit depends on the company’s age.
A business operating for less than two years can get at most five instant work visas. A business operating for more than two years can get up to 50, in one application or several within the same week. Companies in the Establishment Programme start with two visas, and can earn more as their Saudization rate improves.
To qualify at all, the business must be active, hold a valid commercial registration, have all employee work permits valid, sit at medium green or above in Nitaqat, and comply with the Wage Protection System, among other conditions.
What this means for you: a job offer from a brand-new company is not automatically a visa. Before you hand over money or resign your current job, ask the sponsor to confirm it can actually get you a visa — and check the offer and contract on Qiwa yourself. A company that cannot meet the conditions cannot bring you in, however good the offer sounds.
Sources: Qiwa platform (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development); Saudi Expatriates, June 2026; BusinessDay; VisaVerge; Nairametrics, August 2026.