For the millions of expatriates working on construction sites, industrial plants and facility-management contracts across Saudi Arabia, the Iqama is more than an ID card. It is the document that determines whether you can work legally, open a bank account, get treatment at a hospital, send money home, or leave the country. When a project ends or an employer stops paying, the question that follows is almost always the same: can I move to another company, and how?
The answer today is very different from what it was a decade ago. Since the Labor Reform Initiative (LRI) took effect in March 2021, sponsorship transfer — officially called “transfer of services” — has become a structured, digital process run through the Qiwa platform rather than a private negotiation over a paper release letter. Site workers who understand the rules have real leverage. Those who don’t often lose months waiting for a signature they never needed.
What an Iqama transfer actually is
An Iqama transfer (نقل الكفالة) moves your legal sponsorship from one Saudi employer to another. Once it completes, the new company becomes your official sponsor and takes on every obligation attached to that role: work permit renewal, Iqama fees, wage payment through the Wage Protection System (WPS), and end-of-service liability.
Transfers are handled by three connected systems. Qiwa, run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD), manages the job offer and the transfer request. Absher and Muqeem, under the Ministry of Interior, complete the Iqama-side update. Paper no-objection certificates, handwritten release letters and informal “agent” arrangements have no legal standing anymore. If it is not in Qiwa, it did not happen.
Your rights as a site worker
Several protections apply regardless of what a supervisor or camp boss tells you.
Transfer without employer consent is possible in defined cases. The LRI kept employer consent as the default, but carved out exceptions. The commonly cited ones include: your contract has expired or been terminated; wages have gone unpaid for three consecutive months on WPS; your employment contract was never authenticated on Qiwa; your Iqama or work permit lapsed because the employer failed to renew it; the establishment sits in the Red Nitaqat band or is otherwise non-compliant; or the sponsor is absent. You will need evidence — WPS records and contract-authentication status are what MHRSD actually looks at, not verbal accounts.
Your passport belongs to you. Withholding a worker’s passport without written consent is unlawful in Saudi Arabia and exposes the employer to fines, and to far heavier liability where coercion is involved. A company that holds your passport to block a transfer is not enforcing a rule; it is breaking one.
The new employer pays. Transfer fees are the receiving company’s cost, not yours. The published structure is SAR 2,000 for a worker’s first transfer, SAR 4,000 for the second, and SAR 6,000 for the third and beyond. Any employer or middleman asking you to hand over cash for “transfer papers” is running something outside the system.
You get a grace period. After a contract ends or is terminated, workers are generally given a window — commonly cited as 60 days — to complete a transfer or exit the Kingdom legally. Do not let it run out quietly.
The step-by-step process
1. Check eligibility on both sides. Your Iqama must be valid; expired Iqamas must be renewed before a transfer can process. You must not have a final exit visa, a competing transfer request, or an absconding (huroob) report filed against you. On the employer side, the hiring company must be clear on Nitaqat, compliant with WPS, and current on contract documentation. Skipping this check is the single most common way a transfer dies.
2. Receive and accept the digital job offer. The new employer sends a digitally authenticated offer through Qiwa using your Iqama or border number. You typically have around 10 days to accept it. Read the job title, salary, contract length and notice terms before you press accept — the Qiwa contract is the enforceable document, not the WhatsApp message from the recruiter.
3. The transfer request goes to your current employer. Your existing company usually has around 14 days to respond. It may approve immediately, or hold you to a contractual notice period (often 60 or 90 days) before releasing you. If no response comes within the window and the eligibility conditions are met, the system can proceed automatically.
4. Absher completion and fee payment. Once approved, the new employer pays the transfer fee and finalises the Iqama update through Absher Business. This step has a short deadline of its own; if the new employer misses it, the request expires and the whole sequence restarts.
5. Verify the result. Check your Iqama details in Absher or Muqeem and confirm the new sponsor name, profession and work permit validity. Keep a screenshot.
Traps that catch site workers
The biggest is the huroob report — an “absence from work” filing by the employer that instantly freezes your status. If one appears, deal with it through MHRSD before pursuing anything else; no transfer will move while it stands.
The second is the profession mismatch. Site workers are frequently registered under a profession that does not match the job they actually do. This can block transfers into regulated roles and complicates later disputes. Check what your Iqama says.
The third is assuming the manpower agency is your sponsor. Many construction and FM workers are supplied through the Ajir system, where the arrangement is temporary and the paperwork differs. Converting an Ajir placement into a direct hire is legal and common, but it follows its own route.
If your transfer is blocked
If consent is refused and no exception applies to you, the path runs through MHRSD’s friendly settlement service and, failing that, the labour court — framed around the underlying entitlement, such as unpaid wages, rather than the transfer itself. Complaints can be filed through the Ministry’s channels or its helpline. Gather documents first: contract, Iqama copy, WPS payment history, and any written communication.
Mobility in Saudi Arabia is now a legal right with conditions attached, not a favour granted by a sponsor. The workers who benefit are the ones who check their own status before they need to, keep their documents in hand, and insist that every step happen inside Qiwa.