After the CR in Saudi Arabia: The First 90 Days, From Qiwa and GOSI to the First Hires

17 min readLast updated 5 October 2026

What a new company in Saudi Arabia sets up once the commercial registration is issued: what the CR already registered, what Qiwa, GOSI, Mudad and Absher need before the first hire, and what blocks a first visa.

Once the commercial registration (CR) is issued, a new company in Saudi Arabia exists but cannot yet employ anyone. The next steps run in a fixed order. First, check what the CR already registered: for a limited liability company formed on the Saudi Business Center, the national platform says incorporation also opens a labour file with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD), registers the company with GOSI and ZATCA, and subscribes it to the national address and the Chamber of Commerce. Then subscribe to Qiwa and authorise its users, adopt a work policy, fund the establishment's Ministry of Interior account from a corporate bank account, set up Absher Business or Muqeem, and get the municipal licence on Balady. Then hire: a Saudi employee through a contract documented on Qiwa; an expatriate through a work visa or a transfer, with a work permit within 90 days of arrival and an iqama after it. From the first salary, the wage protection file goes to Mudad within 30 days of the first day of each month. Saudization applies from the first hire: an entity of five employees or fewer is either Green or Red on Qiwa, and needs at least one Saudi employee to be Green.

This page sets out that sequence, with the platform and the published deadline for each step, what blocks what, and how the first hires run for a company with no history. It does not give you a timetable: no official source publishes a standard time from CR to first payroll, and this page does not invent one. Ninety days is used because it is the one clock the authorities publish for a first expatriate hire — the work permit window — and the other clocks a new company meets first all fall inside it.

Key Takeaways

The CR is not the end of registration. A company formed on the Saudi Business Center is already on file with MHRSD, GOSI and ZATCA, but it has no Qiwa subscription, no authorised users and no Ministry of Interior funds, and it cannot hire until it does.
A new establishment gets its first work visas through Qiwa's Establishing phase, not its Nitaqat band: a quota set by tier, and an Allowance period of up to twelve months that starts with the first visa or transfer request.
Saudization starts with the first employee. An entity of five or fewer is Green or Red, and needs one Saudi employee to be Green; a newly established entity is calculated week by week, so the first Saudi hire shows at once.
The first hire starts three clocks: ten days for a Saudi candidate to approve the Qiwa contract, 90 days from an expatriate's entry to issue the work permit, and fifteen days into the following month for GOSI. Mudad's thirty days run from the first of the month, not from payday.
Most early refusals are a missing prerequisite, not a decision: no Ministry of Interior funds, a wage protection remark, an expired permit in the group, a Qiwa user nobody authorised.

What the CR already registered, and what it did not

The national platform's page for establishing a limited liability company says the service records the CR and the articles of association, opens a business file with MHRSD, registers the company with ZATCA and with social insurance, subscribes it to Saudi Post's national address and to the Chamber of Commerce for its location, and obtains the identification numbers it will need with each. The Ministry of Commerce lists the same five for a sole proprietorship's CR. Its page for a foreign company established under a MISA investment registration (which it still calls an investment licence) does not, so a foreign-owned company should check each record rather than assume it exists. Where the MHRSD file is missing, MHRSD's "Open Establishment File" service is free and immediate, and needs every licence the activity requires. VAT registration and zakat filings sit with your accountant or tax adviser.

What the CR does not create: the Qiwa subscription and its users, the work policy, Mudad, Absher Business or Muqeem access, the funds in the establishment's Ministry of Interior account, and the municipal licence. Those are the steps below.

The sequence, as it actually runs

Before anyone is hired

Step	What happens	Platform / authority	Deadline or published time	Who acts
1. Check the records	The MHRSD file, GOSI, ZATCA and chamber records exist, with the right activity	Saudi Business Center; MHRSD; GOSI	None published	You, or a provider you authorise
2. Qiwa subscription	Paid by card or SADAD; priced by the size of the establishment group, shown at sign-up	Qiwa (MHRSD)	Renewable up to 30 days before expiry	Owner
3. Qiwa users	The Group Manager authorises each user per establishment and per service; until then, Qiwa says, services may not appear	Qiwa	None published	Owner
4. Work policy	Required for every establishment subject to the Labour Law. At 49 employees or fewer a standard policy is accredited automatically; at 50 or more it is custom, prepared by an accredited law office	Qiwa	None published; Qiwa says non-compliance may be fined	Owner, or a provider
5. GOSI	Establishment record and its authorised supervisor checked	GOSI Online	Registration within two weeks at most of the head office meeting the coverage requirements	You; a provider prepares
6. Ministry of Interior funds	Added from the company's bank account, under the same unified national number, through Government Payments	Your bank	None published	You
7. Absher Business or Muqeem	Iqama, exit and re-entry and transfer transactions. Absher Business delegates per service. Muqeem is a paid subscription developed by Elm with the General Directorate of Passports	Ministry of Interior	None published	Owner; a delegate per service
8. Municipal licence	A commercial licence with the Civil Defense safety permit, against a lease, title deed or investment contract for the premises	Balady	Ten-day service	You, or a provider

Steps 6 and 8 rest on things the CR does not create and you arrange yourself: a corporate bank account, and premises.

The first hires

Step	What happens	Platform / authority	Deadline or published time	Who acts
Saudi: contract	Created on Qiwa and sent to the candidate's own account	Qiwa	10 days to approve, or the request is cancelled	You; the candidate approves
Saudi: GOSI and insurance	The contract turns active on the start date; GOSI registration follows automatically; the employee is added to the medical insurance policy	Qiwa; GOSI	—	Automatic; you insure
Expatriate: visa	A permanent work visa from the recruitment quota — SAR 2,000, per Qiwa, drawn from the Ministry of Interior account — then completed on Enjaz	Qiwa; MOFA	Up to three working days for the data to reach MOFA	You; the agency abroad
Expatriate: contract	Prepared on Qiwa, signed with the candidate through the agency abroad	Qiwa	—	You; the agency
Expatriate: work permit	Issued against the border number for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, starting from the date of entry; MHRSD's fee is SAR 100	Qiwa (MHRSD)	Within 90 days after entry; SADAD paid within 14 days of the request	You, or a provider
Expatriate: iqama	Medical insurance bought and the contract authenticated, then the iqama issued online. A valid work permit is required	Absher Business or Muqeem	No deadline published	You, or a delegate

The first payroll month

Step	What happens	Platform / authority	Deadline	Who acts
GOSI notification and contributions	Each new worker notified on GOSI's forms; the month's contributions paid	GOSI	Within the first fifteen days of the following month	You; a provider prepares
Salaries and wage file	Salaries paid from the company's bank account; the bank generates and signs the wage file after the transfer	Your bank	—	You
Wage file upload	The file uploaded to Mudad	Mudad (MHRSD)	Within 30 days of the due date — the first day of each Gregorian month	The owner, or a wage-protection delegate who is an employee of the establishment

Two things here cannot be repaired later. GOSI does not allow a non-Saudi to be added retroactively; the entry takes the current date. And Mudad will not accept a file where salaries were paid in cash, because the file is generated by the bank after the transfer. The cycle in full is in the wage protection and Mudad guide; the rates are in the GOSI contributions guide.

What blocks what

Almost every early refusal on Qiwa is a condition never met rather than a judgement about the company.

If this is missing	This stops	Source
A valid CR	Visa and transfer requests; renewing the municipal licence	Qiwa; Balady
An authorised Qiwa user	The services, for that user	Qiwa
Ministry of Interior funds	The visa request is rejected	Qiwa
Wage protection with no remarks	Visa and transfer requests. Among what Mudad says non-compliance suspends: establishing or expansion quota requests, visa issuance and the Saudization certificate	Qiwa; Mudad
A valid work permit for every employee in the establishment group	Visa and transfer requests	Qiwa; MHRSD
A work permit within 90 days of entry	The employee becomes eligible to transfer away without obligations, and the establishment cannot issue a visa	Qiwa
An authenticated contract	The expatriate's iqama; the Saudi employee counting towards Nitaqat	Qiwa
The required band — Green at five employees or fewer, Medium Green above that	New visas and transfers in. In Red, also work permit renewals and new branch files	Qiwa; MHRSD
Annual self-evaluation (ten employees or more); employees assigned to locations	Visa requests	Qiwa

When a request is refused, go down this list before resubmitting; resubmitting without fixing the condition only repeats the refusal. The portal map sets out the same chain for an established company.

Hiring the first people

How a new establishment gets its first work visas

For an established company, Nitaqat decides visas: Qiwa issues permanent work visas and accepts transfers in only at Medium Green or above. A new company has no workforce to band, so Qiwa runs it through an Establishing phase first.

The quota comes from a tier. During the Allowance period the recruitment quota is based on the median of historical requests for the economic activity and on the establishment's tier. Tier 1 is free. Tiers 2 and 3 are paid; tier 2 may need an on-site inspection and tier 3 always does, checking the location, the operations and the nationalisation plan.
The Allowance period has a clock. Qiwa's glossary describes up to twelve months during which the establishment is not required to hire Saudis. It starts automatically with the first visa or transfer request. An establishment that never enters it leaves the Establishing phase after six months.
Then the Expansion phase. The quota follows the Nitaqat band, and visas need Medium Green or above. The Allowance period can be ended early if the band will be Medium Green or above; it cannot be re-entered.
The quota is shared. Visas and transfers draw on the same number.

MHRSD's visa issuance page sets a separate band condition for start-up establishments — Medium Green, or Green for a very small entity, applied to the other establishments under the same unified number rather than to the start-up itself — and Medium Green or above for expanding ones. Qiwa's glossary entries date from 2024, so confirm the dates on your own account; Qiwa shows the Allowance period's end date in its Permanent work visas service. The practical point: the first visa request starts a twelve-month clock whether or not the rest of the hiring plan is ready.

Saudization from the first hire

Qiwa treats a small entity (category A) — every establishment in the group with five employees or fewer, and five or fewer across the group — differently. It has two levels, Green and Red, and needs at least one Saudi employee to be Green. Its level is calculated by the immediate method only: one week's rate, not a 26-week average. A newly established entity, whose oldest establishment in the group was registered no more than 13 weeks ago, is also calculated immediately.

Above five employees there are five levels, on a 26-week average by default, and Medium Green is what new visas and transfers need — Low Green is not enough for a company still hiring from abroad. The Nitaqat guide and the Saudization requirements guide cover the rest.

Who counts, per Qiwa's Nitaqat page as updated on 10 September 2026:

Only authenticated contracts. Since 15 April 2026 the rate is calculated on contracts authenticated on Qiwa.
The registered wage sets the weight. SAR 4,000 or more counts as one; SAR 3,000 to 3,999 as half; below SAR 3,000 not at all.
One establishment per Saudi. A Saudi registered at more than one establishment counts only at the oldest, so a first hire still on another employer's file does not move your rate.

The first Saudi hire also changes what each expatriate costs. Qiwa's work permit page prices the permit at SAR 100 a year per non-Saudi employee, plus SAR 700 a month for each non-Saudi up to the number of Saudi employees and SAR 800 for each one beyond. With no Saudi employee, every expatriate is at the higher rate. The same page exempts an establishment group of nine employees or fewer from the fees for two non-Saudi employees in a financial year where the owner works there full-time and is not registered with GOSI elsewhere — four where a full-time Saudi employee other than the owner is also registered with GOSI.

Two more checks before the first job advert:

Administrative roles may be Saudi-only. Ministerial Decision 132249 placed 69 administrative support professions at 100% Saudization — nineteen from 5 April 2026, fifty from 4 October 2026 — including secretarial, clerical, translation, data entry, public relations and human resources titles. It applies from one worker; there is no small-business exemption. See the October 2026 deadline guide.
GOSI differs by employee. A Saudi national with contribution periods before 3 July 2024 costs the employer 11.75%; one without, 12.75% from 1 July 2026. A non-Saudi, non-GCC employee costs 2%, paid entirely by the employer.

Hiring from inside the Kingdom

A transfer skips the visa and the journey. The employee must be working in Saudi Arabia, not in another transfer, and hold neither a final exit visa nor a final exit work permit; the establishment needs the conditions in the table above, with Medium Green in the Expansion phase or Green for a small establishment. Once the employee approves on Qiwa, the new employer has 14 days to complete the transfer on Absher Business or Muqeem, or the contract expires and is cancelled.

What is commonly missed

The Qiwa user nobody authorised. A paid subscription with no authorised users looks like a broken platform.
The work policy. Required whatever the size; at 49 employees or fewer the standard one is accredited automatically.
Starting the Allowance period by accident. One early visa request starts the twelve months.
The expatriate GOSI window. A non-Saudi missed in the fifteen-day window cannot be backdated.
The Mudad due date and the uploader. The clock starts on the first of the month, not payday, and the upload belongs to the owner or a delegate who is your employee — not to an outside provider.
The CR confirmation a year later. The CR is no longer renewed; its data is confirmed every year, and a registration not confirmed within ninety days of falling due is suspended. A foreign-owned company also needs at least 30 days left on its MISA registration to file it.
The second establishment. In Red, Qiwa will not open a new branch or facility file.

How SCPL handles it

SCPL handles both sides of the CR. Before it: the formation — the MISA investment registration for a foreign-owned company, the articles of association and the commercial registration — and the first setup steps: the municipal licence and Civil Defense permit, the bank account, Absher Business or Muqeem access and the Qiwa work policy. After it: the employer side, run from its head office in Dammam and its office in Riyadh as your authorised agent on your own establishment's accounts:

Business setup in Saudi Arabia — the whole route, from the licence to the first payroll.
Qiwa services — the establishment file, the subscription and users, contracts documented, work permits issued and renewed.
GOSI, WPS and Mudad compliance — GOSI registrations and notifications, and the wage file prepared and reconciled for your representative to upload.
Muqeem and Absher Business management — access, delegations, iqamas, exit and re-entry.
Visa services — the recruitment quota, visa issuance and stamping coordination.
Recruitment services — the first Saudi and expatriate hires, for roles you employ directly.
Payroll outsourcing — the monthly cycle from the first salary.
Government relations — the renewals that follow: the CR confirmation, the chamber, the municipal licence.

For a company setting up in the Eastern Province, see business setup from Dammam.

The people you hire are employed by your company, on your establishment, your GOSI registration and your Nitaqat count. SCPL does not supply workers and does not act as an Employer of Record; internal labour outsourcing is licensed separately by MHRSD under Resolution 60339, and SCPL does not hold that licence. It does not provide tax, VAT or zakat registration, bookkeeping, office space or IT; those sit with your accountant or tax adviser and your own suppliers.

Ask for a written scope — send the planned activity, whether the founders are Saudi or foreign, the city, whether the CR has been issued, and the first roles you need to fill, and you will get back the order of work for your company and which parts SCPL would run.

If you are looking for a job in Saudi Arabia rather than setting up a company, the right page is /careers.

FAQ

I have my CR. What do I do now?

Check which registrations the CR already created, then subscribe to Qiwa and authorise its users, adopt a work policy, fund the establishment's Ministry of Interior account, set up Absher Business or Muqeem, and get the municipal licence on Balady. Then hire, and file the first wage file on Mudad within 30 days of the first of the month.

Is a new company registered with GOSI and the Ministry of Human Resources automatically?

For a limited liability company formed on the Saudi Business Center, yes: the national platform says incorporation opens an MHRSD business file and registers the company with GOSI and ZATCA. The Qiwa subscription, Mudad and the Ministry of Interior platforms are not set up automatically. A company formed under a MISA investment registration should check each record.

How do I hire my first employee after forming a company in Saudi Arabia?

For a Saudi national, create the contract on Qiwa; the candidate has ten days to approve it, and GOSI registration follows when it turns active. For an expatriate, issue a work visa or transfer someone already in the Kingdom, then the work permit within 90 days of entry, medical insurance and the iqama.

Does a new company need a Saudi employee?

An entity of five employees or fewer needs at least one Saudi employee to be Green rather than Red. That employee counts only if the contract is authenticated on Qiwa, and counts in full only at a registered wage of SAR 4,000 or more. Qiwa's glossary says the Allowance period does not require Saudi hires, but the band governs visas once it ends, and without a Saudi employee every expatriate's work permit is charged at the higher rate.

Can a new company get work visas before it has a Nitaqat band?

Yes, through Qiwa's Establishing phase: the quota is set by tier, and the Allowance period runs for up to twelve months from the first visa or transfer request.

How long do we have to issue a work permit for a new expatriate employee?

Ninety days from entry. If it is not issued in time, Qiwa says the employee becomes eligible to transfer to another employer and the establishment cannot issue a visa. Permits cannot be issued or renewed in the Red band.

When is the first wage file due on Mudad?

Within 30 days of the due date, which is the first day of each Gregorian month — not your pay date. The bank generates the file after the salary transfer, so a cash payroll cannot be filed.

Does SCPL form the company as well?

Yes. SCPL handles the formation — the MISA investment registration, the articles of association and the commercial registration — and the first setup steps, then everything after the CR is issued: Qiwa, GOSI and Mudad, the first visas and work permits, iqamas, recruitment and payroll.

Official sources

Verify current requirements directly with the authorities — rules and fees in this area change, and the official portal is always ahead of any guide, including this one.