Iqama Issuance, Renewal & Transfer Services for Employers
Iqama renewal is simple to do once and very hard to do reliably at scale. Across forty or four hundred employees, expiry dates scatter across the calendar, staff travel, documents go missing, and the establishment absorbs the penalty every time one slips. We hold the register, watch the dates, and process renewals in advance.
In short
An iqama is the Saudi residency permit every non-Saudi employee must hold, and the sponsoring employer — not the worker — is responsible for keeping it valid. SCPL manages the full iqama lifecycle for your workforce: issuance, renewal, sponsorship transfer, replacement and cancellation, with expiry tracked centrally so renewals are never missed.
Reviewed September 2026
You're probably here because one of these is true
- An iqama has already expired and work has stopped
- Nobody owns the expiry register since your PRO left
- You are absorbing repeat late-renewal penalties
If any of these describe your situation, say so in the enquiry — urgent cases are routed differently and we come back the same working day.
What's included
What SCPL handles under Iqama services
Employers of non-Saudi staff — from a first hire to a workforce in the hundreds — who need renewal to be systematic rather than reactive.
New iqama issuance
For newly arrived employees, from medical and biometrics through to card collection.
Renewal
Processed ahead of expiry, with fees and levies calculated and confirmed to you in advance.
Sponsorship transfer
Moving an employee's sponsorship to or from your establishment, including Qiwa steps.
Replacement
Lost, damaged or data-corrected cards.
Cancellation and final exit
Clean deregistration on separation, so no residual liability sits against the establishment.
Central expiry register
A single tracked list of every employee's expiry date, reviewed monthly with your HR contact.
Who we work for
Trusted by operators who cannot afford downtime
Energy, petrochemicals, mining, utilities and construction — organisations where a lapsed permit or an unfilled shift stops work, not just paperwork.
Common questions
How far before expiry should an iqama be renewed?
Renewal should be initiated well before the expiry date rather than on it — the establishment must have a valid CR, cleared GOSI position and sufficient balance in place for the transaction to complete, and any one of those can delay processing. We work to a rolling advance window so a blocked transaction still has room to be resolved.
What happens if an employee's iqama expires?
The employee cannot legally work or travel, government transactions for them are blocked, and financial penalties are applied to the sponsoring establishment. Repeat occurrences escalate and can affect the establishment's standing across other portals.
Can you manage iqama renewals for staff in another city?
Yes. We operate from Dammam and Riyadh and process transactions nationally — physical presence is only required for specific steps such as biometrics, which we schedule around your operations.
Do you handle the government fees, or do we pay them directly?
Either arrangement works. Most clients fund a float we draw against and reconcile monthly; others pay each transaction directly. We confirm the fee breakdown before processing in both cases.
What is the difference between a work permit and an iqama?
They are two documents from two different authorities, and they expire independently of each other. The work permit is the Ministry of Human Resources authorisation to employ the person, transacted on Qiwa at SAR 100 for issuance or renewal, required within the first 90 days after the employee enters the Kingdom and renewable once 180 days or less remain. The iqama is the Ministry of Interior residency permit, transacted on Absher Business. Letting the two drift apart is one of the most common findings when we audit a new client's establishment — a valid iqama behind a lapsed work permit, or the reverse.
What does an iqama renewal cost?
There is no flat published fee. The national platform records the cost of iqama renewal as variable by service and publishes no schedule, and we found no Ministry of Interior or Jawazat page that states one — the amount depends on the employee's profession, their dependants and the levies attaching to them, so we confirm the breakdown to you before processing rather than quoting an average. The late-renewal fines of SAR 500 and SAR 1,000 quoted almost everywhere are figures we could not confirm on an official source either.
Is there an official deadline for renewing an iqama?
No deadline is published. The 90-day window everyone quotes belongs to the work permit, not the iqama — it comes from MHRSD's work permit service page — and no Ministry of Interior page we could open states a renewal deadline, or a blocking rule for a lapsed iqama. The only remaining-validity rule we found published sits on the exit and re-entry service. Because the deadline is not published, expiry has to be tracked by the employer rather than waited for, which is what the central expiry register exists to do.
How much iqama validity does an employee need before travelling?
For a single-trip exit and re-entry visa issued with the duration-in-months option, the national platform requires remaining iqama validity of 90 days plus the period requested, and allows a 'return before' date as late as 7 days before the iqama expires. That page covers family members and domestic workers rather than the establishment channel, so treat it as the passports rule it is and confirm the position for your own employee before travel is booked. In practice it is why renewal and travel planning have to be looked at together.
What has to be closed when an employee leaves, and by when?
GOSI removal is the one step with a published deadline: the leaver is removed within the first fifteen days of the month immediately following the month they left, on Form No. (3/insurance). Iqama cancellation and final exit run on Absher Business, and the work permit and medical insurance close alongside them. Wages and entitlements are due within one week of the contractual relationship ending, or two weeks where the employee resigned, under MHRSD Ministerial Resolution 112377. What is left open does not stay quiet — it surfaces during an unrelated transaction months later.
Talk to someone who does iqama services every day
Tell us the situation and we'll tell you what it actually takes to fix it — including when the answer is that you don't need us.