Saudi work visa from India: documents, agent fees, the medical and your rights

Updated 14 September 2026 · about 12 min read Share

The route, step by step

1. An offer from a Saudi employer, usually through a recruiting agent in India. All recruitment of workers from India goes through eMigrate, where the Saudi employer registers.
2. The medical at a GCC-approved centre, booked on Wafid — in India, before the visa is processed.
3. The employment contract, signed by you and the employer before emigration clearance and the visa.
4. The work visa, which the employer applies for. Check it against your contract before you travel.
5. Emigration clearance and PBBY, if your passport is ECR — the agent or the employer applies on eMigrate.
6. Arrival: a second medical, then your iqama — the residence permit — within 90 days.

Before you sign: the agent

• Only a registered agent. Check the agent on eMigrate, see the original Registration Certificate issued by the Protector General of Emigrants, and ask for the employer's demand letter and power of attorney.
• The fee cap: no more than 45 days' wages, up to ₹20,000 — paid only by demand draft or cheque, with a receipt. Keep the receipt.
• What the employer pays: the visa fee and your air ticket, and above the cap the visa medical and the first hotel stay. Recruitment costs may not be recovered from your salary during the contract.
• Barred employers: check that the employer is not on eMigrate's Prior Approval Category (PAC) list.
• Women with ECR passports are recruited through one of six state-run agencies — NORKA Roots and ODEPC (Kerala), OMCL (Tamil Nadu), UPFC (Uttar Pradesh), OMCAP (Andhra Pradesh) and TOMCOM (Telangana) — or directly, with documents attested by the Indian Mission.
• Nurses for Saudi government and military hospitals are recruited through designated Indian agents; other hospitals use only the six state-run agencies.

The employment contract

• It is written, signed by you and the employer, and usually runs two years.
• Arabic prevails in a dispute — insist on Arabic and English, and have someone other than the agent check that both say the same.
• It is signed before emigration clearance and the visa, and the agent must give you a copy before you leave.
• In Saudi Arabia the contract is also issued online on Qiwa, the platform of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
• A new contract signed in Arabic after you arrive replaces the one signed in India — don't sign one that is worse.

It should state the employer's name, the place of work, the job title, the duration and probation, the basic monthly salary, working hours, weekly rest and overtime, accommodation, transport, food or a food allowance, medical expenses, who pays for the iqama and exit/re-entry visas, vacation and airfare, termination, end-of-service benefits, renewal, the transport of mortal remains, and how disputes are settled.

What you should be paid

Saudi Arabia fixes no minimum wage for expatriate workers. The Government of India publishes referral wages to negotiate with — these are the 2025 figures, a month:

Checking your visa

• Only an employment visa lets you work. Family visit, family, Hajj, Umrah and business visa holders are banned from working.
• "Free visas" do not exist in Saudi Arabia.
• A business work visa is for short specialised work of 2 months and is not a regular employment visa — don't accept one for a job.
• Check that the type of visa, the profession and the sponsor's name on the visa match your contract, with someone who reads Arabic and is not the agent. The Indian Embassy or Consulate can check whether a visa is genuine.
• The work visa is valid for 90 days from arrival, and your employer issues the iqama within that period.

The medical

• Book on Wafid, the Gulf Health Council's programme. A standard appointment costs US$10 and the centre is assigned by your city; a premium appointment, US$25, lets you choose the centre and the date.
• After paying you get a slip — go to the medical centre as soon as you can. The result appears within 26 days, and you can check the status with your passport number and nationality, or the slip number.
• You are tested again after arriving in Saudi Arabia, and a worker found unfit there is sent back to India at his own cost.

Judged unfit: HIV; hepatitis B or C; microfilaria or malaria; leprosy; an abnormal chest X-ray, including TB; kidney, liver or heart failure; uncontrolled blood pressure or diabetes; cancer; psychiatric or neurological disorders; a disability that impedes the work; haemoglobin below 7 g/dL; and pregnancy, when the application is for a work visa.

The documents you submit

• For emigrant registration on eMigrate: your visa, a photograph, a copy of your passport and the employment contract.
• If an employer not on eMigrate hired you directly: the demand letter attested by the Indian Mission, the contract signed by the employer, and a copy of the visa.
• Before emigration clearance: your PBBY policy.
• For the medical: the Wafid slip — and afterwards, the medical report.
• Your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of travel.

Carry a copy of the contract signed by you and the employer, attested by the agent. Leave copies of your passport, visa and contract with your family in India, with the names and phone numbers of the agent and the sponsor.

Women domestic workers

Domestic service workers — drivers, maids, guards, cooks — are not covered by the Saudi Labour Law, which is why India and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on their recruitment in 2014. Under it:

• recruitment is only through a Saudi and an Indian recruiting agency, and the demand letter, power of attorney and contract are attested by the Embassy and registered on eMigrate;
• a woman domestic worker must be 30 or older and paid at least SR 1,500 a month, and her sponsor lodges a bank guarantee of US$2,500 in the name of the Embassy in Riyadh or the Consulate in Jeddah;
• the contract is signed by her, her sponsor, the Indian agent and the Saudi agent, and attested by the Embassy or the Consulate;
• the standard contract runs two years from arrival, gives at least eight continuous hours of rest a day and one day of rest a week, and paid vacation of 15 days after one year and 30 days on completing two years, with a return ticket to India.

A woman who goes on any other visa, or through a third country on a tourist visa, is in Saudi Arabia illegally and without the law's protection.

After you arrive

• Collect the free SIM at the Saudi Telecom Company counter at the airport, and register with the Indian Embassy or Consulate by SMS, WhatsApp or email.
• Your employer must give you an iqama within 90 days, and pays for it, its renewal and any fines. Registration with GOSI, the General Organization for Social Insurance, is required for the iqama.
• Your passport stays with you. It is illegal for the sponsor to take custody of it.
• An exit/re-entry visa needs your sponsor's consent; if you don't return before it expires, you are banned from entering for two years.
• A worker reported as absconding (huroob) loses legal status; one deported through a detention centre pays a penalty of SR 10,000 and is barred for five years.
• If you want to go home when the contract ends, give notice — preferably 60 days before.
• Before final exit, settle loans and fines, collect your end-of-service benefits, and get the Saudi police clearance certificate.

Saudi Labour Law basics

• Hours: 8 a day and 48 a week; in Ramadan, 6 a day and 36 a week for Muslim workers. Overtime is paid at 150% of the hourly wage.
• Probation: usually up to 90 days, extendable to 180 with written agreement.
• Annual leave: 21 days a year, and 30 days after five years with the same employer.
• Sick leave in a year: the first 30 days on full wage, the next 60 on three-quarters, and then 30 unpaid.
• Maternity leave: 10 weeks.
• End-of-service benefit, after two years with the same employer: half a month's wage for each of the first five years, and a month's wage for each year after. If you resign, you get one-third of it for 2 to 5 years of service, two-thirds for 5 to 10, and all of it from 10 years.
• Retirement age: 60 for men and 55 for women.
• Domestic service workers, agricultural workers in firms employing fewer than 10, and workers on short-term work visas are not covered by the Labour Law.

Where to get help

• Saudi labour ministry helpline: 19911 — for problems with salary, the iqama or the contract. It takes calls in several languages, Hindi among them.
• Indian Embassy, Riyadh: 800 247 1234 (toll free) and +966-11 488 4697. Consulate General, Jeddah: 8002440003 (toll free) and +966 12 6614276.
• MADAD (madad.gov.in) — register a complaint with copies of your passport, iqama, visa and contract, and the Embassy or Consulate follows it up.
• In India, the Ministry of External Affairs' helpline for emigrants is 1800 11 3090, toll free.

Frequently asked questions

General information, not legal advice — and ToolGalli is not affiliated with any government department. Rules change; confirm with eMigrate, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh or the Consulate in Jeddah before you act.

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