Saudi Arabia Announces Rules Foreign Workers Must Follow When Changing Their Jobs
- Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has announced an AI-powered service for employers to change expatriate workers' job titles
- The service allows businesses to correct a resident employee's profession to match their actual duties without visiting the ministry in person
- It should be noted that employers can access the service through the Qiwa platform by selecting the career change option
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Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has introduced an AI-supported electronic service that allows businesses to change or correct the registered profession of expatriate employees working under their sponsorship.
The service, listed under the ministry's official digital offerings in 2026, is designed to bring an employee's recorded job title in line with the actual work they perform.
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Establishments can also use it to correct a worker's profession according to the Unified Saudi Occupational Classification Guide, which serves as the country's standard reference for job categorisation.
Saudi Arabia: How the service works
The process is fully online and does not require employers to visit the Ministry of Human Resources in person. To use the service, an establishment must log in to the Qiwa platform, select the career change service, and follow the steps provided on the platform to submit the application.
The ministry said artificial intelligence powers the backend of the service to support accurate matching between the employee's actual role and the classifications listed under the Unified Saudi Occupational Classification Guide.
Why the change matters for foreign workers
Saudi Arabia hosts millions of expatriate workers, many of whom are Nigerian and other African nationals who travelled to the Kingdom as part of the broader Japa movement. A mismatch between a worker's registered profession and their actual duties can affect their legal standing, benefits, and future employment prospects within the country.
By digitising and streamlining the correction process, the Ministry of Human Resources is reducing bureaucratic delays that have historically affected expatriates whose documented roles did not reflect what they actually did on the job.
The service falls under the ministry's wider push to digitalise labour administration in the Kingdom and improve compliance with Saudi employment regulations among businesses that employ foreign workers.
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that Saudi Arabia had introduced a 90-day work permit for foreigners looking for jobs.
Saudi Arabia changes work permit rules
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Saudi Arabia had changed its work permit rules.
Under the revised framework, businesses that have been running for less than two years are restricted to a maximum of five work visas.
Companies that have crossed the two-year mark can access up to 50 visas, applied for either through a single submission or multiple applications filed within the same week.
Source: Legit.ng
