Nitaqat and the offer in front of you: can this company issue your visa
The establishment’s Nitaqat colour decides whether it can recruit or renew. Ask before you resign from the job you have. Do not pay anyone to improve the colour of a company that is not yours.
Nitaqat classifies the establishment by its Saudisation ratio. It is not a certificate about you. How the colours are calculated, and what each band means, is in the guide to what Nitaqat is. This page is one question before you leave a wage you already have: can this establishment, now, issue a visa or renew an iqama for your profession?
Why the colour matters before you are even hired
Article 32 forbids recruiting for work without the ministry’s approval. Article 33 ties the work to a permit. An establishment in a low green or red band has its services restricted: it may not be granted new visas, and renewal may stall. An establishment in platinum or high green has room the first one does not. A spoken offer does not change the colour of the register.
Ask for the establishment’s name as it is on the commercial register, not only the shop name, and ask for something that shows a visa for this profession is available. “After you arrive we will fix the band” is a promise that does not print a visa at the airport. If you are already sponsored, do not resign and do not end your contract before you see a transfer request accepted on Qiwa. The order of a transfer is in the renewal and transfer guide.
What you do not pay
Improving an establishment’s band is its owners’ job, by employing Saudis. It is not a fee an expatriate pays. Someone who asks for money to “raise the band” or to “lift the visa block” is charging for a service he does not have. That is the same fraud pattern as in the guide to fake offers. The lawful steps from a real offer to the iqama are in the guide to working in Saudi Arabia.
The ratios and the colours are updated by decision, and they appear to the establishment inside Qiwa. Do not memorise a table from a forum. Ask the ministry on 19911, or look at what the Qiwa service actually allows the employer, before you build a journey on a colour a broker named.
Questions that close an offer or confirm it
- What is the name on the commercial register, and is it the name in the message?
- Is the visa a work visa for this profession, or a promise to convert a visit?
- Is the profession one an establishment in this band can recruit for now? Some professions are restricted by decision, and the list is at the ministry, not at the agency.
- Will renewal after a year be possible on the same band, or does the current colour barely allow one entry?
- Who pays the visa and iqama fees? If the answer is “you”, stop. Article 40.
There is no code you buy in order to see an establishment’s colour from someone else’s account. The employer sees their band on Qiwa. You can ask the ministry on 19911 whether recruitment is possible for an employer you can name. You do not send passport photos first. If they will not name the establishment, there is no establishment to ask about. The steps after an offer checks out are in the guide to working in Saudi Arabia.
A good colour does not repair a bad contract. A platinum establishment that registers a wage lower than you were told, or a profession unlike your work, will issue a visa and then constrain you. Read the Qiwa contract when it arrives. Do not stop at the colour.
Sources
Rules and fees change and differ by country and employer. Always check with the official authorities before paying or signing anything.