Saudi Work Visa from Pakistan 2026: Steps, Fees in PKR, Age Limit and Documents

Last updated: 24 October 2026

A Saudi work visa from Pakistan is always requested by the employer in Saudi Arabia, not by you. Your part is to pass the Wafid medical, take the Takamol skill test if your trade needs it, give fingerprints at a Tasheer (Etimad) centre, and register with the Bureau of Emigration for the Protector stamp. Your own official fees come to about PKR 13,500 to 51,000 plus the clinic fee for the medical; the visa, work permit and iqama fees are the employer’s cost under Saudi law.

Many Pakistani workers in Saudi Arabia tell the same story: they paid lakhs to an agent for a “visa”, then found out that the employer had already paid for it, that the job title on the visa was different, or that the visa did not exist. This guide to the Saudi work visa from Pakistan shows the official process step by step, which fees are real, who pays what, and how to check every stage yourself. All rupee amounts use SAR 1 = about PKR 74 and USD 1 = about PKR 280; check today’s rate with our SAR to PKR converter.

Saudi Work Visa from Pakistan at a Glance

How the Saudi Work Visa from Pakistan Works: 8 Steps

1. Get a real job offer. The offer comes from a Saudi company directly or through an Overseas Employment Promoter (OEP) licensed by Pakistan’s Bureau of Emigration. Read the job title, salary, working hours, food and housing allowance and contract length before you sign. Our Saudi salary guide shows what each job usually pays.
2. The employer issues the work visa. Companies issue it on Qiwa, the labour platform of the Ministry of Human Resources. Home jobs such as house driver or housemaid go through Musaned. You receive the visa number, and your OEP or the Tasheer centre links it to your passport (the “E-number” in Pakistan).
3. Check the visa yourself. Before you pay anyone, check the visa with your passport number. Our step-by-step Saudi visa check by passport number covers both official sites.
4. Pass the Wafid medical. Book on wafid.com, then take the tests at the centre you are given. See the full Wafid medical guide for tests and results.
5. Take the Takamol skill test if your trade needs it. Electricians, plumbers, welders, mechanics, drivers and many other trades must pass this test in Pakistan before the visa can be stamped.
6. Give fingerprints at Tasheer. Your passport, E-number and medical report are submitted at a Tasheer (Etimad) visa centre, where you also give fingerprints. Our Tasheer appointment guide lists all six centres in Pakistan.
7. Receive the e-visa. Since 24 July 2023, Saudi Arabia no longer pastes a visa sticker in Pakistani passports for work visas. You get a printed e-visa with a QR code instead.
8. Register with the Protector and fly. The Bureau of Emigration registers you, gives you a Protector sticker and life insurance, and only then can you board. In Saudi Arabia, the employer must issue your iqama within the 90-day validity of the work visa.

Saudi Work Visa from Pakistan: Fees You Pay and What the Employer Pays

This is where most Pakistani workers lose money. Article 40 of the Saudi Labour Law says the employer bears the recruitment fees for non-Saudi workers, the fees for issuing and renewing the iqama and work permit, the fines caused by its delay, profession change fees, exit re-entry visa fees and the worker’s return ticket at the end of the contract. So the Saudi visa fee, the work permit (Maktab Amal fee) and the iqama are not your costs.

Typical official total for a worker: about PKR 26,500 through an OEP (PKR 13,500 if you go direct) for a job that needs no skill test, and about PKR 50,500 through an OEP (PKR 37,500 direct) for a trade that needs the Takamol test. Add the clinic fee for the medical and your travel to the test and visa centres. The flight to Saudi Arabia is usually paid by the employer, but check that it is written in your contract.

Protector fee breakdown (Bureau of Emigration)

Source: the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment emigrant fee structure. The Bureau allows a lower OEP charge of PKR 6,000 for some processing cases. If an agent asks for several lakh rupees for the “visa”, that money is not an official fee. Ask for a written receipt for everything and pay only into the company’s bank account.

Takamol Skill Verification Test (SVP) for Pakistani Workers

The Skill Verification Program is run by Takamol in Saudi Arabia and delivered in Pakistan through NAVTTC. According to the NAVTTC Takamol page, the test is mandatory only for candidates going to Saudi Arabia in occupations notified by Takamol, so many applicants for a Saudi work visa from Pakistan in a skilled trade must pass it. 108 trades can be tested, in groups such as automotive, mechanical, civil and construction, driving, electrical and hospitality.

• Fee: USD 85 per test (about PKR 23,500 to 24,500), effective from 9 September 2026, paid online.
• Documents: only a valid Pakistani passport and CNIC.
• How to book: register on the Takamol SVP portal, choose your city, trade and date, pay, download the appointment slip and go to the centre the system gives you.
• Centres: NAVTTC lists 62 approved test centres, 44 of them active, in cities including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Peshawar.
• Result: uploaded to the SVP portal within 24 hours of a pass. If you fail, you can book again.

NAVTTC also warns that Takamol only assesses skills; it is not a training provider or a job provider. In September 2026 the Bureau of Emigration added that trade test centres cannot advertise jobs or visas. If a test centre says it has visas available, treat it as a fraud warning. Put your SVP certificate on your CV; our Saudi CV format shows where it goes.

Wafid (GAMCA) Medical for a Saudi Work Visa

Every Saudi work visa from Pakistan needs a medical report from a centre approved by the Gulf Health Council. In Pakistan this is still widely called the GAMCA medical, but booking is now only on wafid.com. The standard booking is USD 10 and the centre is assigned for you; the premium booking at USD 25 lets you choose the centre and date. The tests themselves are paid at the clinic.

• The report is valid for 2 months from its issue date, so do not take the medical too early.
• Hepatitis B or C, HIV, active or past tuberculosis on the X-ray and some chronic conditions make you unfit, and an unfit result stops the work visa.
• “Tokens” sold by agents in Pakistan are not official. Book on wafid.com yourself and keep the slip.

Tasheer (Etimad) Biometrics and Documents

Tasheer runs the official Saudi visa centres in Pakistan, which many people still call Etimad: Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta. For a Saudi work visa from Pakistan, the official Tasheer documents list for Pakistan asks for:

• Original passport with at least 6 months of validity and 2 blank pages, plus a copy.
• A copy of the E-number.
• Your original CNIC.
• The Wafid medical report (Tasheer lists it as required for work visas).

The Tasheer fee table for a single-entry, 90-day work visa shows only the service fee of PKR 1,320 plus PKR 198 tax, because the visa fee is paid by the employer. Applicants aged 6 to 80 give fingerprints in person. Many OEPs submit for their workers in groups, but you still have to attend for fingerprints.

Protector Stamp: Registering with the Bureau of Emigration

Pakistani law requires every worker going abroad for a job to register with the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment before departure. There are two ways:

• Through a licensed OEP: the promoter files your case with the Protector of Emigrants office in its region. Total official fees PKR 22,200.
• Direct employment: if you found the job yourself and the employer sent the visa directly, you register as a direct emigrant. Total fees PKR 9,200. Since September 2023 direct-visa holders can use the e-Protector system and receive an electronic Protector certificate by email.

The usual documents are your visa, passport, CNIC, the signed employment contract and the fee receipts. After a short briefing, you get a registration number and a Protector sticker in your passport. The insurance included in the fee covers PKR 1 million for 5 years, and the OPF fee gives your family access to OPF welfare services.

Saudi Work Visa Age Limit

There is no single published maximum age for a Saudi work visa from Pakistan or any other country. What does exist:

• Minimum 21 for house workers: the Saudi domestic worker regulations issued in October 2023 do not allow employers to hire a house worker under 21, as reported by ARY News and Gulf News.
• Age counts in the skill tier: since July 2025 the Ministry of Human Resources places new work permits in three tiers (high-skilled, skilled and basic) using points for education, experience, salary and age. Older workers can still qualify on their other points.
• Pakistan’s own rules: Pakistan sets separate minimum ages for women going abroad as domestic workers. Ask the Protector office for the current age before you apply.

Beyond these rules, each employer sets its own age range in the job advert, especially for drivers and physically demanding trades. Check the age in the advert and ask the licensed agent before you pay anything.

Saudi Work Visa for Pakistani Women and Domestic Workers

House drivers, housemaids, cooks and private nurses for families are recruited through Musaned, the Saudi domestic labour platform, and through a licensed recruitment office. The Saudi employer selects the profession and nationality, pays the recruitment office and issues the visa. These workers get a separate domestic worker contract, and since 2026 their salaries are moving to bank transfer; see our guide to domestic worker salary transfer.

Women going for office, hospital, school or retail jobs go through the same company route as men. Our guide to jobs in Saudi Arabia for females covers which sectors hire and which jobs are reserved for Saudis.

How to Check That a Saudi Work Visa from Pakistan Is Genuine

1. Get the visa number and check it on visa.mofa.gov.sa or ksavisa.sa. The name, passport number, visa type and the sponsor must be correct.
2. Check that the agent is on the Bureau of Emigration list of licensed OEPs. Travel agents can sell tickets but cannot arrange jobs or work visas.
3. Do not believe offers of an “Azad” or free visa. The Bureau of Emigration says no such legal visa exists; every Saudi work visa is tied to one employer.
4. Compare the job title on the visa with the job you were promised. A different title can mean a different salary and a different iqama profession.
5. Report fraud to the FIA helpline 1991.

Ordinary Pakistani passports still need a visa: the 2026 Saudi-Pakistan visa exemption covers only diplomatic and official passports.

After You Land: Border Number, Iqama and Probation

• Border number: Jawazat gives you a border number on entry. You need it until the iqama is issued; find it with our border number check.
• Iqama: the employer issues and pays for your iqama within the 90 days of the work visa. Our complete iqama guide explains checks and renewal, and the iqama fees calculator shows what your employer pays each year.
• Probation: a probation period applies only if it is written in your contract, and it can be at most 180 days. Read our probation period guide before you resign or if the employer ends the contract early.
• Salary: the salary must be paid into a Saudi bank account under the wage protection system. If it is late, see what to do about salary delay in Saudi Arabia.

Common Mistakes with a Saudi Work Visa from Pakistan

• Paying an agent before the visa number exists and can be checked.
• Taking the Wafid medical months before the Tasheer date, then paying for a second medical because the first one expired after 2 months.
• Accepting a visa with a different job title, such as “labourer” for an electrician, which later blocks a profession change.
• Flying without the Protector stamp and being offloaded at the airport.
• Coming on a visit visa in the hope of turning it into a work visa. A visit visa cannot be converted; the employer must issue a new work visa from outside the Kingdom.

Once you are settled, our guide to the Pakistan Consulate in Jeddah covers passport renewal and NADRA services, and the end of service calculator shows what you earn for each year of work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (Labour Law Article 40, skill-based work permits); NAVTTC Takamol SVP page; Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment fee structure and advisories; Wafid (Gulf Health Council) booking page and regulations 2026; Tasheer Pakistan fees and documents; Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa platform. Fees as published in October 2026.