If you are a foreign national working in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, then your sponsor or owner is called Kafeel. He is responsible for providing you with Iqama and working legally in the country. But what happens if you get a job promotion or want to change your profession for any other reason?
You must change your registered Kafeel’s name on your Iqama in such cases. The process of doing this is called Naqal Kafala in Arabic. We are here to explain this procedure in simple steps below to make it easy for you to change your Kafeel name when needed, without any difficulty.
Who can legally change their Kafeel name?
Before we start the guide about changing your Kafeel name, it is essential to know whether you can legally do this or not under the Saudi government’s terms and conditions. Every foreign worker, including one that is not provided Iqama by their Kafeel within three months of employment, is allowed to change their Kafeel’s name except in the following cases:
- If you are working in a company with either yellow or red Nitaqat status, you will have difficulty applying for Kafeel transfer process.
- If your current passport has passed its date of expiry
- If you are in the country on an exit re-entry or final exit visa
- If your Iqama is under Huroob status
Requirements for changing Kafeel name in Saudi Arabia:
The first and foremost requirement for changing Kafeel’s name in Saudi Arabia is to obtain your current and new Kafeel’s consent. However, there are few cases where no permission is required, such as:
- Your Kafeel doesn’t pay your salary on time
- Your Kafeel has yellow or red Iqama colour status
- Your Kafeel fails to provide you Iqama within three months of your employment
- Your Kafeel does not renew your Iqama
Once you have received the consent of both Kafeels, you need to ask them to pay your transfer charges. Kafeel transfer charges are SR 2000 for the first, SR 4000 for the second and SR 6000 for the third time. The first two times your Kafeel is required to pay the whole amount, but the expatriate is expected to pay half the amount for the third time.
How to change your Kafeel name on Iqama?
- As soon as your Iqama notice period is about to end, you need to ask your current Kafeel to request transferring your sponsorship to another person through the Saudi Ministry of Labour record. Once this request has been approved and delivered, ask your new Kafeel to accept the request using the Ministry of Labour’s records.
- This process can take almost one month to be completed. As soon as your new Kafeel accepts the request, you need to pay the Iqama transfer charges by visiting your nearest Jawazat office. Finally, your Kafeel name has officially been changed under the ministry of labour database, and you can confirm this by asking for a copy of your new Iqama from any Jawazat office!
Conclusion:
With that being said, we would like to end our comprehensive article about the process of Naqal Kafala, i.e., changing your Kafeel name and sponsorship in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We hope this helps you clear any doubts about this process and get your transfer done without any inconvenience.