Muqeem Portal Explained for Expats & Employers

If you're an expat living in Saudi Arabia, chances are your residency (Iqama) and travel permissions are managed through a platform you never actually log into yourself: Muqeem. Understanding how it works helps you know what your employer is doing behind the scenes, what fees are involved, and why your status appears the way it does in Absher. This guide from سعودي ليفنج explains the Muqeem portal clearly for both employers and the workers whose lives it affects.

What Muqeem Actually Is

Muqeem is a business portal used by Saudi employers to manage the residency and visa affairs of their sponsored expat workers. It is not a service that individual expats use directly. Instead, your employer's HR or government-relations team accesses Muqeem using establishment credentials to handle your paperwork.

The individual expat sees the results of these actions reflected in Absher, the government's personal services platform, while labour and HR functions connect through platforms such as قوى and other ministry systems.

Core Functions for Employers

Through Muqeem, an employer can carry out most residency-related tasks for their staff:

• Issue, renew, and cancel the Iqama for sponsored workers.
• Print replacement Iqama cards and report lost Iqamas.
• Issue and extend exit/re-entry visas, both single and multiple.
• Update worker data such as passport number, occupation, employer, and branch.
• View residency and visa validity along with compliance status.

How Access and Payments Work

Employers log in to the dedicated Muqeem business portal using their establishment credentials. Any government fees triggered through a Muqeem transaction are paid via سداد (SADAD) from the sponsor's bank account. Because Muqeem is integrated with other government systems, once a payment clears and a transaction is processed, the updated status is reflected in Absher for the individual and in the relevant labour platforms.

Iqama Issuance and Renewal Fees

Fees are set by the government and paid by the employer (or, for dependents, sometimes shared depending on company policy). Typical 2026 figures for private-sector workers include:

• Iqama card (worker, annual): SAR 650 paid by the employer.
• Service/processing fee per transaction: approximately SAR 51.75.
• Dependent Iqama (spouse/child): commonly SAR 500
• Dependent levy: SAR 400 per dependent per month (about SAR 4,800 per year), posted as a separate government levy that must be paid via سداد before renewal can proceed.
• Domestic workers: a lower annual government Iqama fee, around SAR 600 under their sponsors.

For many private-sector expats, an expat levy of around SAR 400 per month (about SAR 4,800 per year) also applies. Muqeem renewal screens display these levies alongside the Iqama fee, so employers see the full amount due before confirming.

Exit/Re-entry Visa Fees

If you plan to travel abroad and return to the Kingdom, your employer issues an exit/re-entry visa through Muqeem. The standard schedule still in force in 2026 is:

• Single exit/re-entry visa: SAR 200 for up to 2 months, plus SAR 100 for each additional month beyond the first 2 months, up to your Iqama expiry.
• Multiple exit/re-entry visa: SAR 500 for up to 3 months, plus SAR 200 for each additional month beyond that.

Always confirm your visa is issued and valid before booking travel, and check that its validity does not extend past your Iqama expiry date.

Practical Tips for Expats and Employers

• Expats: monitor your Iqama and exit/re-entry status directly in Absher, since Muqeem updates flow through to it. If something looks wrong, raise it with your employer's HR team.
• Employers: keep worker passport and occupation data accurate in Muqeem to avoid rejected transactions.
• Clear any outstanding levies via سداد early, as renewals will not process until dues are settled.
• Plan visa issuance ahead of travel to allow processing time.

Because fees and rules can change, always confirm current figures and requirements on the relevant official Saudi government portal before making a payment or booking travel.

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