The owner of a small Saudi establishment renews an expat employee's work permit on 1 November 2026 for a full year. Since 2020 that renewal has cost SAR 100. This time the fee review page on Qiwa shows roughly SAR 7,540 for the same worker. The headcount has not changed and neither has the Nitaqat band. What changed is that the new permit runs past 21 January 2027, the date on which the small-establishment exemption from the expat levy (المقابل المالي) ends.
Most of what has been written on this repeats two sentences: the exemption is ending, and every expat will cost you SAR 9,600 a year. The first is correct. The second is not accurate, and the gap is visible in the ministry's own document. This article prices the change the way the published rules do, and separates what is settled from what no published text covers.
What exactly is ending
The levy is a monthly charge for each expat worker employed under the establishment's unified number, paid when a work permit is issued or renewed. It is separate from the permit fee itself, which is SAR 100 per expat per year and is due inside the exemption and outside it.
The exemption started with Council of Ministers Decision 515 of 14/8/1441H for three years. It was extended by one year in January 2023, then by three years with the Council's approval on 20 February 2024, according to the ministry's news release. Three years, then one, then three, from 14 Sha'ban 1441 to 14 Sha'ban 1448, which is 21 January 2027. Qiwa's customer care account confirmed that date on 12 May 2026, and in July Qiwa added a notice about it inside the permit issuance and renewal service, as reported by Okaz.
As of 13 October 2026 we found no official announcement of a further extension. The two earlier extensions were announced close to the end of the period. That is not a promise of a third.
Who is inside the exemption today
According to the ministry's release on the 2024 decision and Qiwa's clarification in May 2026, the conditions are:
- Nine workers or fewer in total under the unified number, Saudi and non-Saudi, owner included.
- One owner, working full time in the establishment and registered on it with GOSI as the owner.
- Establishments with more than one owner or partner are not covered.
- The owner is not treated as full time if another unified number exists in their name.
| Situation | Expats exempted |
|---|---|
| Full-time owner registered with GOSI | 2 |
| Full-time owner plus at least one full-time Saudi employee registered with GOSI | 4 (the maximum) |
So the exemption is a number of seats, not a status of the establishment. An establishment with six expats and a full-time owner already pays the levy on four of them today.
The rates, and where the 9,600 figure goes wrong
The ministry's document "Working rules for calculating the levy" publishes two tiers, in force since 1 January 2020:
| Tier | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Expat who does not exceed the Saudi count | SAR 700 | SAR 8,400 |
| Expat who exceeds the Saudi count | SAR 800 | SAR 9,600 |
The instalment guide issued under Council of Ministers Decision 325 says collection starts with the units "exceeding the number of Saudi workers", then the units "equal to the numbers of Saudi workers". Both tiers therefore apply inside the same establishment: expats up to the Saudi count pay 700, those beyond it pay 800.
The same working rules count a "full-time Saudi owner" as one Saudi in this comparison, and define the Saudi count as the average number with GOSI contributions paid over 26 weeks at the level of the unified number. It is not today's headcount.
Applied to the two exemption cases, for a full year after it ends:
| Establishment | Calculation | Annual levy | With permit fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time owner plus 2 expats | 1 × 8,400 + 1 × 9,600 | SAR 18,000 | SAR 18,200 |
| Full-time owner plus 1 Saudi plus 4 expats | 2 × 8,400 + 2 × 9,600 | SAR 36,000 | SAR 36,400 |
The figure in circulation for the second case is SAR 38,400, which is 9,600 multiplied by four. The difference is SAR 2,400 a year: the tier gap on the two expats matched by the owner and the Saudi employee.
This is our arithmetic on the published rules, not a reading of your file. Qiwa holds the actual GOSI average and what is registered under the unified number, and the amount on its fee review page is the reference.
Why renewing before 21 January does not protect you
This is the point that costs the most. Qiwa's clarification is explicit: fees are charged for the period falling after the exemption ends, "at a daily calculation rate". A permit issued inside the exemption that runs past it is not exempt for the extra period.
The ministry's rules compute the levy "on a daily basis, with the month counted as 30 days". On that basis, and treating 21 January as the last exempt day:
| Renewal date, one year | Exempt days | Charged days | 700 tier | 800 tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 August 2026 | 171 | 189 | SAR 4,410 | SAR 5,040 |
| 1 November 2026 | 81 | 279 | SAR 6,510 | SAR 7,440 |
| 15 January 2027 | 7 | 353 | SAR 8,237 | SAR 9,413 |
Add the SAR 100 permit fee to each amount. The figures are approximate to within a day or two, because the published wording does not say whether 21 January itself is charged.
In practice there is no clever renewal date that locks in the exemption. Every day after 21 January is paid for, whenever the permit was issued.
Quarterly renewal: it defers cash, it does not lower the bill
Council of Ministers Decision 325 of 13/6/1442H allows the work permit and the levy to be split into periods of at least three months. Domestic workers and those treated as such are excluded.
| Permit period | Permit fee | 700 tier | 800 tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | SAR 25 | SAR 2,100 | SAR 2,400 |
| 6 months | SAR 50 | SAR 4,200 | SAR 4,800 |
| 9 months | SAR 75 | SAR 6,300 | SAR 7,200 |
| 12 months | SAR 100 | SAR 8,400 | SAR 9,600 |
A tip circulating on social media says: renew for nine months instead of a year. A shorter renewal does not change the daily rate. It changes two things: how much cash you pay up front, and how much you have already paid for days after 21 January if an extension is announced later. We found no published text saying amounts paid in advance are refunded in that case, so do not plan on a refund, and do not plan on an extension.
Watch the arrears. The same guide states three things: where a worker has overdue permits, all arrears must be settled when a permit is issued or renewed; fees for previous years are computed at the levy rate due now; and "amounts due on overdue work permits are not split". A permit left expired after January to postpone the charge comes back as one full invoice with no instalments.
Does hiring a Saudi lower the invoice
It lowers it by SAR 1,200 a year for each expat who moves from the 800 tier to the 700 tier. The effect is not immediate, because the comparison runs on a 26-week average of GOSI data. A Saudi registered in November is not fully in the average before May.
A salary is not justified by a SAR 1,200 saving. What justifies it is the band, the visas and the services a red band suspends, which is a different calculation, covered in why your Nitaqat band turned red. Anyone offering to "zero the levy" by registering a Saudi on paper is offering a violation with its own fine, as set out in phantom Saudization.
What to do before January
- List every work permit expiry date. For each permit, count the days falling after 21 January 2027 from its expected renewal date. That is the real budget line, not 9,600 multiplied by the number of expats.
- Know the Saudi count GOSI sees. The free Nitaqat calculator works out your Saudization rate, your band and the hires needed from your headcount. The same count, averaged over 26 weeks, is what splits your expats between 700 and 800.
- Open the fee review page on Qiwa before completing any renewal. It shows the levy, any overdue fees and the total per worker. Compare it with your own figure. A difference is a question for Qiwa before payment, not after.
- Choose the renewal period on purpose. Quarterly if cash is the constraint, annual if the number of transactions is. The daily amount is the same.
- Reprice your contracts. After 21 January 2027 each previously exempt expat adds SAR 700 to 800 a month to your cost. An annual contract signed today at 2026 prices carries that increase for about nine months of its term.
- Do not go past nine workers without doing the sums if you hold exempt seats until January. The tenth worker takes you out of the conditions.
For teams building an HR or payroll system, the levy engine tutorial implements the daily calculation on the 30-day month and the split of a permit at 21 January in TypeScript.
What we do not assert
- Whether 21 January 2027 itself counts as exempt or charged. The published wording says the exemption "ends on" that date.
- Whether a fourth extension will be issued.
- How Qiwa treats the owner in the tier comparison today. The document that counts the owner as one Saudi is version 2.0, dated December 2017.
- Licensed industrial establishments fall under a separate decision, outside this article.
Summary
The small-establishment exemption from the expat levy ends on 21 January 2027, and the charge is computed per day for any period after it, whatever the renewal date. The real cost is not always SAR 9,600 per expat: expats up to the Saudi count, with the full-time owner counted among the Saudis under the ministry's rules, are charged at 8,400. The decisions in your hands now are the renewal period and the pricing of your 2027 contracts, not the renewal date.
Want one number for your 2027 cost before you renew? Send us your list of work permits with their expiry dates and the number of Saudis registered with GOSI, and we will send back a table with the expected amount per permit and what changes between quarterly and annual renewal. A free diagnostic, no commitment, through the contact page.
Sources: Working rules for calculating the levy and the instalment guide, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development · Ministry release on the three-year extension, 20 February 2024 · Qiwa's clarification on the end of the exemption, Ajel, 12 May 2026 · Qiwa's notice inside the renewal service, Okaz, 27 July 2026