Moving to Saudi Arabia: A First-Steps Guide for Expats

Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Gulf and is in the middle of a transformation programme that has changed the country visibly and quickly. Cinemas reopened. Women drive. Entertainment, concerts and mixed-gender public spaces exist in a way they did not a decade ago. Tourism visas were introduced. Enormous construction and development projects are underway.

For foreign professionals this has meant a considerable increase in opportunity, particularly in construction, engineering, healthcare, education, technology, consulting, finance and the entertainment and tourism sectors being built from scratch.

It also remains a conservative country whose laws and social norms differ substantially from Western ones, and an honest guide has to hold both of those together without pretending either away.

The iqama and premium residency

The traditional model is employer sponsorship. Your employer arranges your work visa, and after arrival you receive the iqama - the residence permit - which is required for banking, healthcare, domestic travel, and essentially every transaction. It is renewed periodically and is tied to your sponsored employment.

Labour reforms in recent years improved worker mobility, easing the previous requirement for employer consent to change jobs or exit the country in defined circumstances. This is a meaningful improvement on the older arrangement, though the sponsored structure remains.

The more significant development is premium residency, a category allowing qualifying foreign nationals to live and work without an employer sponsor, in several tiers - including permanent and renewable options - aimed at investors, entrepreneurs, specialised talent and property owners, with different criteria and costs for each. For someone considering a long-term future in the country, this changes the calculation substantially, because it removes the dependency that defines Gulf residence elsewhere.

Family sponsorship is available subject to conditions including salary thresholds and profession categories, and fees apply for dependants, which have changed over time and should be checked. The Saudi Arabia visa section covers the current picture, and the general sponsorship dynamic is in how employer visa sponsorship works.

Arriving

Your employer arranges the work visa, and after arrival you complete a medical examination, give biometrics and receive your iqama. The employer’s administrative capability matters a great deal here, and the difference between a well-organised multinational and a poorly organised local employer is substantial in your first months.

Then a bank account, requiring the iqama, and registration for the government digital services platforms - Saudi Arabia’s e-government has developed quickly and a great deal now runs through national apps, from residence services to healthcare appointments.

Your passport should remain in your possession; retention of passports by employers is contrary to the rules, and if it happens it is worth knowing that.

Money

There is no personal income tax on salaries. VAT applies to goods and services, and various fees have applied to expatriate workers and dependants - these have changed more than once, so verify the current position, as they can materially affect a family’s net position.

The Gulf financial principles apply in full. Your home country obligations do not automatically end when you leave - handle ceasing residence properly, per what to sort before you leave and tax residency explained. There is no state pension accruing, so provision is your own. End of service gratuity is a real and significant part of compensation based on length of service, and worth understanding in your contract.

And the same warning as elsewhere in the region: be extremely cautious with financial advisers who approach expatriate professionals, and verify regulation yourself. The general discipline is in managing money as an expat.

Structure is in the Saudi Arabia tax section.

Healthcare

Health insurance is mandatory for residents and provided by employers. Standards in the major private hospitals in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province are high, and the healthcare sector is one of the areas of substantial investment and foreign recruitment.

As always in the Gulf, examine the plan rather than the fact of coverage - network, limits, dependants, maternity waiting periods. It is one of the most valuable and least-scrutinised parts of a package.

Details in the Saudi Arabia healthcare section, and the general logic in health insurance for new arrivals.

Housing, cost and the cities

Packages frequently include accommodation or a housing allowance, and for a long time compound living was the norm for Western expatriates - self-contained developments with different internal social rules. That remains common, though more people now live in ordinary residential buildings as the social environment has changed.

Rent is typically paid in a small number of instalments, which is a large upfront outlay if it is not covered by your employer. International school fees for a family are very substantial and are the other major cost.

Riyadh is the capital and the centre of government, finance and the transformation projects, inland and very hot. Jeddah on the Red Sea is more relaxed in feel, historically more cosmopolitan, and humid. The Eastern Province around Dhahran and Khobar is the oil industry centre and is close to Bahrain, which is a common weekend destination.

Fuel and cars are cheap; imported goods are priced accordingly. Summer heat inland is extreme.

Law, culture and the honest part

This is where clear information matters most, because the consequences of misunderstanding are serious.

Saudi Arabia applies laws grounded in its own legal tradition, and while social rules have loosened considerably in the major cities, they remain different from Western norms. Alcohol is prohibited. Drug offences carry extremely severe penalties. Rules around relationships, public conduct, religious practice and expression are not the same as those you are used to, and social media content is within scope.

Prayer times punctuate the day, with businesses traditionally closing for them, though practice has relaxed in some sectors. Ramadan substantially changes working hours and daily norms.

Dress codes have relaxed - the requirement for foreign women to wear an abaya was eased - while modest dress remains expected for everyone.

None of this is a reason not to go, and a great many foreign professionals have long and rewarding careers here. It is a reason to research current, specific rules from official sources rather than relying on either outdated stereotypes or overly rosy recruitment material, and to understand what you are agreeing to. The general readiness principle is in staying safe and handling emergencies abroad.

What catches people out

Relying on information about the country from a decade ago, in either direction. Not examining the health plan and the fee structure for dependants. Underestimating school costs. And assuming that because the country has changed, it has become somewhere with Western legal norms - it has changed a great deal and it has not become that.

For the regional comparison, moving to the UAE is the more socially liberal and internationally established option, and moving to Qatar is the smaller, more concentrated alternative.

Regional detail, current permit and fee information and cost breakdowns are in the Saudi Arabia country guide and the cost of living section. Because so much has changed recently, the general forum is a useful check on how current any published description actually is.