What a change of profession is
A change of profession (تغيير المهنة), also searched for as a profession change, is defined in the Implementing Regulation (اللائحة التنفيذية) of the Saudi Labor Law (نظام العمل). Article 14 of the Implementing Regulation defines it as licensing a worker who is not a Saudi national to practise work in a profession other than the one they are licensed to practise.
Two things follow from that definition. The procedure concerns workers who are not Saudi nationals and no one else, so it has no application to a Saudi employee whose role changes. And its subject is the profession recorded on the work permit (رخصة العمل), not the job title an organisation gives the role on its organisational chart.
Why a change of profession is a statutory procedure, not a change of title
Article 38 of the Labor Law places a prohibition on each of the two parties:
- The employer’s prohibition. It bars employing the worker in a profession other than the one recorded on their work permit.
- The worker’s prohibition. It bars work outside the worker’s profession before the statutory procedures for changing the profession have been taken.
The worker’s limb carries a time qualifier, and the qualifier matters: the bar lifts once the change has been processed. Article 41 of the Labor Law then leaves the conditions, controls and procedures for a change of profession to the Implementing Regulation. So the conditions themselves sit in the regulation.
It follows that working in another profession before the procedure is complete is not an internal arrangement between employer and worker. Because Article 38 of the Labor Law binds both of them, the work remains a breach even where the two parties have agreed to it.
The conditions for a change of profession in the Implementing Regulation
Article 14 of the Implementing Regulation sets four conditions for a change of profession:
- A valid licence and an active business. The employer for whom the worker works holds a valid licence to practise its activity, or a valid commercial registration recorded with the labour office, and the activity is actually being carried on.
- A named target profession. The name of the profession the worker is moving to is specified according to the Saudi Occupational Classification and Description Guide (دليل التصنيف والتوصيف المهني السعودي).
- Qualifications for the new profession. The worker holds the academic and practical qualifications that support their competence in the profession, attested by the competent authorities in their country and by the Saudi embassy where the qualifications were issued outside the Kingdom.
- The required Saudization ratio. The establishment meets the localisation ratio required under the Nitaqat programme (برنامج تحفيز المنشآت لتوطين الوظائف).
The regulation exempts two cases from the qualifications condition, and from that condition alone. The first is a change to a profession the worker has reached by progression within the field of the profession they already practise. The second is a change to a profession whose practice requires no academic, training or practical qualification. In either case the other three conditions still apply: the employer still needs its valid licence, the target profession must still be named according to the guide, and the establishment must still meet its required ratio.
Where the target profession requires a prior licence, an approval or a certificate permitting its practice under the rules of another official body, the approval of that body must also be obtained. The regulation gives the Saudi Council of Engineers (الهيئة السعودية للمهندسين) and the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (الهيئة السعودية للتخصصات الصحية) as examples. They are examples rather than a closed list, so a profession regulated by another body can carry the same requirement.
The bars on a change of profession that meeting the conditions does not lift
Alongside the four conditions, Article 14 of the Implementing Regulation sets two prohibitions:
- Professions restricted to Saudis. A profession may not be changed to one that is restricted to Saudi nationals.
- Professions covered by instructions. A profession may not be changed where instructions have been issued that bar its change.
The difference between the conditions and the prohibitions is one of kind. A condition can be met. A prohibition stays in place however fully the conditions are met. The second prohibition points at instructions issued outside the regulation, and the regulation itself contains no list of the professions it covers. The current list of professions restricted to Saudis is likewise set by ministerial decisions outside the Labor Law and the Implementing Regulation; the profession Saudization decrees are covered in our guide to profession Saudization decrees and how they differ from Nitaqat.
The application is submitted through the platform approved by the Ministry, which is how the Implementing Regulation names the channel.
How the Nitaqat band governs access to a change of profession
The Saudization ratio condition above has a second effect. The classification of the entity in Nitaqat governs, among other services, the change of profession for expatriate workers and the transfer of their services, as well as the ceiling on issuing work visas. Under the Nitaqat programme guide, the change of profession to available professions is open to establishments in the Platinum, High Green and Medium Green bands. In Low Green, requests to change the professions of expatriate workers to available professions stop being accepted, and in Red a change of profession is not permitted. The services each band carries are set out in our guide to what depends on an establishment’s Nitaqat band classification.
Behind this sits Saudization policy: localisation is the goal, and Nitaqat is the measure to which services and restrictions are tied.
Who bears the fee for a change of profession
Paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Labor Law places the fees for a change of profession on the employer. It lists them with the other charges the employer bears for a worker who is not a Saudi national: the recruitment fees, the fees for the residence permit and the work permit and for their renewal, the fines for delay in these that the employer causes, the fees for exit and return, and the worker’s ticket home once the relationship between the parties has ended. Royal Decree M/44 of 1446H, in force since 19 February 2025, amended paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Labor Law by adding the qualifier that limits the fines to those the employer causes. That decree did not amend Articles 38 and 41 of the Labor Law.
Paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Labor Law settles who pays, but it fixes no amount, and we found no amount for the fee in the Implementing Regulation either.
The fee for a change of profession is distinct from the fee for a transfer of services. Paragraph 3 of Article 40 of the Labor Law places the transfer fees on the employer who wishes to have the worker’s services transferred to it, that is, on the receiving establishment rather than the current one. The two charges fall on different parties, so a statement that the employer pays all the fees merges two different charges. The receiving side of a transfer is covered in our guide to transferring expatriate worker services.
The fines linked to a change of profession
The Schedule of Violations and Penalties for the Labor Law and its Implementing Regulation, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 112377 of 21/8/1447H (9 February 2026), carries two rows on this subject. Its fine columns follow the number of workers at the establishment: 20 or fewer, 21 to 49, and 50 or more.
- Letting a worker who is not a Saudi national work in a profession other than the one recorded on their work permit. The Schedule classes it as not grave, with a fine of SAR 3,000, SAR 5,000 and SAR 10,000 across the three columns, per worker.
- Employing workers who are not Saudi nationals in professions or activities restricted to Saudis. The Schedule classes it as grave, with the same figures, SAR 3,000, SAR 5,000 and SAR 10,000, in the same order, per worker.
How a change of profession differs from a transfer of services and a change of job title
Three procedures can be confused with one another:
- A change of profession. It changes the profession the worker is licensed to practise, and the employer stays the same.
- A transfer of services. It moves the worker’s services to another employer, and the profession is not its subject.
- A change of job title within the establishment. It is an administrative step in the organisational structure and in the employee file, and it does not touch the statutory particular recorded on the work permit.
Article 38 of the Labor Law is examined against the licensed profession, not against the internal title. So a new job title on the organisational chart does not by itself breach that Article, whereas actually assigning the work of another profession can, even if the title stays as it was. The type of work as stated in the employment contract itself is covered in our guide to the form and particulars of the Saudi employment contract.
This is an explanation of the concept and of the statutory provisions cited, not legal advice.
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