Nitaqat and Saudisation: how the bands work and how to plan

Nitaqat (نطاقات, "bands") is the Saudisation programme run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD). It decides, for every private-sector establishment, how much of its workforce must be Saudi, and it ties access to ministry services to how well the establishment meets that target. This guide explains the mechanics in general terms. The required rates, counting rules and service consequences are set by the ministry and are updated periodically, so check the current rules and your establishment's position on the Qiwa platform.

The bands

Each establishment is placed in one band according to its Saudisation rate:

Check your current band and the services it allows on Qiwa.

How the rate is measured

Your Saudisation rate is the number of Saudi employees, counted under the programme's rules, as a share of your total workforce. The required rate depends on your economic activity and your size. Under the current version of the programme the required rates rise gradually over a published multi-year plan, so a rate that keeps you in Medium Green today may not do so next year. Under HRSD’s 2026 procedural guide, the rate is calculated per entity, meaning all branches in the same activity owned by one firm, using average Saudi headcounts rather than a count on a single day.

The rate is generally calculated on an average over recent weeks rather than on a single day, so a hire or an exit changes the band gradually.

Who counts, and how much

Not every Saudi employee counts as one. The programme's rules include, among others:

• A minimum wage for a Saudi employee to count fully: 4,000 SAR a month. A wage of at least 3,000 SAR but below 4,000 SAR counts as half, and below 3,000 SAR the employee does not count.
• Registration with GOSI at the correct wage is required for the employee to count.
• Saudis with disabilities may count with a higher weight; check the current weighting on Qiwa.
• Part-time employees count as half a worker if they earn at least 3,000 SAR, are registered with GOSI and work for no more than two employers. Employees on flexible-work contracts count as one third.

Because these weights decide the result, a head count of Saudis on its own is a poor predictor of your band.

What each band means

Higher bands give easier access to services such as issuing new work visas, changing professions and transferring sponsorship of expatriate workers. Establishments in Red cannot obtain new visas or work permits, renew work permits, change professions or receive transferred workers until they move up, and Low Green establishments cannot request new visas or profession changes. The precise list of services and restrictions is set by the ministry.

How to plan

1. Know your number weekly. Read your rate and required rate from Qiwa, not from a spreadsheet estimate.
2. Model before you act. Before an expatriate hire, a Saudi resignation or a restructuring, calculate the band after the change.
3. Watch the wage threshold. A Saudi employee just below the threshold may count for less than you expect.
4. Plan for the rising target. Build next year's required rate into the hiring plan now.
5. Use support programmes. HRDF (Hadaf) programmes can support training and wages for Saudi hires; check eligibility.

How RafiqHR helps

RafiqHR's Saudisation dashboard computes your position from the employee records you already keep, applies the counting rules as configured for your establishment, and lets you run what-if scenarios before a hire or an exit. Rafiq AI can alert HR when the headroom above your target band starts to shrink. Treat the figures on Qiwa as authoritative; the direct link runs in a sandbox until production access is granted.