Qiwa Profession Change: Restrictions and Nitaqat Rules

What is the Qiwa profession change service?

The Qiwa profession change service lets an employer change an expatriate employee's registered profession so that it matches the work the person actually does, or correct it against the Saudi occupational classification. MHRSD describes it as an electronic service supported by artificial intelligence, delivered through Qiwa, free and immediate, so no ministry visit is needed.

The details come from MHRSD's service page. The service page does not state band conditions. Those come from the Developed Nitaqat guide, covered below.

How does your Nitaqat band affect profession change?

Your band decides whether you can use the service at all. This is one of the main practical effects of the Nitaqat bands.

MHRSD's 2026 guide says High Green and Medium Green may change expatriate workers' occupations while respecting the profession change requirements set out in the guide. For Low Green it suspends acceptance of profession change requests, and for Red it permits none. Al Tamimi and Clyde & Co report the same pattern for Low Green. Platinum is not separately described in the parts of the guide we could read, and the secondary sources we checked treat it as having full access.

Why does the restriction matter in 2026?

Because titles now carry legal weight. Profession decisions such as project management, procurement, marketing, sales and engineering set Saudi percentages by occupation. A worker's registered occupation decides which rule applies to them. If you are in Low Green or Red and a worker's registered title is wrong, you cannot correct it through the service until your band improves.

Press and law-firm reports from January 2026 say Qiwa suspended expatriate title changes into some roles subject to Saudization, such as sales representative, marketing specialist and procurement manager. MHRSD's service page does not publish the conditions. The exact conditions are on Qiwa, so check them for the title you have in mind.

How do you change a profession on Qiwa?

MHRSD's service page gives the outline. The detailed screens may change, so follow Qiwa's current prompts.

1. Sign in to Qiwa with an employer account that is authorized for the establishment.
2. Open the profession change service among the labor services.
3. Select the employee whose profession you want to change or correct.
4. Choose the new profession from the Saudi occupational classification, matching the work the person does.
5. Submit the request. MHRSD describes processing as immediate.
6. Check the outcome on the employee's record, and keep the supporting duty description on file.

If the request is blocked, check your band with the Nitaqat calculator first, and read Low Green and Red restrictions if you are below Medium Green. Then check the target profession.

How does job title mapping relate to profession change?

Job title mapping is the groundwork. Before you change a registered profession, you need to know which occupation code your internal title belongs to and whether a profession rule covers it. Our job title mapping guide explains how titles line up with codes. Coverage under rules such as the project management decision follows the registered code, for example 121314, 214909 and 242108 for the three project management occupations.

Worked example

These figures are invented for illustration. An entity has four people registered under a profession covered by a hypothetical 60% rule: 1 Saudi and 3 non-Saudis. One non-Saudi employee actually works as an accountant, not in the covered role.

• If the entity is in Medium Green, it can apply to correct that employee's registered profession, within the guide's requirements. The covered headcount falls from 4 to 3.
• If it is in Low Green or Red, the request is suspended or not permitted, so the mismatch stays on record until the band improves.

The correction changes the rule's count because the title was wrong. It does not change anything about the work. See the rates database for the current profession percentages and the employer guide for how rules interact.

What should employers do before filing a change?

1. Confirm your band on Qiwa, and see how Nitaqat is calculated if it has moved.
2. Compare each worker's registered code with actual duties.
3. Check whether the target profession is subject to a localization rule.
4. Keep a written duty description for each change.
5. Review the effect on every profession rule you are close to.

This page describes what the rules say. It is not legal advice for any specific case.