Saudi Arabia Tightens Visa Rules: CCHI Health Insurance Mandatory Before Visa Issuance

Saudi Arabia (KSA) is changing its immigration policy. The government now requires all foreign professionals on short-term assignments to secure health coverage before the visa issues. Securing a government-verified health policy is no longer a post-arrival step. Instead, it is now mandatory before visa issuance.

Consequently, this new rule guarantees that every foreign professional has high-quality, government-regulated insurance from day one. Therefore, sponsoring employers must immediately change their visa processing timelines and vendor management.

Understanding the Temporary Work Visa (TWV)

The Temporary Work Visa (TWV) is an agile tool. Furthermore, it supports Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 projects. This visa allows employers to quickly deploy specialized foreign talent without a long-term commitment.

• Initial Validity: The visa is valid for up to 90 days initially.

• Extension: It permits one single extension for another 90 days. Thus, the maximum total stay is 180 days (six months).

• Nature: This is usually a multiple-entry visa valid for one year from issuance. However, the total physical work duration cannot exceed 180 days.

• Residency: The TWV does not lead to a residence permit (Iqama). This fact makes mandatory, immediate health coverage vital, because these workers do not enter the long-term residency healthcare system.

• Sponsorship: A local Saudi employer must apply for the visa on your behalf via the Qiwa platform.

New Stricter Health Insurance Rules: The CCHI Pillars

The core goal of the new rules is clear: Secure and validate comprehensive health coverage before the foreign worker’s visa issues. Moreover, the Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) oversees this new framework. It rests on three non-negotiable pillars:

1. Mandatory Pre-Issuance Policy

Implication: Therefore, employers must include the cost and process of insurance at the earliest stages of their short-term hiring budget and timeline.

2. Only CCHI-Approved Providers Accepted

The quality of the insurance coverage is strictly regulated.

• The Regulatory Body: The CCHI sets minimum standards for all health insurance policies in the Kingdom.

• New Requirement: The visa-sponsoring entity must use a provider explicitly approved and qualified by the CCHI. Consequently, policies from non-approved providers are no longer valid, even if accepted previously.

• Purpose: This guarantees the policy meets the minimum level of medical care. In addition, it protects the worker from insufficient coverage in case of illness or accident.

3. Linking Insurance to Passport Records (The Critical Step)

This step ensures digital, verifiable compliance.

• New Requirement: The CCHI-approved provider must send the insured person’s passport copy and contract directly to the CCHI system.

• Purpose: This process links the insurance policy directly to the individual’s passport record. Immigration and health authorities can instantly verify active coverage upon arrival just by checking passport data.

• Operational Necessity: MOFA requires a digital confirmation of this linkage from the CCHI. Crucially, without this confirmation, MOFA will not stamp the visa.

Sponsoring Employers: The Qiwa Connection

The Saudi sponsoring establishment bears the administrative burden. Therefore, they must manage the entire process through the Qiwa platform.

The Employer’s New Compliance Process

1. Quota Acquisition (Qiwa): The employer must first ensure they have an adequate TWV quota on their Qiwa account. The company’s Nitaqat status and compliance with the Wage Protection System (WPS) influence this eligibility.

2. Contract and Insurance Purchase: Next, after getting the quota, the employer finalizes the contract and purchases the CCHI-approved policy.

3. Data Synchronization (Crucial): The employer gives the worker’s passport and contract to the CCHI insurer. Then, the insurer initiates the digital linkage with the CCHI system.

4. MOFA Application: The employer can only proceed with the final submission for visa stamping after the CCHI confirms the digital linkage (policy is active and tied to the passport number).

In summary, failure to link the policy digitally to the CCHI system will result in an electronic rejection of the visa application.

Reasons for TWV Rejection (Beyond Health Insurance)

Many compliance failures can still delay or reject a TWV application. Hence, sponsoring employers and applicants must pay attention to these details:

Administrative and Status Issues

• Document Mismatch and Inaccuracy: Inconsistency in personal data (e.g., spelling mistakes, differing dates) results in automatic rejection. Digital verification systems demand absolute precision.

• Employer Non-Compliance Status: The Saudi company must maintain a healthy regulatory profile. A drop in the Nitaqat status or negative remarks on the WPS can immediately suspend or deny their visa quota.

• Insufficient Passport Validity: The applicant’s passport must have a minimum of six months of validity remaining upon entry. A one-year validity is best practice, given the visa’s maximum 180-day stay.

Financial and Document Issues

• Quota and Financial Issues: The sponsoring company must have enough TWV quota available on the Qiwa platform. Furthermore, they must also maintain a clear financial balance with the Ministry of Interior’s platforms to cover all fees.

• Unattested Certificates: For specialized roles, the relevant academic or professional certificates must be properly attested and verified by the correct authorities. Missing or improperly attested documents halt the process.

Conclusion: Commitment to Digitized Worker Welfare

The new Saudi Temporary Work Visa Health Insurance Rules mark another step toward digitized and stricter labor regulations. By mandating CCHI compliance and passport-linkage, Saudi Arabia achieves several goals:

1. It provides an immediate safety net for temporary workers.

2. It reduces administrative confusion at the port of entry.

3. It holds employers accountable for their foreign talent’s welfare.

Overall, for foreign professionals, these rules offer better assurance of legally compliant medical coverage. Finally, for Saudi businesses, the message is clear: proactive, rigorous compliance is essential. Success in securing these specialized visas now depends entirely on perfect administrative coordination, starting with the immediate acquisition and linkage of a CCHI-approved health insurance policy.