Moving your people to your own Saudi company.

Nothing moves by itself. Each person's employment with the employer of record ends, and a new one starts with your company, recorded on Qiwa, the labour ministry's platform. For Saudi staff that is a new contract. For staff from abroad it also means moving their sponsorship, their residence permit and work permit, from the employer of record to your company, which Qiwa handles as a transfer of services with the employee's consent.

The cleanest version mirrors what people already have: the same job, pay and allowances, with the original start date written in. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations service, GEMO, builds that into the move.

Whichever way you settle it, write it down for each person before the date. A promise to recognise service is a cost your company takes on, so price it before you offer it.

It needs to be able to employ and pay people, which takes more than a commercial registration. The registration opens the company's files with Qiwa, GOSI and the tax authority in practice, and the legal rule is to register with GOSI within 10 days of meeting the conditions for cover. It also needs a bank account that can pay wages through the wage protection system.

Saudisation matters too. Your company's Nitaqat band is measured on its own workforce, so moving several foreign staff into a new company with no Saudi employees can put it in a band that blocks new visas. Plan the mix before the move, not after.

Salary, allowances, hours and job title should carry across exactly. Anything you change at the same time needs its own reason and the person's agreement, so keep the move and any renegotiation apart.

Social insurance follows the person. Each employee keeps their GOSI record, and your company registers them under its own file from the month they join.

Medical insurance is rebuilt. Cover arranged by the employer of record ends with that employment, so your company's policy has to start on the first day. Housing and transport allowances, if people have them, belong in the new contract word for word.

The cleanest move lands on the first day of a month. A mid-month move means two employers each paying a part month through the wage protection system, with two GOSI records to reconcile. The steps below are the order that avoids it.

Moving people is employment work as much as company work, so the right help depends on the size of the move.

You can run it yourself through MISA, the Ministry of Commerce and Qiwa, with a local lawyer drafting the contracts. It suits a move of one or two Saudi staff on simple terms.

A business setup consultant can form the company quickly, but it will not move your people or run their payroll, so it suits a company with nobody to move yet.

A law firm or corporate-services firm suits a large team, many sponsorship transfers, or a group restructuring at the same time.

For companies that will employ people in Saudi Arabia, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed gives you one system throughout with no re-onboarding, pricing with no hidden costs, and real HR and legal experts you can reach when it matters. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) sets up and manages entities in 100+ countries, and moves your people across from its EOR when you're ready. Teamed already owns an entity in Saudi Arabia.