At a glance: the three KSA routes side by side
If you've already read our step-by-step Musaned guide, you know the legal framework and the documents you'll need. The next question for most Saudi families is the most consequential one: which of the three legal routes should I actually use? They all end at a worker in your home — but the path there, the cost, the speed, and the level of transparency look very different.
| Dimension | Traditional recruitment office | Online platform (Musaned + marketplaces) | Kafala transfer (نقل خدمات) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where you start | In person at a licensed office | On Musaned or a digital marketplace | On Absher or Musaned, with both parties' consent |
| Cost (recruitment) | SAR 5,900–14,700 cap by nationality + office margin | Same caps, often with lower platform margin | SAR 2,000 / 4,000 / 6,000 (1st / 2nd / 3rd transfer) |
| Government / visa fees | SAR 2,000 visa + ~SAR 172.5 Musaned | Same as agency | Included in the transfer fee |
| Time from contract to start | 6–12 weeks | 6–12 weeks | 1–3 weeks |
| Candidate visibility | 2–4 CVs after commitment | Browse profiles, often video interviews | You meet the actual person |
| Best for | Families who prefer in-person service and full hand-holding | Families who want to research and compare candidates before committing | When you've already identified someone in the Kingdom |
Route 1 — Traditional recruitment office
The classic Saudi hiring journey: walk into a licensed recruitment office in Riyadh, Jeddah or your local city, sit down with a representative, sign a service contract, and let them handle the Musaned filings, embassy attestations and travel from the worker's home country. Our Saudi recruitment offices directory lists every Musaned-licensed office with phone numbers and addresses if you want to start here.
What you get
- A dedicated case officer who handles the Musaned visa request, embassy attestation in the worker's country, and the worker's travel logistics
- In-person hand-holding — most offices walk you through documents step by step and handle Saudi-side government appointments
- A standard 90-day probation replacement guarantee (terms vary by office and should be in your service contract)
What it costs in 2026
The Ministry of Human Resources publishes binding fee caps that every licensed office must respect, by the worker's nationality. As of the most recent update, the maximum a recruitment office can charge you (excluding VAT) is:
| Origin country | Maximum fee (SAR) |
|---|---|
| Philippines | 14,700 |
| Sri Lanka | 13,800 |
| Bangladesh | 11,750 |
| Thailand | 10,000 |
| Kenya | 9,000 |
| Uganda | 8,300 |
| Sierra Leone / Burundi | 7,500 |
| Ethiopia | 5,900 |
Add the SAR 2,000 government visa fee and a small Musaned e-service fee (about SAR 172.5 including VAT). The worker's monthly salary is separate — paid by you and now mandatorily via Musaned's official electronic channels (see Section 5).
Who this fits
Families who value face-to-face service, prefer to verify a real office and a real person before paying, and don't mind paying a small office margin on top of the published cap for that hand-holding. Also a strong fit if you have a relationship with a specific office (a family or compound referral, a longstanding office for previous workers).
Route 2 — Online platform (Musaned + digital marketplaces)
The platform route splits into two cooperating layers. Musaned itself is the government platform that licenses offices and runs the visa workflow — every legal recruitment in Saudi Arabia, whatever route you take, ultimately runs through it. Digital marketplaces and platforms sit on top of Musaned: they let you browse candidate profiles, compare experience and prices side by side, often video-interview before you commit, and then route the actual recruitment through a Musaned-licensed office for execution.
What you get
- Candidate visibility before you commit — browse nanny profiles or maid profiles with experience, nationality, languages, references, and often photos and short videos
- Transparent pricing — the platform shows the government fee cap and the office margin upfront, with no surprise add-ons at signing
- Often a faster end-to-end experience because the back-office is digital — Musaned e-contracts, e-signatures, status tracking, in-app messaging
- The same 90-day probation replacement protection, since the licensed office still executes the actual recruitment behind the scenes
What it costs in 2026
The same government-set fee caps apply (Filipino SAR 14,700, Sri Lankan SAR 13,800, and so on — see the table above). Where platforms typically differ is the office margin on top: because there's less in-person service and more software, the margin is usually thinner. The total often lands a few hundred to a couple of thousand riyals below the equivalent traditional-office quote for the same nationality.
Who this fits
Families who want to see who they're hiring before committing, who value transparent pricing, and who are comfortable handling the bulk of the process digitally. It's also the strongest fit for families recruiting a specific nationality or skill profile that's hard to find through a single offline office's pool.
Route 3 — Kafala transfer (نقل خدمات)
The Saudi term for sponsorship transfer. A domestic worker already in the Kingdom — typically because their previous employer is leaving, downsizing, or the worker has completed a contract — moves from that employer's iqama to yours, with both parties' written consent and Ministry approval through Absher or the HRSD portal. No new visa is issued, no embassy attestation, no flight.
What it costs — the tiered transfer fee
The Ministry of Human Resources applies a deliberately escalating fee, designed to discourage rapid sponsor-hopping that harms both worker and system:
- First transfer: SAR 2,000
- Second transfer: SAR 4,000
- Third (and subsequent) transfers: SAR 6,000
You also pay the worker's monthly salary from day one — same channel mandate as the other routes. No recruitment fee from abroad and no embassy attestation, which is what makes this the cheapest first-year route by a wide margin when supply is available.
How long it takes
Typically 1–3 weeks from agreement to a finalised iqama on your sponsorship, assuming both employers cooperate, the worker has no outstanding labour issues, and there are no objections raised through Absher within the standard response window.
Who this fits
Families who have either identified a specific worker through a referral (a relative leaving the Kingdom, a friend in your compound moving abroad) or families who want to start fast and skip the long overseas-recruitment cycle. The catch is supply — you can only transfer a worker who already exists and is willing to switch. There's no "order one in" version of this route.
First-year cost, compared
Assuming a Filipino domestic worker at the SAR 14,700 cap with a SAR 1,500/month salary (typical entry-level Filipino floor in 2026), here is what the first 12 months actually look like across the three routes:
| Cost component | Traditional agency | Online platform | Kafala transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recruitment fee | Up to SAR 14,700 + margin | Up to SAR 14,700 + (typically thinner) margin | SAR 0 |
| Government / Musaned fees | SAR 2,000 visa + ~SAR 172.5 | SAR 2,000 visa + ~SAR 172.5 | SAR 2,000 (1st transfer) |
| Worker salary (12 months) | SAR 1,500 × 12 = SAR 18,000 | SAR 1,500 × 12 = SAR 18,000 | SAR 1,500 × 12 = SAR 18,000 |
| Estimated first-year total | ~SAR 35,000–37,000 | ~SAR 34,000–36,000 | ~SAR 20,000 |
The kafala-transfer route comes out roughly SAR 14,000–17,000 cheaper in year one than a fresh recruitment, because you're skipping the entire abroad-side of the process. Over a multi-year stay, the gap shrinks (you'll pay the salary either way for the same number of years), but the year-one cash advantage is substantial. For a precise number against your nationality and salary, use the maid cost calculator or nanny cost calculator — both pull live KSA market data.
The 2026 e-salary rule applies to all three
Effective 1 January 2026, every employer of a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia must transfer the monthly salary through Musaned's official electronic channels — approved digital wallets, participating banks, or a Mada card issued specifically for the worker. The Ministry phased this in across 2024 and 2025; January 2026 is the final phase that closes any household-size exemption. It applies whether you hired through a traditional office, an online platform, or a kafala transfer — the channel matters, the route doesn't. See the HRSD wage-protection service announcement for the full rollout schedule.
Practically: set up the worker's salary account or digital wallet immediately after the iqama is issued (or after the kafala transfer completes), and schedule the monthly transfer to land on or before the contractual salary date. Cash-only payment, even with a written receipt, is no longer compliant under the new rule.
Common scenarios and what each route does for them
- "First-time hiring, want a specific Filipino nanny profile." Online platform. Profile visibility and the chance to video-interview matter most when nationality and skill profile are non-negotiable.
- "My neighbour's housemaid is leaving for Manila and her cousin wants to switch to us." Kafala transfer. Cheapest, fastest, and you've already met the candidate.
- "Older family member, prefers in-person service, no comfort with apps." Traditional agency. The hand-holding has real value and the cost difference vs. a platform is small.
- "Tight budget, willing to take an entry-level Ethiopian worker." Online platform with an Ethiopian profile. SAR 5,900 cap is the lowest in the system, and the platform's transparent pricing keeps the office margin from eroding the saving.
- "Last hire didn't work out, want to switch quickly." If you're still inside the 90-day probation, the office (any route) should arrange a replacement. Outside probation, kafala transfer to another candidate already in KSA is the fastest second attempt.
What the comparison tables don't show
- Office quality varies a lot. Two licensed offices in the same district can deliver dramatically different experiences — speed, candidate pool depth, responsiveness when there's a problem. Ask families in your building or community for a specific office name, not just a general route.
- Kafala transfer can stall on the previous sponsor. The transfer needs the current employer's consent through Absher. If the relationship between worker and previous employer is unresolved (unpaid salary, an objection), the file pauses until it's cleared — sometimes that takes weeks.
- The tier-2 and tier-3 transfer fees are deterrents on purpose. If you've already done one kafala transfer for this worker, the second transfer doubles the fee, and the third triples it. Workers with several transfers in their history may be harder to recruit because each new sponsor pays more in government fees.
- E-salary now creates an audit trail you didn't have before. This is good — disputes about "did you pay last month?" effectively disappear. It also means you should set up the standing order immediately, before the first month-end comes around and you have to scramble.
Conclusion
Traditional offices, online platforms and kafala transfers aren't really competing for the same exact job — they're three different fits for three different starting situations. If you've already identified a specific worker in Saudi Arabia, the kafala transfer is the cheapest and fastest route by a wide margin. If you want to research candidates, video-interview and pay a transparent fee, the online platform is built for you. If you want full in-person service and a longstanding office relationship, the traditional route still has real value — and the cost gap to a platform is smaller than people assume.
If you want a personalized recommendation against your specific household and budget, our Hiring Route Finder walks you through the decision in a few minutes. When you're ready to look at real candidates, browse verified profiles on Rufy.