Sometimes the arrangement has to change. The worker you sponsor wants to move to another family, or you have decided the fit is not right, or a contract has simply run its course. In Saudi Arabia there are two clean, lawful ways to handle this: transfer the worker’s sponsorship to a new employer (“naql al-khidma”), or end the sponsorship entirely and issue a final exit. Both are done electronically now, through Musaned and Absher, and neither requires an agency middleman for the ordinary case.
This guide walks through the whole lifecycle for 2026: how a sponsorship transfer actually works step by step, what it costs and who pays, when a transfer can happen without the current employer’s consent, the awkward special cases (an absconding report, a deceased sponsor, a company-to-individual move), and how cancelling the visa with a final exit differs from a transfer. Where a fee or rule is not fixed in a published government schedule, we say so plainly and point you to where to confirm the live figure.
Transfer, cancellation or final exit: which one do you need?
These three words get used interchangeably, and that is where families lose money and time. They are not the same thing. Start here.
| Route | What happens | Where it is done | Worker’s consent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsorship transfer (نقل الخدمة) | The worker stays in Saudi Arabia and moves to a new employer on a fresh contract. Your sponsorship ends; the new employer’s begins. | Musaned (with residency updated via Absher) | Required |
| Final exit (خروج نهائي) | The worker leaves the Kingdom for good. The sponsorship ends and no new contract is created. | Absher (Jawazat / Passports) | Not a market transfer; dues must be settled |
| Contract cancellation before arrival | You cancel a visa or contract for a worker who has not yet entered or been received. | Musaned | Case by case |
The rest of this guide focuses on the two that matter most once a worker is already with you: the transfer, which is what most people mean when they search for “kafala transfer,” and the final exit.
How a sponsorship transfer works on Musaned, step by step
A domestic-worker transfer is a three-party electronic flow. It is initiated by the current employer, approved by the worker, and completed (and paid for) by the new employer. You do it on Musaned’s transfer service, and the residency side is finalised through Absher. Here is the sequence.
- The current employer starts the request. Log in to Musaned, open Manage, select the worker, choose “Transfer worker,” then “Transfer to another individual.” You enter the new employer’s details and the terms of the move: the contract duration, the monthly salary, and the transfer fee.
- The worker reviews and approves. The worker signs in to the Domestic Labor portal, reads the new service-transfer contract and employment contract, and accepts or rejects. Musaned also sends an SMS to the number registered in the worker’s Absher account. This consent step is not a formality: without the worker’s approval, an ordinary transfer cannot proceed.
- The new employer accepts and pays. The new employer opens the request in Musaned, reviews the contracts, accepts, and completes payment. Once paid, the transfer is finalised and the worker’s Iqama is updated to the new sponsor.
For a clean case with no disputes, the whole thing typically completes in about three to seven working days, though it can stretch to a couple of weeks if a step stalls. Keep every party’s details accurate before you submit; a mismatch between the account name and the contract is the most common reason a transfer bounces back.
If you are still weighing whether a transfer is even the right route compared with recruiting fresh, our guide on recruitment agencies, online platforms and kafala transfer lays out the trade-offs, and the hiring route finder points you to the path that fits your situation.
Transfer fees and who pays them
This is where the searches concentrate, so let us be precise. The transfer fee is a government charge, and by law it is paid by the new employer, not the worker. Charging the domestic worker for her own transfer is not allowed.
| Item | Amount | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| First transfer | SAR 2,000 (most commonly cited) | New employer |
| Second and third transfers | Reported to rise on a step schedule (some guides cite SAR 4,000 then SAR 6,000) | New employer |
| “Tanazul” / concession amount | Optional, agreed privately between old and new employer and held by Musaned | By agreement |
Two honest caveats. The SAR 2,000 first-transfer figure is well supported across current sources, but the higher second- and third-transfer amounts come from secondary guides rather than a published Musaned schedule, so treat them as indicative and confirm the exact charge in Musaned at the time you transfer. There is also no published hard limit on how many times a worker can be transferred; the rising fee is a deterrent, not a legal cap.
When you are budgeting the full picture of bringing on or moving a worker, our real cost of hiring a domestic worker breakdown puts the transfer fee in context alongside insurance, the Iqama and salary.
Can you transfer without the current employer’s consent?
The short answer: usually no, but there are real exceptions, and they exist to protect the worker. In the ordinary market transfer, the current employer is the one who starts the request, so their agreement is built in. A worker cannot simply move to a new family if the current sponsor refuses.
However, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development allows a transfer without the sponsor’s consent in specific situations where the employer is in breach or the worker is at risk. These are not handled through the ordinary “click-to-transfer” flow; they go through a labour complaint and the reconciliation process. Cases that can justify a transfer without consent include:
- Wages left unpaid for three consecutive months.
- The Iqama not issued, or not renewed even a month after it expired.
- A proven case of abuse, or being made to do work that threatens the worker’s health or safety.
- The worker being trapped by a false absconding (huroob) report.
- The employer failing to appear at the labour dispute hearings, or the sponsor’s commercial registration being cancelled.
Treat that list as examples rather than a verbatim rulebook: the exact grounds and thresholds are set by the Ministry and can be updated, so a worker in one of these situations should file a complaint through the HRSD channels (the 19911 hotline or the ministry’s services) rather than assume an automatic right to move. For the underlying rights and duties that these protections rest on, see our domestic worker rights and employer duties guide. And if anyone’s safety is in question, our safety guidance sets out the official channels.
The special cases people actually ask about
Most transfers are straightforward. A handful are not, and they are the ones that generate anxious late-night searches. Here is where each one stands.
The worker has an active absconding (huroob) report
A standard market transfer cannot go through while a huroob report is active against the worker. If the report is genuine, it has to be resolved first; if it was filed wrongly, it can be challenged and cancelled, after which a transfer or exit becomes possible. Musaned has a dedicated service for correcting an absent worker’s status. We cover the absconding process in full in a separate guide in this series.
The sponsor has passed away
When the sponsoring employer dies, the worker does not lose all standing. The sponsorship can be transferred, and this is one of the recognised routes that does not depend on the original sponsor’s consent, for the obvious reason. The worker (or the family managing the estate) processes it through the ministry.
Moving from a company to an individual, or the reverse
Transfers can run from a company (such as a recruitment establishment) to an individual household, or from one individual to another. The Musaned flow is essentially the same three-party sequence; only the identity of the releasing party changes. A company-to-individual move is common when a worker is first placed through an establishment.
A married woman as the sponsor
A Saudi woman can sponsor and transfer a domestic worker in her own right. The conditions follow the same regulation as any other individual sponsor; the process on Musaned is the same.
Cancelling the visa: the final exit (خروج نهائي)
If the worker is not moving to a new family but is instead leaving the Kingdom, you are looking at a final exit, not a transfer. This is issued by you, the sponsor, through Absher under the Passports (Jawazat) services, and it ends the sponsorship completely. There is no transfer fee, but there is one non-negotiable condition: all of the worker’s dues must be settled first.
That means paying any outstanding salary through the electronic channel, paying the end-of-service award owed on the contract, and returning the worker’s passport and personal documents, which were always hers to keep. Only once the account is clean should the final exit be issued and the departure arranged. The precise Absher steps for a domestic-worker final exit can change, so confirm the current flow in the portal before you start.
Before you transfer or cancel: settle up and stay compliant
Whichever route you take, the end of a sponsorship is a settlement moment, and getting it right protects you from a later dispute. Three things to close out:
- The end-of-service award. On contract expiry the worker is owed one month’s wage for every four years of service, based on the last wage. Our gratuity calculator gives you the figure in a few seconds.
- The final salary, paid electronically. The last month’s pay still has to go through the approved e-salary channel, the same as every other month. If you need a refresher, our insurance and e-salary setup guide covers it.
- The documents. Hand back the passport and any personal papers, and keep your own copies of the settled contract, the final payment record and the transfer or exit confirmation.
Which route is right for you?
If the worker wants to stay in Saudi Arabia and another family is ready, a transfer keeps a good worker employed and saves everyone the cost and delay of fresh recruitment. If the relationship has genuinely ended and there is no onward employer, a clean final exit closes the file properly. And if the issue is a serious breach, the complaint route exists precisely so that a worker is never trapped.
When a transfer means finding a licensed office to help, our directory of Musaned-licensed recruitment offices lists them by city, and our step-by-step Musaned hiring guide covers what comes next if you are also bringing someone new on board.
