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Madhavi2019

Hi all,
Can anyone clear my doubts?
I'm living in Khobar with dependant family visa.
I would like to start baqala retail business on my own. How to start without kaffeel.and what are the rules for women?
Can a expatriate woman start a business in ksa?

XTang

Your issues are:

1) You are an expat not Saudi
2) You are on a dependent visa

For small businesses like this i.e. ones which do not fall under SAGIA, there is absolutely NO way for you to start it without a Kafeel.  What most people do is that the business is under Kafeel name and they run it / pay him monthly.  Of course, you have zero protection in case you have a dispute with the Kafeel.   And even if you do it this way, you cannot work in the shop yourself as you are on a dependent visa AND you will not get a work visa for this profession as you are an expat woman - restricted professions for them.

Madhavi2019

Thanks a lot for your valuable information. My husband is working with private ltd company in Dammam, how he could start this baqala business... He should take permission from his authorities? Hope they don't allow.. What to do.
Thank you in advance.

XTang

What you need to understand is that there is NO WAY that an expat can start or rather have a small business under his own name.  You need a kafeel.   

I have already told you all this.  But I will put it simply: 

1) Forget about starting a business under your own name - both you or your husband (only possible with SAGIA license and big investment e.g. factories etc)
2) You need a Kafeel who will own that business. Even if you get a Kafeel, you as an expat woman with a dependent Iqama cannot work in that business. Your husband cannot work in that business as his Iqama is linked to current sponsor.  There is no such thing as permission to work for anyone other than the person who sponsored you - doing so is a violation of Iqama rules and people get deported for that

So simply, forget it.

The ONLY thing you can do and its a grey area; get a kafeel, set up a business, have kafeel sponsor workers to sit there and you manage it by dropping in time to time to supervise them.  Pay the kafeel his monthly.  But if the business becomes very profitable, there is NOTHING stopping the Kafeel from kicking you out and taking it over.  You have ZERO legal protection.  This practice is called "tasattur" - look it up.  Nowadays, people are routinely arrested and deported for doing this.

Madhavi2019

Great support in reply.thank you

justaman

No sane person should think about doing a business here. Especially an expat. Anytime you will be kicked out and your business taken over by a Saudi. You will lose everything.

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