Visa delegation (okala) check explained

What is a visa okala (wakala)?

Okala is one common English spelling of wakala (وكالة), the Arabic word for agency or power of attorney. In the recruitment context, an okala on a work visa is the authorisation a Saudi sponsor, whether a company or an individual employer, gives to a licensed party to act on that visa on their behalf. It is a delegation of paperwork, not a transfer of ownership over the visa.

The full MOFA service name is “delegation of a recruitment office on a work visa” (تفويض مكتب استقدام على تأشيرة عمل). It sits inside the the MOFA Visa Platform (منصة التأشيرات), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs platform for issuing and checking visas applied for through Saudi missions and agents, now being unified under the KSA VISA platform. A sponsor uses it to let a recruitment office handle steps such as embassy submission and document processing for a specific work visa, rather than doing that legwork themselves.

A useful way to picture it: the sponsor still owns the visa and the job offer. The delegated office is only the sponsor’s agent for the paperwork, similar in spirit to Musaned (مساند), the official Saudi platform for recruiting and managing domestic workers, but for company work visas rather than domestic workers.

Who actually holds the delegation?

This is the point that trips people up most. The sponsor grants the delegation to a recruitment office, not to the jobseeker. If you are the person travelling on the visa, you do not hold an okala yourself, and you should never be asked to sign one, pay for one, or “buy” one from an agent claiming to hold delegated visas for sale.

How to check a visa delegation (okala check) on MOFA

The delegation check we verified runs through the MOFA Visa Platform at visa.mofa.gov.sa, signed in with Nafath (نفاذ), the Saudi national single sign-on used to verify identity when logging in to government services. It is built for someone already resident with an iqama, since it asks for an iqama number to sign in. Follow these steps in order.

1. Open the MOFA Visa Platform login page using the button below (it opens visa.mofa.gov.sa in a new tab).
2. Enter your Iqama Number to start the sign-in.
3. Approve the request in your Nafath app when it appears on your phone.
4. Once signed in, choose “Ratify Individual Applications” from the services list.
5. Select “Work Visa Delegations” and accept the terms shown.
6. Enter the visa number, the sponsor ID and the issuing city for the visa in question.
7. Read the result: it shows the visa number, visa date, sponsor name, sponsor address, sponsor ID, the embassy or consulate handling it, the occupation, and the delegated agency’s name.

Screen labels and the sign-in flow can change without notice, and MOFA’s own eservices page now points new organisations toward the wider KSA VISA platform (منصة تأشيرات المملكة) platform for delegation requests. If what you see differs from the steps above, follow the live site and tell us on our how we verify page.

Recruitment-scam red flags around visa delegation

An okala should never cost the worker money, and it should never be the thing being sold. If any of the following happen, stop and verify independently before you pay or travel.

• You are asked to pay for the delegation itself. The okala authorises an agency to act for the sponsor. It is not a product a jobseeker buys.
• The sponsor name on the visa does not match your actual employer. Ask the recruitment office to confirm the sponsor shown on the MOFA check matches the company you believe you are joining.
• You are pressured to send money or passport copies before any written offer exists. A licensed office documents its role; it does not rush you past questions.
• The “agent” cannot name the licensed recruitment office holding the delegation. A real okala names a specific office, not a freelance individual.
• You are offered a visa with unusually high pay, no interview and instant approval. Combined with an upfront fee request, this is a common pattern in overseas recruitment fraud generally, not specific to Saudi Arabia.
• The recruitment office avoids a documented, itemised service agreement. Ask for terms in writing and confirm the office’s licence with the relevant labour authority in your home country before paying anything.

None of these signs alone proves fraud, and we cannot verify a specific case for you. If something feels wrong, check the sponsor and delegation details yourself on the MOFA platform above rather than relying on what an agent tells you.

Visa okala vs your work visa: not the same check

An okala check confirms the paperwork authorisation behind a work visa, not the visa’s own travel status. Once your visa is issued and you are ready to travel, or once you have arrived and hold an iqama, the delegation record is no longer what you need to look at.

• Confirm the visa itself, before travel, on the MOFA visa platform check.
• Not sure which portal fits your document type at all? Use the check by passport number decision table.
• Already have an iqama and want to check your ongoing visa or exit re-entry status? See the Muqeem visa validity check.

If the delegation check shows no result

A blank result on the MOFA screen usually has one of these causes, roughly in order of how often they come up:

1. The visa number, sponsor ID or issuing city was typed incorrectly. Recheck each field against your paperwork.
2. The delegation has not yet been submitted or approved by the sponsor’s side.
3. The visa was processed without going through a formal recruitment-office delegation at all, which is common for visas a company handles directly.

If you cannot get a result and money has already changed hands, treat that as a reason to pause and verify with the named sponsor directly, or with your country’s labour attache, before sending anything further. This page explains the check; it cannot see or confirm your individual case. Start again from the visa check hub if a different portal fits your document.