Saving for retirement while working in Saudi Arabia

GOSI for non-Saudis

GOSI, the General Organization for Social Insurance, has two branches. Its registration page says:

• “The Annuities Branch covers only Saudis.” This is the branch that pays pensions.
• “The Occupational Hazards Branch is mandatory for all workers without any distinction of sex, nationality or age”, at “2% of the wage, paid monthly only by the employer”.

So as an OFW you are covered for work injuries and occupational disease, paid for by your employer, and nothing comes out of your wage for it. For a non-Saudi, GOSI pays “a lump sum compensation” for disability or death from a work injury. There is no Saudi old-age pension for you.

Your end-of-service award

Under the Saudi Labor Law, the end-of-service award is half a month’s wage for each of your first five years and a month’s wage for each year after, on your last wage (Article 84). Part years count in proportion. The wage is your actual wage: basic wage plus the allowances due to you (Article 2), which is the opposite of the UAE, where only basic wage counts.

Finishing the contract or resigning makes a difference. If your employer ends the contract or it simply ends, you get the full award, except where Article 80 lets the employer end it without an award, or during probation (Article 54). If you resign, Article 85 gives you nothing under two years, one third from two to five years, two thirds over five and under ten, and the full award at ten years or more. Article 87 gives the full award if you leave because of force majeure, and to a woman who ends her contract within six months of her marriage contract or three months of giving birth. The 2025 amendments define resignation for fixed-term contracts and say a worker who resigns keeps all rights under the law; HRSD hasn’t said how this changes the shares for open-ended contracts. Check with HRSD (19911).

The Saudi end of service calculator works out an estimate from your dates and how the contract ended. The OFW retirement calculator shows how far your savings would go once you are home. Moving to the UAE? Its rules are different: see our UAE guide.

Domestic workers are outside the Labor Law (Article 7). The Regulation for Domestic Workers gives “one month’s wage for every four consecutive years of service with the domestic employer” (Article 22). Recruitment, contracts and transfers for domestic workers go through Musaned, the Ministry’s domestic workers platform.

Your SSS from the Kingdom

As a land-based OFW you pay both halves of the SSS contribution yourself, at the rates in SSS Circular 2024-010:

Rate

15% of your salary credit

Monthly salary credit

PHP 8,000 to 35,000

Monthly contribution

PHP 1,200.00 to 5,250.00

Pay January to September by 31 December of the same year, and October to December by 31 January of the following year. More in SSS payment deadlines. Generate a payment reference number (PRN) in My.SSS, then pay online, or over the counter at an SSS overseas partner. If you work far from a city, paying online with a PRN means no trip to an office.

SSS offices in Saudi Arabia (SSS Citizen’s Charter 2026):

• Riyadh: Embassy of the Philippines, Alradeef Street, Al Safarat, Riyadh 12512; (+966) 5016-34967; riyadh@sss.gov.ph.
• Jeddah: Philippine Consulate General, 4663 Ground Floor, Building No. 3, Fajer Street, Al Rehab District 6, Jeddah 21412; (+966) 5385-01047; jeddah@sss.gov.ph.
• Al Khobar: Migrant Workers Office, Room 344, 2nd floor, Khobar Mall, King Fahd Road; +966-500-31-4207; alkhobar@sss.gov.ph. The Charter marks this office as served by an SSS representative posted at another office.

The SSS guide for OFWs covers the pension and benefits. See how land-based OFWs pay SSS.

Pag-IBIG, MP2 and PhilHealth

Pag-IBIG lists one Overseas Service Desk in the Kingdom, in Riyadh: c/o Philippine Embassy, Diplomatic Quarter, Alradeef Street, Al Safarat, Riyadh 12512; (+966) 505396642; popriyadh@pagibigfund.gov.ph; 8 am to 5 pm, Sunday to Thursday. There is no Pag-IBIG desk in Jeddah or Al Khobar. You can pay membership savings and MP2 online through Virtual Pag-IBIG or GCash, or at the partners Pag-IBIG lists for Saudi Arabia: on 20 October 2026, Philippine National Bank desks at Al Rajhi, Arab National Bank and BAB branches in Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar and Jubail, and through Ventaja, Citi Express Payment and Jabal Hesham Est. Partners change, and Pag-IBIG’s OFW page has the current list. This list is for information: we do not rank them or suggest one. For online payment, see paying Pag-IBIG online. Before opening MP2, read the MP2 guide.

PhilHealth. PhilHealth Advisory No. 2026-0042 puts OFWs among direct contributors who pay 5% of monthly income, with a PHP 500 monthly minimum, paid monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly. Its partner lists for January 2026 include banks and remittance companies in Riyadh and Jeddah that collect premiums. There is no PhilHealth office in the Kingdom. See paying PhilHealth online. The PhilHealth guide covers the benefits.

Help by region

Phone numbers below are written the way each office prints them. Check before visiting: the Embassy in Riyadh has asked for temporary office space during renovation, so it may move for a while, and the Consulate’s website showed a maintenance page on 20 October 2026.

Riyadh and the Central Region

• Philippine Embassy, Riyadh: Diplomatic Quarter, C3 Alradeef Street, P.O. 94366, Riyadh 11693. Sunday to Thursday, 8 am to 5 pm. riyadh.pe@dfa.gov.ph; consular riyadhpe.consular@dfa.gov.ph; consular and assistance to nationals hotline +966569893301.
• Migrant Workers Office, Riyadh: 3267 Makkah Al Mukarramah Branch Road, Al Mutamarat; hotline +966502850944; mwo_riyadh@dmw.gov.ph. It covers Riyadh and the Central Region, including Qassim, Hail and Al Jouf (DMW directory, 13 March 2026).

Jeddah and the Western and Southern regions

• Philippine Consulate General, Jeddah: 4663 Fajr Street, Al-Rehab District 6; +966 555219614 or +966 555219613; jeddah.pcg@dfa.gov.ph.
• Migrant Workers Office, Jeddah: at the Consulate General, Building No. 4663, Fajer Street, Al Rehab District 6; mwo_jeddah@dmw.gov.ph. It covers Makkah, Medina, Taif, Tabuk, Jizan, Abha, Najran and the rest of the west and south.

Al Khobar and the Eastern Region

• Migrant Workers Office, Al Khobar: Unit 344, 2nd floor, Al Khobar Mall; hotline +966562329926; mwo_alkhobar@dmw.gov.ph. It covers Dammam, Dhahran, Jubail, Hofuf, Qatif and the rest of the Eastern Region.

Saudi labour questions: HRSD customer service, 19911.

Time. Saudi Arabia is 5 hours behind Manila: 9 am in Riyadh is 2 pm in Manila.

Going home on holiday? See Balik Manggagawa.

Riyals to pesos

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) publishes its lists of licensed money exchange centres and payment service providers. On 20 October 2026, only one exchange centre on SAMA’s list held the class of licence for money transfers inside and outside the Kingdom. Licensed payment companies are on SAMA’s other list. Check that whoever you use is on one of them. On that date the BSP reference rate was PHP 16.8136 per riyal. Our guide to sending money home works through a transfer’s fee and exchange-rate margin.