Serving Saudi Arabia & the GCC • 
Recruiting from Pakistan • Govt. Licensed OEP-0664-Rawalpindi
The medical test is the stage where the most applications fail, and it is the stage workers are given the least accurate information about. Most of what circulates is second-hand: a cousin who was declared unfit for “blood pressure”, a rumour that one centre is easier than another, a belief that a result can be retaken somewhere else the following week. Very little of it matches the published rules.
The criteria are not a secret. They are set out in the Regulations of Medical Examination of Expatriates Coming to GCC States for Work or Residence, approved by the GCC Health Ministers in Manama in October 2021 and published by the Gulf Health Council. This article follows that document.
GAMCA, Wafid and the Gulf Health Council
Three names are used for what is largely one system, which is part of the confusion.
GAMCA is the older name most Pakistani workers still use. The programme itself belongs to the Gulf Health Council, which accredits the medical centres and sets the standards. Wafid is the online platform that handles booking and results. When someone says “GAMCA medical” and someone else says “Wafid medical”, they are normally talking about the same examination.
Who has to take it
The regulation applies the examination to all expatriates coming to any GCC state for work or residence, with an exemption for those under the age of sixteen, whose vaccination card is submitted instead. It is not specific to Saudi Arabia — the same framework covers Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, which is why a result is recorded against the destination country you select when booking.
How the appointment is booked
Booking is done through wafid.com, where you select your country, your city, the GCC country you are travelling to, and an accredited centre. The platform currently offers a standard appointment and a premium appointment, the premium option allowing you to choose the specific centre and date; the published prices at the time of writing are ten and twenty-five US dollars respectively. Fees are set by the programme and change, so confirm the current amount at the time of booking rather than relying on a figure quoted to you.
You then receive a slip. Results are later published against your passport number, nationality and slip number, which matters for a reason covered further down.
What is actually examined
The examination has four parts: medical history, clinical examination, laboratory tests, and a psychological and mental status assessment.
The clinical examination covers height and weight, blood pressure, heart rate, visual acuity and colour vision, and then a systemic review. Colour vision is required to be normal, and certain occupations carry a visual acuity requirement — the regulation refers to roles requiring no less than 6/6 and 6/9, with or without glasses. Workers applying for driving and machinery roles are the ones most often caught by this and are rarely warned in advance.
The systemic review looks for, among other things, hernias — umbilical or inguinal — ascites, varicose veins in the legs, spinal deformities and herniated discs, chronic or infectious skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, chronic tinea and scabies, eye conditions including trachoma and conjunctivitis as well as cataracts and glaucoma, and hearing levels.
The laboratory tests
The standard panel includes ELISA testing for HIV I and II, Hepatitis B surface antigen and Anti-Hepatitis C; VDRL, with TPHA added if VDRL is positive; blood group and haemoglobin; a thick film for malaria and microfilaria; random blood sugar, liver function tests and creatinine; stool and culture testing; and a chest X-ray.
The official list of conditions that make you unfit
The regulation contains an explicit annex titled Medical Unfitness Cases. It is worth reading as written rather than as rumoured.
Under infectious diseases: a positive HIV result; a positive Hepatitis B surface antigen; a positive Anti-Hepatitis C; microfilaria and malaria; leprosy; and any abnormal changes on the chest X-ray, including active or past pulmonary tuberculosis, pulmonary cavitation, fibrosis or calcification, pleural effusion or condensation, and lymphadenopathy.
Under non-communicable diseases: renal failure; liver failure; heart failure; uncontrolled hypertension; uncontrolled diabetes; cancer of all types; psychological and neurological disorders; any distortion, amputation or physical disability impeding the performance of work; and haemoglobin below 7 g/dL.
Separately listed: pregnancy, where the applicant is applying for a work visa.
The two conditions most often misunderstood
Read the wording on hypertension and diabetes carefully, because a great deal of unnecessary worry comes from misreading it. The regulation lists uncontrolled hypertension and uncontrolled diabetes. Having either condition is not in itself listed as an unfitness case; being uncontrolled at examination is.
That distinction is worth acting on. A worker with a diagnosed condition who is on treatment and whose readings are stable is in a different position from one whose condition is untreated, and it is sensible to have that situation properly managed by a doctor before the appointment rather than to arrive and hope. This is a description of what the regulation says, not medical advice — that comes from your own physician.
The chest X-ray catches more than active tuberculosis
This is the single most under-explained cause of an unfit result. The annex does not limit itself to active tuberculosis. It reaches past pulmonary tuberculosis, and it separately lists fibrosis and calcification — the kind of scarring that an old, fully treated, long-resolved infection can leave behind on an image.
A worker who had tuberculosis years ago, completed treatment and has been entirely well since can still be declared unfit on the X-ray. It feels unjust to the person it happens to, and it is not a mistake by the centre; it is the criterion as published.
Pregnancy and the X-ray
Pregnancy is listed as an unfitness case where the application is for a work visa. The regulation also deals with the X-ray itself during pregnancy, providing for the position to be explained and consent obtained, and for the chest X-ray to be postponed until after the birth if the woman does not consent.
Why a centre will not bend the result
Workers sometimes assume a result can be negotiated, or that a different centre will record something different. It cannot, and the reason is structural rather than a matter of the staff being strict.
Results are recorded centrally against your passport and slip number, so they follow the applicant rather than the building. And the programme holds the examining centre accountable after the fact: the regulation sets out periods after the examination date during which action may be taken against a centre when a condition is subsequently identified — six months for tuberculosis, three months for HIV, Hepatitis B and C and mental illness, two months for leprosy and pregnancy, and one month for malaria.
In other words, a centre that passed someone it should not have is exposed for months afterwards. No accredited centre has any incentive to do a recruiter or an applicant a favour.
How long the result lasts
A medical result does expire, and an expired result means repeating the examination before the visa can be issued. Different periods are quoted widely online and they do not agree with one another, so treat any number you read — including on recruitment websites — as something to confirm rather than rely on. Ask the accredited centre and the employer’s visa agent what applies to your destination and your case, and sequence the medical so it does not expire while other paperwork is still moving.
That sequencing is a real cause of avoidable cost. A medical taken too early, before attestations and visa issuance are on track, is money spent twice.
Sensible preparation
Nothing here is about influencing a result, which is neither possible nor worth attempting. It is about not failing on avoidable grounds:
- Bring the passport you will travel on, and check the name matches your other documents exactly.
- Bring your appointment slip and the photographs the centre specifies.
- Follow the centre’s fasting instructions if it gives any, since blood sugar and liver function are in the panel.
- Declare medication you take, and bring documentation for a diagnosed condition that is being managed.
- If you wear glasses or lenses, bring them — the acuity standard allows for correction.
- Deal with a treatable minor condition, such as a skin infection, before you attend rather than after an unfit result.
Where this sits in the process
The medical falls after selection and before visa stamping. It is one stage in a longer sequence, and the stages before it determine whether it is done at the right moment — our recruitment process page sets out the order, and the Saudi work visa guide shows where the medical falls for the most common destination. The Saudi Arabia page covers the sectors we recruit for there.
How we handle this stage
Al Abbasi Enterprises is licensed as an Overseas Employment Promoter under licence OEP-0664-Rawalpindi. We schedule the medical in sequence rather than in advance of the paperwork that has to precede it, we tell candidates what the panel covers before they attend, and where a result comes back unfit we say so plainly rather than moving the candidate quietly to another centre.
If you are unsure when your medical should be booked, or what an existing condition means for your application, the frequently asked questions cover the common cases and you can contact our Rawalpindi office.