Hadaf support for professional certificates: the rules | Hespah LLC [Skip to main content](#main-content)[![Hespah LLC](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/home_logolight_file2png.webp)](/en)Search More [Home](/en) [Learning Hub](/en/courses) [About us](https://hespah.com/who-we-are) [Blog](/en/blog) [Contact Us](/en/contact) Login[New Account](/en/register) 1. [Home](/en) / 2. [Blog](/en/blog) / 3. Hadaf support for professional certificates: rules and refunds Hadaf support for professional certificates: rules and refunds ============================================================== 2026-10-30 / 9 hours ago A Saudi accountant pays the exam fee out of pocket first, then claims it back once the certificate is in hand. That is the shape of Hadaf support for professional certificates: reimbursement after the fact, with a published ceiling per certificate and two claims per person for life. What is Hadaf support for professional certificates? ---------------------------------------------------- It is a Human Resources Development Fund product that reimburses a Saudi citizen for training costs and exam fees after earning a professional certificate on the fund list. The money lands in the IBAN registered on the beneficiary account, capped per certificate. The fund launched this service on 1 July 2019, and applying costs nothing. Hadaf support for professional certificates pays after the certificate exists, because the fund never pays a training provider up front. In a fund news release dated 12 March 2025, the supported list had reached 268 certificates, 13,065 citizens had used the product the previous year, and reimbursements came to roughly 114.4 million riyals. The list moves, since the fund states it may change with labour market needs. Therefore check the certificate card before you commit to a long training programme; at Hespah Academy we walk through it with anyone asking about a certificate route. The eight eligibility conditions -------------------------------- The product page publishes eight conditions: 1. The beneficiary holds Saudi nationality. 2. The certificate or licence sits on the list the Human Resources Development Fund approves. 3. The holder earned the certificate after its approval date in the product. 4. The applicant declares that their employer did not pay the certificate costs. 5. No individual uses the product more than twice. 6. The certificate stays valid and unexpired, with no more than six months since its approval. 7. Membership fees stay outside what the fund covers, whether mandatory or not. 8. No membership-fee invoice joins the file for any approved certificate. Condition four closes a common door: if your company paid the exam fee, you cannot bill the fund. Likewise condition five sets a career-long ceiling rather than an annual one. Claim twice and your share is spent, so a third request will not open. Six months is what sinks most claims ------------------------------------ The two pages on the fund site word this deadline differently. The eligibility bullet reads "no more than six months since its approval", whereas the FAQ settles it plainly: "the professional certificate has not passed 6 months from its issue date". Count from your certificate's issue date and file before that window closes (the product's approval date is one thing, your own issue date another). Besides the deadline, the system lets you register and pick a certificate before you hold it, then sends automatic reminders for eighteen months that stop once you upload it. The claim itself, however, needs a certificate in hand. ![Four conditions that govern a professional certificate reimbursement claim](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17933452830.jpg "Four conditions that govern a professional certificate reimbursement claim") Hadaf support for professional certificates: caps in finance and accounting --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Every certificate carries a card stating its reimbursement ceiling and the date it entered the product. The accounting and finance cards today: Certificate Awarding body Maximum reimbursement (SAR) Approved into the product VAT Specialist SOCPA training 8,050 · exam 4,600 April 2021 Accounting Technician SOCPA training 5,750 · exam 1,380 April 2021 SOCPA Fellowship SOCPA exam 30,000 May 2016 Professional Readiness of Accountants SOCPA 9,430 for the certificate September 2025 Professional Certificate in IFRS SOCPA 13,000 for the certificate March 2022 Public sector accounting standards CertPSAS SOCPA 12,700 for the certificate January 2024 Certified Internal Auditor CIA IIA training 3,357 · exam 4,643 May 2016 Chartered Financial Analyst CFA CFA training 14,500 · exam 15,900 August 2019 Certified Fraud Examiner CFE ACFE training 8,650 · exam 1,500 August 2019 Chartered Global Management Accountant CGMA CIMA 13,500 for the certificate May 2023 Introduction to Securities and Investment CME 1 Financial Academy 5,259 for the certificate May 2023 International Financial Compliance CME 2 Financial Academy 7,779 for the certificate May 2023 Wealth and Investment Management CME 4 Financial Academy 9,005 for the certificate May 2023 Corporate Finance Technical Foundations CME 5 Financial Academy 8,855 for the certificate May 2023 Financial Academy exams are the gateway to [registered functions at the Capital Market Authority](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cma-registered-functions-exams); for example, anyone aiming at a compliance seat usually starts with [the CME-2B exam](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cme-2b-exam-saudi-compliance). Notice that the VAT Specialist and Accounting Technician cards split training from exam, whereas the fellowship card names the exam alone. Consequently what you type into the two amount fields differs from one certificate to the next. How the fund calculates the amount reaching your account -------------------------------------------------------- Two rules run side by side in the programme text. The fund pays a fixed cost for the professional certificate, while it pays training at what the applicant actually paid, as long as the figure stays within the fund ceiling and you attach a payment receipt. For example, the fund's own two cases: pay 2000 riyals against a 3000-riyal ceiling and you get 2000 riyals back; pay 5000 riyals against the same 3000-riyal ceiling and you get 3000. In fact the ceiling never hands you more than you paid. The training and exam fields also need care. Take the programme's CIT example: the training ceiling is 1300 riyals and the exam ceiling 1200 riyals, where each figure goes in its own field once invoices separate the two. If the invoice carries no breakdown, the training centre must issue a note setting out the training value and the exam value, and you attach it alongside the invoices. A certificate from an institute outside the Kingdom converts at the central bank exchange rate on its invoice date. ![Two worked examples comparing the amount paid with the fund cap](https://centralcdn.hespah.com/uploads/emils/17933452831.jpg "Two worked examples comparing the amount paid with the fund cap") The refund route in Hadaf support for professional certificates, step by step ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The support mechanism on the service page runs in five steps: 1. Open an account on the Taqat national labour gateway, then request the service from the programme page. 2. Accept the programme terms electronically and sign consent to verification of the certificate. 3. Upload the claim with the certificate copy, the cost invoices, and the signed authorisation letter. 4. Wait for eligibility review and payment, because that takes 40 working days from the application date once requirements are complete. 5. Finally, receive the amount in the IBAN registered in the fund's e-services. Any edit to the documents restarts the clock as a new request. Therefore a missing attachment costs another forty working days. Attachments must also show the whole document, clear on every side. What Hadaf support for professional certificates will not pay ------------------------------------------------------------- - **Membership fees** fall outside the fund's cover, although applicants still attach their invoice, which breaches a published condition. - **A retaken exam** earns nothing, because the programme pays exam costs once, on passing. - **A single fellowship subject** earns no partial payment, whereas the fund accepts a claim on the fellowship certificate once it issues. - **A bank statement** cannot replace the invoice, since the programme accepts proof of payment through official invoices. Application instructions also warn against invoices without a logo or stamp, and against screenshots captured from an email or a browser, wording it as likely to "expose the request to rejection to a large degree". An invoice in the beneficiary's own name is an explicit condition in Hadaf support for professional certificates, not a formality. A published contradiction in the fellowship ceiling --------------------------------------------------- The application instructions on the programme page put the ceiling for SOCPA fellowship exam costs at 20,000 riyals, and they tell the applicant to enter the invoice total in the exam field and zero in the training field. However, the certificate card on the same list announces 30,000 riyals for the exam. Both figures sit on the fund site today. Anyone preparing for [the Saudi fellowship exams](https://hespah.com/en/blog/socpa-fellowship-exam-guide) should therefore read the certificate card before entering amounts, and ask the programme inbox about the gap. Certificates accountants ask about that are not on the list ----------------------------------------------------------- The awarding bodies in Hadaf support for professional certificates include SOCPA, CFA, IIA, ACFE, CISI, CIMA, the Financial Academy, the Saudi Bar Association and dozens more. The list does not, however, include the Institute of Management Accountants or ACCA, and a search of the certificate list for CMA or ACCA returns nothing. Anyone planning [the CMA](https://hespah.com/en/blog/cma-certification-saudi-accountant) or [the DipIFR diploma](https://hespah.com/en/blog/dipifr-acca-eligibility-exam-dates) should budget for it personally, although the list changes, so the question deserves asking again later. FAQs on Hadaf support for professional certificates --------------------------------------------------- ### Do I need a training course to qualify for reimbursement? No. The programme reimburses the professional certificate without requiring prior training. Training cost stays claimable within the card ceiling whenever you attach its invoice. ### Does claiming affect my eligibility for other fund programmes? No. The FAQ states that using this product does not affect a beneficiary's eligibility for the other support programmes the fund offers. ### How long does payment take? 40 working days from the application date with every requirement complete. Editing the documents, however, recalculates that period again as a new request. ### Who verifies the certificate? Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University is the authorised body for verifying professional certificates. Accordingly the system asks for written consent to verification, uploaded with the certificate. ### Can I claim two certificates in one month? Yes, the programme allows claims for two different certificates in one month. The uploaded file must stay under 5 megabytes, while the published enquiries number is 8001222030. Sources ------- - Human Resources Development Fund: [the professional certificates product](https://www.hrdf.org.sa/products-and-services/programs/individuals/training/professional-certificates/) · eligibility, FAQs, certificate list and ceilings. - Human Resources Development Fund: [direct support request for professional certificates and licences](https://www.hrdf.org.sa/products-and-services/programs/individuals/training/professional-certificates/direct-support/) · mechanism, steps, payment time. - Human Resources Development Fund: [268 professional certificates supported under the product](https://www.hrdf.org.sa/media-center/news/general/hrdf-supported-professional-certifications/) · news release, 12 March 2025. This article is for general information. It does not replace the official sources or advice from a specialist before you take any action. 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