In short: Ministry of Labour decisions state that the recruitment cost covers a two-year contract and includes fees, taxes and expenses, among them the insurance policy premium, residence permit issuance fees and any other costs. The work permit fee is a separate amount issued under its own regulation.
What causes most confusion in this sector is not the size of the amount but what it covers. The answer is in the text of the decisions themselves, not in each office’s interpretation.
What the decisions state
The recruitment cost is fixed by Ministry of Labour decision under Article 9 of Regulation No. 63 of 2020, which governs offices recruiting non-Jordanian domestic workers.
The decisions state that the costs apply to a contract of two years and include fees, taxes and expenses, among them the insurance policy premium, residence permit issuance fees and any other costs.
That sentence is the most useful thing you can know about the cost. It means those items are not later add-ons — they are inside the amount already.
Why two columns
Official tables show two amounts per nationality: one collected from the household in the ordinary case, and one from a household exempt from work permit fees.
The gap between them is not a discount granted by the office. The work permit fee is issued under its own regulation and has exemption cases with their own eligibility conditions, administered by the competent authority.
Three different amounts people confuse
| Item | Who sets it | Who collects it |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment cost | Ministerial decision | The office |
| Work permit fee | Permit fees regulation | The government |
| Medical examination | Ministry of Health | The health provider |
Merging these into a single figure makes comparing offices impossible, and makes it hard to tell whether you are being charged something extra.
See the official cost table for the amounts per nationality.