Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Introduced premium residency for investors and entrepreneurs

10 Jan 2024

On 10 January 2024, the Government of Saudi Arabia introduced five premium residency products to attract investors, skilled professionals and entrepreneurs. It offers foreign nationals the ability to become temporary or permanent residents. While some visas may require sponsorship to enter Saudi Arabia, premium residency does not. Interested individuals can apply at their discretion, making the application for the visa entirely self-sponsored, a common trend surging in the Middle East. The five new premium residency categories are Special Talent, Gifted, Investor, Entrepreneur, and Real Estate Owner Residency. Among them, the 'Investor' Residency caters to individuals keen on exploring Saudi Arabia's burgeoning business opportunities and generating impactful economic returns. The 'Entrepreneur' Residency is aimed at ambitious entrepreneurs and innovative project owners, encouraging them to develop their start-ups within the nation. These products offer a range of benefits such as conducting business, investing, owning real estate, and obtaining work permits for themselves and family members.

  • UNCTAD has been collecting information on changes in national foreign direct investment (FDI) policies on an annual basis since 1992. This collection has provided input to the analysis of global and regional investment policy trends in the World Investment Report, the Investment Policy Monitors and the UNCTAD-OECD Reports on G20 Measures.

    In 2024, to further strengthen the quality of reporting, UNCTAD revised the methodology of monitoring investment policy measures. and revised the measures going back to 2012 accordingly.

    The Investment Policy Monitor provides the international investment community with country-specific, up-to-date information about the latest developments in foreign investment policies.

    Through its monitoring of investment policy changes, UNCTAD offers cutting-edge and innovative contributions to investment policy discourse, and contributes to preparing the ground for future policymaking in the interest of making foreign investment work for sustainable development.

  • The UNCTAD's Investment Policy Monitor database include official measures affecting FDI adopted by United Nations Member States. These encompass measures explicitly targeting FDI (FDI-specific), as well as general investment measures with a clear impact on foreign investment (FDI-related). The measures are either reported directly to UNCTAD by Member States through annual surveys or identified by UNCTAD researchers through publicly accessible sources (such as government websites and specialized policy databases). The classification of measures as more or less favourable is based solely on their potential impact on investors.

    Note: Measures are verified, to the fullest extent possible, by referencing government sources. The compilation of measures is not exhaustive.

    Disclaimer: the boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

Latest publications

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19 Dec 2024

A practitioner's guide to investment laws

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17 Dec 2024

Investment Policy Monitor, Issue No 29: Investment Laws: Key trends and developments

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02 Dec 2024

Investment Dispute Settlement Navigator: full ISDS data release as of 31/12/2023 (in excel format)

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