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 quarterly Investment Policy Monitor (since 2009) and the UNCTAD-OECD Reports on G20 Measures.

    In 2011, to further strengthen the quality of reporting, UNCTAD revised the methodology of monitoring investment policy measures. and revised the measures going back to 2000 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 growth and development.

  • Note: the policy measures are identified through a systematic review of government and business intelligence sources. 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.

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