What is Premium Residency in Saudi Arabia?
The Saudi Premium Residency is a residential permit granted to any non-GCC citizen allowing them to work, live, own property, and operate a business independently. Before this system, any individual who wished to work in the country must be sponsored, where a Saudi citizen would recruit the worker and be responsible for their migration. In the new program, this is no longer required, and interested parties can apply for the visa on the government’s website directly.
Why the Saudi PR Matters?
Why opt for premium residency instead of a standard Iqama or an Investor Visa? In the next section, we’ll dive into the unique advantages of premium residency and why it might be the right choice for you.
Standard Residency vs Premium Residency
Aspect | Standard Residency | Premium Residency |
|---|---|---|
Renewal | Must be renewed annually for SAR +10,000/worker plus dependents’ fee.* *(See below section) | Most PRs are renewable every 5 years for SAR 4,000 (~$1100) for the entire family. Lifetime Residency: No renewal required. |
Sponsorship | Requires a Saudi sponsor (person or company). Can only work for one sponsor and changing sponsors requires approval (cost: SAR 2,000–6,000). Dependents are not allowed to work | No sponsor required. Freedom to work multiple jobs, or consult. Dependents (spouse, children) can also work. |
Real Estate | Can own one home (with security approvals) but cannot rent it. Selling incurs 10–15% taxes. | Can buy, sell, or rent properties (personal, commercial, agricultural, etc.), except in Makkah and Madinah where limitations apply. |
Business Activity | Cannot start a business. Investor Visa requires proof of an existing company in their home country. Residency depends on the business; shutting it down means leaving Saudi Arabia. | Can start businesses with no requirements to have an existing company at the home country. However, fees and taxes align with foreign investor policies after establishment. Residency is independent of business status. |
Dependents’ Fees | Monthly fees: SAR 400 (~$110) per dependent, | Exempt from dependent fees. |
Exit-Entry Visas | SAR 200 (~$55) per dependent for each exit/entry. | No fees for exit or re-entry. Freedom to travel without restrictions. |
PR Categories
Saudi Arabia offers two tracks, each with separate subcategories that serve as pathways to premium residency:
Track 1: Financing Premium Residency
Introduced in 2018, this option has two paths to acquire PR
Path 1: Lifetime PR with a one-time fee of SAR 800,000 (~$213,000) OR
Path 2: Annual PR with a fee of SAR 100,000/year (~$27,000/year)
Track 2: Earning Premium Residency
Launched in 2024, this is a merit-based option, where premium residency can be acquired based on your skills and accomplishments. This costs only 4,000 SAR for the entire family for 5 years.
Following are the five paths for this track.
Path 1- Special Talent Residency:
Special Talent Residency focuses on skilled workers contributing their intellectual talents. This can be availed by two Categories
Category 1: Executives (usually of corporates, multinational firms, listed firms etc.)
- Option 1: 5-year residency: If the monthly salary is SAR 35,000+.(~$9,350)
- Option 2: Lifetime residency If the monthly salary is SAR 80,000+ (~$21,300)
Category 2: Researchers, Healthcare, and Scientific Professionals :
A-Researchers:
- Employed by whitelisted entities with priority specializations, with a monthly salary of SAR 14,000+ ~($3800) and 3+ years of experience.
B- Healthcare & Scientific Professionals
- Employed by whitelisted entities with priority specializations, with a monthly salary of SAR 35,000+ (~$9,350) and 3+ years of experience.
Path 2- Entrepreneur Residency:
One of the golden opportunities to gain residency in Saudi, this targets founders of innovative tech startups. This category offers both a 5-year residency program and a lifetime one, the details of which will be discussed in a later article.
To be eligible for entrepreneur residency, the company must have a valid entrepreneurial license and an established company in Saudi. To learn more about this license and how to obtain it, you can read our previous article: Saudi Entrepreneurship License at a Glance
Path 3- Investor Residency:
The only category that provides for-life residency from day one, the investor residency applies to Business Owners/investors who injected SAR 7 million (~$1.9M) & created 10+ jobs in Saudi within the first two years.
Path 4- Real Estate Owner Residency:
Available to individuals owning residential property in Saudi Arabia worth at least SAR 4 million ~($1.1M). The property must be fully paid for (no bank loans) and cannot be undeveloped or empty land. The residency is valid as long as property ownership is retained.
Path 5- Gifted Residency:
For exceptional talent in sports, culture, or the arts, such as soccer players, actors, and musicians. Applicants must have received specific international awards, like the Nobel Prize or an Oscar, recognized by the relevant Saudi ministry.
Saudi Expansion Series
This article is part of the Saudi Expansion series, where we aim to educate international entrepreneurs and business owners on Saudi Arabia's foreign investment regime for a smooth landing. This article is written by Tawaref, a tech investment community that finances top regional startups and offers entrepreneurial services.