Saudi Arabia · Business & founder
Premium Residency — Business Investor and Entrepreneur
Two of the five products introduced on 17 January 2024. The Investor product grants permanent status immediately, though it stays conditional for the first two years pending job creation.
The investor route converts a real operating commitment into permanent status. That is the point. It is not a passive product. The 10-job requirement is an ongoing operating obligation, and permanent status is revocable during the conditional period if you miss it.
Qualifying routes
Minimum SAR 7m investment, roughly USD 1.87m, plus creation of at least 10 jobs within 2 years. Permanent residency is granted immediately but stays conditional for the first 2 years.
SAR 400,000 in a licensed startup with approved venture funding. The term is 5 years, renewable once. The startup gets a 3-year Saudization exemption.
SAR 15m in a startup leads to permanent residency. Warning: sources materially conflict on the associated job-creation and equity terms, with figures ranging from 10 jobs in year one to 20 jobs over two years, and from 5% to 10% equity. Confirm directly with the Premium Residency Center before relying on any figure.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- 400k SAR
- Total landed cost
- SAR 4,000 government application fee, plus roughly USD 170 PRC assessment fee. The products themselves are cheap to apply for. The real cost is the underlying investment and the ongoing payroll obligation.
- Route type
- Business & founder
- Timeline
- 2–4 months (Investor tracks typically take 8–14 weeks, reflecting the time needed to verify capital and licences. Confidence is medium here, drawn from advisory sources rather than a published PRC service standard.)
- Physical presence
- None published
- Family
- SpouseChildrenParents
- Permanent residency
- Immediate for the SAR 7m investor and SAR 15m entrepreneur routes, conditional on meeting job-creation obligations
- Citizenship
- Effectively none
- Language test
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted. You would have to renounce.
- Requirements
- Licensed investment in the KingdomJob creation, for the investor tierA clean criminal recordProof of financial solvencyA medical report
- The 10-job requirement is a real, enforceable payroll obligation, not a formality. Permanent status is conditional for the first two years.
- The terms for Entrepreneur Tier 2 (SAR 15m) are genuinely unresolved. Fragomen, Deloitte and Vialto do not agree on them. Do not quote job or equity terms to a client without confirming them with the PRC first.
- SAR 7m plus 10 Saudi jobs is a much heavier commitment than SAR 800,000 for the permanent tier, which asks for nothing operational in return. Most families should compare the two before assuming the investor route is the serious option. Often, it is the worse deal.
- Prices and product terms can be adjusted by CEDA through administrative decision.