Saudi investor visa and Iqama, for the person who runs the company.

Yes, on the visiting investor e-visa, a business visit visa for exploring opportunities and meeting partners.

Since 6 November 2023, when MISA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened it to every country, applicants of all nationalities apply online.

No, unlike a standard business visit visa.

Yes. It is meant for exploring the market before you invest.

No. Work needs a work visa and residency.

It depends on the visa issued; published descriptions vary, so we confirm terms at application.

Yes, though most formation steps are done remotely by power of attorney anyway.

Meetings, yes; many banks prefer the signatory to hold an Iqama before opening. See corporate bank accounts.

Yes, as investor or general manager on a senior-profession visa, then an Iqama.

The Saudi residence permit for foreign nationals, linked to a sponsor such as your company.

For the work visa, MISA lists the general manager, CEO and chairman of the board. Its exit and re-entry services add the investor.

A valid CR naming the GM, a valid MISA registration and an active labour file on Qiwa. The work permit follows once you have entered.

Yes. The report goes electronically to the passports directorate before the Iqama.

Yes, an electronic certificate is required.

MISA estimates one working day for each residency service once its requirements are met. The waiting sits in the visa, the medical and the insurance.

The Jawazat platform companies use to manage foreign staff residency. MISA routes senior-profession Iqamas and exit and re-entry visas through it, and investors through Absher.

Yes. The manager needn’t be a shareholder, but the CR must name them.

Yes, biometrics are recorded for investors and managers.

Yes. Many owners are sponsored by their own company as general manager.

Yes. Investors and senior professionals sponsor their spouse and children.

Your Iqama and passport, the company records, two Chamber-certified letters, and authenticated marriage and birth certificates with the family’s passports.

Yes, a levy per dependant. We confirm the current rate when we plan your file.

Yes, on family visit visas for senior professionals.

MISA’s guide has a service that moves an adult dependant onto an independent residence permit; for a son over 18 it asks for proof of education.

Yes, under their Iqamas.

Yes, through the relevant passports procedures.

From a Convention country, yes; elsewhere they are legalised through the Saudi embassy. See attestation and apostille.

A residency programme run by the Premium Residency Center that isn’t tied to an employer. It offers limited-duration and unlimited-duration residency plus five tracks added in January 2024: special talent, gifted, investor, entrepreneur and real estate owner.

The limited-duration product is paid yearly and the unlimited one once. The newer tracks have their own terms, and the Premium Residency Center publishes the current fees.

Yes. The Center’s criteria ask for a MISA-registered stake worth at least SAR 7 million, proof the capital was paid in, and ten jobs within your share, kept for the first two years.

Yes, for founders with a MISA entrepreneurship registration. Its criteria cover funding from investors the Center approves, your ownership share and the jobs the business creates.

For executives, researchers and health or science specialists with a Saudi employer who meet the track’s salary criteria.

Yes. MISA’s guide exempts holders from submitting the foreign commercial registration, the ID copy and the financial statements.

Yes, and MISA asks them for fewer documents.

We explain the options and prepare the business side. The application goes to the Premium Residency Center.

The main charges are the visa, the work permit, the Iqama fee, the monthly levies and health insurance. The total moves most with the number of dependants and the period you renew for.

A monthly levy on each foreign worker, charged at a lower rate where foreign staff don’t outnumber Saudis. We confirm the current rate before you apply. See GOSI and Qiwa.

Periodically, with fees and levies paid for the period. We calendar each date.

Fines apply and services and travel are blocked until renewal.

A replacement is issued; a fine can apply.

A company in a low Nitaqat band can be restricted from some services, so keeping its band healthy protects renewals.

The sponsoring company. Article 40 of the Labour Law puts Iqama, work permit and exit and re-entry fees on the employer, including for an owner employed as general manager.

Yes. Under Council of Ministers Resolution No. 325, work permits and the linked Iqama can be renewed quarterly instead of for a full year.

Yes, an exit and re-entry visa through Absher or Muqeem.

Cancelling one that has gone unused for more than three months carries a penalty, so we track the dates for you.

Once 31 days have passed since the return visa expired, the company can cancel the Iqama, and a fine applies.

With a final exit visa. If the company carries on, MISA asks for proof of your exit and a replacement signatory. Our PRO and compliance service handles that handover.

Yes, through the occupation change service with Qiwa approval.

Yes, by sponsorship transfer with the previous employer’s release.

Not by itself; it depends on your nationality and their visa rules. Readers in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh will find their own steps on our country pages.