Licences · Ministry of Investment
The MISA licence you have read about no longer exists in that form. Since February 2025 foreign investors register their investment with MISA instead. The registration is still required before a Commercial Registration, a bank account or an investor visa. It still has fees and deadlines, and some activities carry extra conditions.
Answered within one working day
10 working daysMISA’s estimate for a complete file
Certificates on fileMISA examples in our portfolio
From any countryFiled online under power of attorney
5.0 on GoogleLahore office, 6 reviews
The short answer
MISA investment registration is the Ministry of Investment’s record of a foreign investor’s right to invest in specific activities in Saudi Arabia, and since the Investment Law took effect in February 2025 it has replaced the MISA licence. Every foreign investor still needs it before forming a company.
So the answer is: not the licence, but the registration. Banks and older guides still say “MISA licence”, and they mean the registration certificate MISA issues now. It is the first filing in every route on our Saudi company formation services list, right after the documents.
From MISA’s guide
The eight activities below carry special conditions under MISA’s rules: a minimum capital, a minimum Saudi share or an extra approval. Most other activities, software and IT included, need no MISA minimum capital at all. We transcribed the table from section 5.1.1 of MISA’s Investor Guide (13th edition, 2026).
| Activity | Minimum capital | Minimum Saudi share | Additional condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial activity with a Saudi partner | SAR 26,666,667 | 25% | None listed |
| Commercial activity, 100% foreign | SAR 30,000,000 | None | Presence in at least 3 regional or global markets, plus five-year investment and Saudi training commitments (section 5.1.3) |
| Communications activities | None listed | 40% | None listed |
| Supporting communications activities | None listed | 30% | None listed |
| Professional activities with a Saudi partner | None listed | 25% | Both partners licensed in the same field; a non-professional partner holds 30% at most |
| Engineering consultancy, 100% foreign | None listed | None | Presence in 4 countries and 10 years of experience |
| Legal activity, 100% foreign | None listed | None | Approval letter from the Ministry of Justice |
| Recruitment and domestic worker rental | None listed | None | Home CR issued at least 2 years earlier, 3 years of embassy-certified accounts, a list of contracted entities, a clean-record certificate and a declaration on past licences |
The 12th edition (2025) also listed real estate development at SAR 30 million per project; the 13th edition dropped that row, so older guides quoting it are out of date. Separately, the ministerial committee that examines foreign investments keeps a list of activities closed to foreign investors altogether. We check your activity against both lists before filing. Trading has its own page: trading licence.
How a MISA file moves
MISA investment registration moves in five steps, from the activity check to the Commercial Registration, and MISA estimates ten working days to process a complete file. Preparing the documents abroad takes longer than MISA’s review.
Your business is matched to ISIC activity codes and checked against the special categories and excluded list.
Result: a written plan and fixed quote
The foreign shareholder’s commercial registration and last year’s financial statements are certified for Saudi use and translated.
Result: a filing-ready file
The registration is filed on MISA’s e-services portal (eservices.investsaudi.sa) with any activity-specific requirements, and queries are answered.
Result: an application under review
MISA approves and notifies the fee, which is paid inside 15 business days so the registration stays valid.
Result: your registration certificate
The Commercial Registration follows, and the annual update goes in your calendar.
Result: a company on its way
MISA’s list
MISA’s core document list is short: a company shareholder’s commercial registration and last year’s financial statements, plus anything its activity adds; an individual files a passport. We add a board resolution and a power of attorney, which the articles and the filing need. The work is in getting each paper into the form MISA accepts, and the papers come from the attestation and apostille stage. You send us PDFs first; originals are needed only where the apostille requires them. Premium Residency holders skip the foreign commercial registration, the ID copy and the financial statements.
Commercial registration of the foreign companyCertified for Saudi use
Its parent company’s registrationOnly if the parent has a different nationality
Financial statements for the last fiscal yearCertified for Saudi use
Activity-specific requirementsFrom MISA’s section 5 tables
Board resolutionApproving the Saudi investment; we use it for the articles
PassportFor each foreign individual
ID for GCC partnersIf their details are not on Absher
Power of attorneySo the application can be filed for you
The fine print
MISA registration trips up first-time applicants in two places: the 15-business-day window to pay the fee MISA notifies on approval, and the follow-on updates, each with its own deadline.
Several guides now say MISA registration is free. That isn’t what MISA’s guide says: the applicant commits to pay a registration fee that MISA sets on approval, within 15 business days of being notified. Miss the window and the registration is treated as void.
What did disappear is the old licence fee and the cycle of licence renewals. The annual update replaces them, again with a fee MISA notifies.
Ownership changes, new activities, register mergers and data updates are separate MISA services. The guide lists no fees for them. Most take an estimated five working days, while an open activity or a change of name, legal form, location or capital increase goes through immediately.
Two deadlines matter: an ownership change must reach the CR within 30 days, or MISA may revert its record; a new location or account manager must be reported within ten working days. Our compliance service tracks both.
Before and after
The Investment Law, in force since February 2025, replaced the Foreign Investment Law of 2000 and turned the MISA licence into a registration kept current by an annual update. The table shows what else changed.
| Question | MISA licence (before 2025) | Investment registration (since 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Foreign Investment Law of 2000 | Investment Law, in force February 2025 |
| What you hold | A licence with an expiry date | A registration kept current by annual update |
| Fees | Licence fee and renewals | Registration fee notified on approval; annual update fee |
| Foreign and Saudi investors | Separate regime | Equal treatment, with listed exceptions |
| Changes | Licence amendments | Online amendments, most with no fee |
Simpler, not optional. If you still hold a licence from before 2025, make sure its annual updates are current under the new system.
Examples
Muhammad Shayan Shahzad’s MISA file was filed from Pakistan under a power of attorney, and he never had to visit the Kingdom. Two of our files for Pakistani shareholders went from MISA to CR in 25 and 114 days; the route is set out on our MISA registration from Pakistan page and in our guide to setting up a Saudi company from Pakistan. Below: two MISA certificates we have handled, client details removed.
"Highly streamlined process. Really apprciate the efforts that made my all process very easy that I dont need to visit KSA. Thank You. Highly recommended."
Ways to use us
We handle MISA registration as stage one of a full company formation, on its own, or as the annual update and amendments for a company already registered. Most investors take the first route, because the CR follows straight after MISA approves.
With formation
Registration as stage one of your LLC or branch, through to a CR and activation.
For investors starting from scratch.
Quote formation with MISAMISA only
For investors whose CR and activation are handled by another adviser.
For investors with a Saudi adviser lined up.
Quote MISA onlyUpkeep
Annual update, ownership or activity amendments, mergers and data changes.
For companies already registered.
Quote an updateMoney
The cost of MISA registration comes from MISA’s own fee, set on approval; notary and apostille fees in your country; certified Arabic translation; and our fixed fee. After that, MISA charges a fee for each annual update, which it notifies when the update is due. Our own fee is fixed for the agreed scope; how we work shows what it covers.
MISA questions · 50
Answered from MISA’s Investor Guide (13th edition, 2026) and the Investment Law’s Implementing Regulations.
The licence the Ministry of Investment issued under the old Foreign Investment Law. Since February 2025 it has been replaced by investment registration, which many people still call the MISA licence.
The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia. Before 2020 it was SAGIA, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.
Foreign companies and individuals investing in a Saudi company or branch.
No. MISA registers the investment; the Ministry of Commerce issues the Commercial Registration that forms the company. See Commercial Registration.
The Investment Law (Royal Decree M/19 of 16/01/1446H), which took effect 180 days after its publication, and its Implementing Regulations, which entered into force on the same day.
Yes, once the registration is approved and paid.
Yes: for an excluded activity, an unmet special condition, or incomplete or misleading information.
Wholly Saudi-owned companies don’t, and GCC nationals are treated like Saudis in many activities. Foreign ownership is what triggers registration.
Yes. The foreign parent registers before the branch CR is issued. See branch registration.
MISA investment registration doesn’t expire like the old licence, but it must be updated every year or it can lapse.
Yes. A foreign individual can invest and register; the passport replaces company papers.
Activities on the prohibited list, issued by the standing ministerial committee that examines foreign investments, are closed to foreign investment. We check yours against the current list before filing.
Among others, commercial activity at the lower capital level (25%), communications (40%), supporting communications (30%) and professional firms set up with a Saudi partner (25%).
SAR 30 million capital and presence in three regional or global markets. Section 5.1.3 adds a five-year commitment to invest at least SAR 300 million, or SAR 200 million plus a local manufacturing, research or logistics target, and to train 30% of Saudi staff each year.
For 100% foreign ownership, presence in four countries and at least ten years of experience.
For 100% foreign ownership, an approval letter from the Ministry of Justice.
MISA’s entrepreneurial category covers innovative or emerging-technology startups with a support letter from a Saudi university or accredited incubator.
Yes. They don’t submit the foreign commercial registration, ID copy or financial statements.
MISA’s guide refers to Saudi embassy certification. Since Saudi Arabia joined the Apostille Convention with effect from 7 December 2022, documents from member countries are apostilled instead: India, Pakistan (from March 2023) and Bangladesh (from March 2025) among them. UAE, Qatari and Kuwaiti papers still go through the embassy. See attestation and apostille.
The foreign company’s statements for its last fiscal year, certified for Saudi use.
No. Company accounts apply to company shareholders.
Documents filed with Saudi authorities are generally filed with a certified Arabic translation.
Under the 2026 guide: a home CR issued at least two years before applying, three years of embassy-certified accounts, a list of the entities it contracts with, a certificate that no partner has a ruling against them for labour or trafficking violations, and a declaration on revoked licences in the last five years.
Only if their details are not already on Absher.
Not in its core list. Special categories and some activities bring their own requirements instead.
Yes, if they are recent. We prepare one set with enough certified copies.
MISA estimates ten working days for a complete application.
No. There is no licence fee any more, but MISA notifies a registration fee on approval.
Within 15 business days of notification, or the registration is void.
The annual update carries a fee MISA notifies, payable within 15 business days.
The guide lists no fee for ownership or activity amendments, mergers, data updates or cancellation.
Five working days for ownership changes, mergers and restricted activities. An open activity, or a change of name, legal form, location or a capital increase, goes through immediately. Each cancellation step takes two working days.
MISA sets a fee for the whole registration period on approval, payable within 30 days.
Yes, when MISA raises questions or the activity needs another authority. Answering queries the same day keeps it short.
Yes, on MISA’s portal, under a power of attorney.
A yearly update of the company’s data, with any fee MISA notifies. The 2026 guide adds a condition: the foreign shareholder’s commercial registration at home must still be valid.
Through MISA’s ownership amendment with a partners’ resolution, then the CR within 30 days.
Through MISA’s activity amendment, meeting any special condition, then the CR.
Yes, except categories such as RHQs, scientific and economic offices and professional companies.
The person MISA sends notices to. A change must be reported within ten working days.
Report the new location to MISA within ten working days.
The registration can lapse, and trading on a lapsed registration is a violation.
Yes, and companies have 14 working days to return them.
Check first. The 2026 guide dropped the old MISA approval for company-owned property and added a separate registration for non-Saudi companies that own Saudi real estate, so we confirm the route for your property before you buy.
Investing without registration, practising a restricted activity without approval, changing ownership of a restricted activity without approval, misleading information, or obstructing an inspector.
Trading on a lapsed registration, not providing requested documents, or not reporting a move or account manager change within ten working days.
MISA may restore its previous record after 30 days.
After the CR is cancelled and the ZATCA number closed, MISA issues a voluntary cancellation decision, provided staff are cleared and activity has stopped.
No, it is the last step. The company’s CR and tax records are closed first.
Usually by reapplying or completing the missed update. Trading in the meantime is a violation.
References
We read the MISA guide in full and opened each other source before citing it.
Start your file
We reply within one working day with eligibility, the documents for your country and a fixed fee.
What comes next
Foreign-owned LLC formationYour own Saudi company, owned from abroad.Go to Foreign-owned LLC →
Commercial Registration (CR)Forming the company with the Ministry of Commerce.Go to Commercial Registration (CR) →
Trading licence and trading company setupImport, wholesale, retail and e-commerce.Go to Trading licence →
Document attestation and apostilleHome-country papers made valid in Saudi Arabia.Go to Attestation & apostille →From our guides: how to form a company in Saudi Arabia from Pakistan
Setting up from your country: from Pakistan · from India · from Bangladesh
