Saudi Arabia offers expats permanent residency for US$213,000
Saudi Arabia is offering a permanent residency program for expats that will be charged at US$ 213,000 (SAR 800,000). The Premium Residency Center (PRC), which manages the initiative, began receiving applications for the new residency system through the electronic platform SAPRC (saprc.gov.sa) recently.
Saudi Arabia offers expats permanent residency for US$213,000
DUBAI – “ASWAQ”
Saudi Arabia is offering a permanent residency program for expats that will be charged at US$ 213,000 (SAR 800,000). The Premium Residency Center (PRC), which manages the initiative, began receiving applications for the new residency system through the electronic platform SAPRC (saprc.gov.sa) recently.
The new residency scheme, designed to attract foreign investment to the Kingdom, offers two types of residencies, a permanent one for SAR 800,000 (US$213,000) and a one year but renewable residency for SAR100,000 (US$27,000).
According to the PRC website, the residencies are named Unlimited Duration Premium Residency (SP-1) and Limited Duration Premium Residency (SP-2). The previous unofficial terms used for these residencies include Special Privilege Iqama and Saudi Green Card.
The law for premium residency was approved in May earlier this year, although the idea was first mooted in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as a part of his plan to reduce the economy’s reliance on oil and boost foreign direct investment (FDI).
The premium residency will allow holders to work in Saudi Arabia without a Saudi sponsor (commonly known as kafeel), own real estate, ability to travel out of Saudi without an exit re-entry visa, hire domestic workers and obtain visit visa for their relatives.
Currently over 10 million expats work and live in Saudi Arabia under a system that requires them to be sponsored by a Saudi employer and be issued an exit and re-entry visa whenever they want to leave the country.
PRC’s website has the complete list of rights and privileges that will be enjoyed by holders of premium residency, as stated:
1.Residence in the Kingdom with his/her family i.e. spouse(s), and children (Aged 21 and below);
- Visit visas for relatives;
- Recruitment of domestic workers from abroad according to his/her needs;
- Ownership of real estate for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes in Saudi except for Mecca, Medina and border areas;
- Usufruct rights on real property located in the cities of Mecca and Medina for a period not exceeding 99 years;
- Ownership of private means of transportation, and other movables;
- Working at private establishments with the ability to change jobs - this shall also extend to family members;
- Exiting and entering the Kingdom at his/her own accord;
- Use of lanes designated for Saudis at the Kingdom’s exit and entry points;
- Engagement in business activities, in accordance with the Foreign Investment Law.
Applications for premium residency are now available online, subject to the following conditions:
- Submitting a valid passport;
- The applicant must be at least 21 years of age;
- Providing proof of the applicant’s financial solvency;
- Submitting a criminal record that proves the applicant has no criminal precedents;
- Providing a medical report proving that the applicant has no communicable diseases;
- If applying from within the Kingdom, the applicant must be legally residing in the Kingdom.
The program is the latest among Gulf nations, with the UAE already granting wealthy foreigners 10-year stays, while Qatar passed a law that granted some permanent residencies. The move has prompted the Gulf nations to rethink the role of foreigners in their societies. It is a landmark move in a region where many foreign workers are subject to some of the world’s most restrictive residency rules.
While Saudi Arabia is seeking to encourage the affluent to stay, monthly fees imposed on foreign workers and their families, along with sluggish economic growth, have prompted hundreds of thousands of expatriates to leave. The levy is designed to spur private businesses to hire Saudi nationals.
The new system is said, by the Crown Prince at an interview with Al Arabiya, to be not undermining citizens' rights, but rather it will serve their interests. He said that the new residency scheme will be an important source of revenues to boost the Saudi economy and will contribute to the creation of jobs for the public. The program is expected to generate about US$10bn in annual revenue by 2020.
Analysts say the program will largely benefit wealthy Arabs who have lived in Saudi Arabia for years without permanent residency or multinational companies seeking to do long-term business in the kingdom.
