GlobeQuest

Oman visas and residency

Who can visit Oman without a visa, and the 4 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Oman, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

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Long stay

How you actually move to Oman

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Employment visa and resident card (employer-sponsored)

The route almost every working foreigner in Oman uses. An Omani employer obtains labour clearance from the Ministry of Labour, then the Royal Oman Police issues the employment visa and the resident card.

What you need
  • Labour clearance from the Ministry of Labour against the employer's expatriate quota
  • Employment contract with an Omani-registered employer
  • Attested degree and, for regulated professions, sector-body approval
  • Medical examination — pre-travel in some countries and again in Oman
  • Biometrics and resident card issuance by the ROP after arrival
How long it lasts
Commonly two years, renewable while the employment and the labour clearance continue.
Path to permanent residence
No permanent residence by time served, and no naturalisation route in practice. The realistic upgrade is the investor Golden Residency, which is not tied to an employer.
Cost
Largely employer-borne, including the labour clearance and visa fees. Your own costs are attestation, medicals and the resident card.
Processing time
Several weeks to a couple of months, dominated by labour clearance and document attestation.
Worth knowing
  • Omanisation quotas are the binding constraint on this route. The Ministry of Labour sets sector and occupation-level percentages of Omani nationals that employers must meet, and periodically closes lists of occupations to expatriates entirely. Whether a job is open to you is decided before your qualifications are ever looked at — confirm the role's status before you resign from anything.
  • Oman will introduce a personal income tax from 1 January 2028 under Royal Decree 56/2025 — the first in the GCC. It is a 5% rate on annual income above OMR 42,000, and the Oman Tax Authority expects it to affect roughly 1% of the population. Nothing is payable before 2028, but a long Omani contract signed now runs into it.
  • Oman has no digital-nomad or remote-work visa. Working remotely for a foreign employer on a tourist visa is not a residence route.
  • The old No-Objection Certificate requirement for changing employer was removed in 2021, but notice periods, contract terms and a fresh labour clearance from the new employer all still apply.
Sources:Oman Ministry of LabourRoyal Oman Police — Directorate General of Passports and ResidenceRoyal Decree 56/2025 — Personal Income Tax LawOman Tax Authority — issuance of the Personal Income Tax Law
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Golden Residency (investor, 10 years)

Investors who want residence held in their own name. Relaunched on 1 September 2025 by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, replacing the earlier tiered Investor Residency Programme.

What you need
  • OMR 200,000 through one of seven qualifying routes — a single unified threshold replacing the previous OMR 250,000 five-year and OMR 500,000 ten-year tiers
  • Qualifying routes include real estate in an Integrated Tourism Complex with a valid title deed, government development bonds held two years or more, listed equities, a five-year fixed deposit with a local bank, ownership of a company with capital above the threshold employing 50 or more Omanis, or registration of a company under the foreign-investment law
  • Combined qualifying investments may be aggregated to reach the threshold
  • Clean record and the usual medical and biometric steps
How long it lasts
10 years, renewable.
Path to permanent residence
Not permanence, but the longest and most independent status Oman offers. Omani citizenship is separate and highly restrictive.
Cost
Dominated by the OMR 200,000 qualifying investment; the permit fees themselves are minor by comparison.
Processing time
Commonly reported at two to four months from a complete application.
Worth knowing
  • The threshold was cut substantially in the 2025 relaunch. Guides still quoting OMR 250,000 or OMR 500,000 tiers are describing the superseded programme.
  • Freehold ownership by foreigners in Oman is largely confined to Integrated Tourism Complexes. The Golden Residency additionally allows a holder one property outside an ITC in areas open to non-Omani ownership — but the general rule still constrains where you can buy.
  • First-degree relatives can be included, and holders get fast-track treatment at ports of entry.
Sources:Invest OmanMinistry of Commerce, Industry and Investment PromotionEnvoy Global — Oman launches 10-year Golden Residency programme for foreign investors
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Family joining visa (dependants)

Residents sponsoring a spouse and children once their own resident card is issued.

What you need
  • Your own valid resident card and employment
  • Salary above the sponsorship threshold applied by the ROP, which varies by profession
  • Attested marriage and birth certificates
  • Proof of suitable accommodation and health cover
How long it lasts
Matched to the sponsor's residence and renewed with it.
Path to permanent residence
None on its own; dependants follow the sponsor's status.
Cost
Per-dependant visa and resident card fees plus attestation costs incurred abroad.
Processing time
Weeks after your own resident card exists.
Worth knowing
  • Eligibility to sponsor depends on your listed profession as well as your salary. The profession recorded on your labour clearance is what the ROP reads, and correcting it later is far harder than getting it right at issuance.
  • Attestation of civil documents in your home country is the usual delay; begin before you travel.
Sources:Royal Oman Police — Directorate General of Passports and ResidenceOman Government Portal (gov.om)
StudentLow confidenceVerified August 2026

Student residence visa

Foreign students enrolled at an Omani university or college, sponsored by the institution.

What you need
  • Unconditional offer from a recognised Omani institution, which acts as sponsor
  • Proof of tuition and living funds
  • Medical examination and health cover
  • Biometrics and resident card issuance
How long it lasts
Issued for the course and renewed annually against continued enrolment.
Path to permanent residence
None directly. Graduating does not convert to a work residence — you need an employer with available Omanisation headroom, exactly as any other applicant would.
Cost
Institution and ROP fees, plus tuition.
Processing time
Weeks, driven by the institution's sponsorship process.
Worth knowing
  • Work rights on a student visa are limited and should be confirmed with the institution rather than assumed.
  • Because Omanisation quotas apply to graduate hiring in exactly the same way, studying in Oman is not a shortcut into the Omani labour market.
Sources:Royal Oman Police — Directorate General of Passports and ResidenceOman Government Portal (gov.om)
On the ground

Where you'd land in Oman

Muscat

A low-rise capital strung for fifty kilometres between the Hajar mountains and the sea.

Full Muscat guide

Oman at a glance

Capital
Muscat
Population
5.5M
Languages
Arabic
Currency
OMR