What is Saudi Arabia's Premium Residency (Saudi 'golden visa')?

People who want to live in Saudi Arabia without a sponsor. Now seven routes: two general products open to anyone who qualifies, plus five category-based routes. It lasts permanent for the one-time product; annual for the SAR 100,000 product; up to five years, renewable, for the five category products. The permanent product is itself indefinite residency. Saudi citizenship remains outside the system — naturalisation happens only by exception, for individuals selected by the state.

What is Saudi Arabia's Work visa and Iqama (employer-sponsored)?

The route almost every working foreigner in Saudi Arabia uses: a Saudi employer sponsors your residence permit. It lasts iqama typically issued for 1 year, renewed while employment continues. None directly. The realistic upgrade is switching to Premium Residency, which decouples you from the employer — long service alone confers nothing.

What is Saudi Arabia's Family residence (dependent Iqama)?

Spouses and children of Iqama holders who meet the profession and salary conditions to sponsor. It lasts matched to the sponsor's Iqama. None on its own; dependants follow the sponsor's status.

GlobeQuest

Saudi Arabia visas and residency

Who can visit Saudi Arabia without a visa, and the 3 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Saudi Arabia, 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.

Visa-free5 passports
e-Visa106 passports
Visa on arrival69 passports
Visa required17 passports
No admission1 passport

United StatesVisa on arrival

United KingdomVisa on arrival

Indiae-Visa

CanadaVisa on arrival

AustraliaVisa on arrival

GermanyVisa on arrival

FranceVisa on arrival

NetherlandsVisa on arrival

IrelandVisa on arrival

SpainVisa on arrival

ItalyVisa on arrival

PortugalVisa on arrival

PolandVisa on arrival

SwedenVisa on arrival

SwitzerlandVisa on arrival

South AfricaVisa on arrival

My passport

Moving to

Long stay

How you actually move to Saudi Arabia

InvestmentHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Premium Residency (Saudi 'golden visa')

People who want to live in Saudi Arabia without a sponsor. Now seven routes: two general products open to anyone who qualifies, plus five category-based routes.

What you need

Permanent Premium Residency: a one-time payment of SAR 800,000 (around USD 213,000), with no renewals ever
Annual Renewable Premium Residency: SAR 100,000 per year
Five category products added on 10 January 2024 — Special Talent, Gifted, Investor, Entrepreneur and Real Estate Owner — each carrying a one-off SAR 4,000 application fee and a renewable term of up to five years, qualified on merit or investment rather than on the large payment
Special Talent: health and science specialists earning at least SAR 35,000 a month, or researchers on at least SAR 14,000
Investor: at least SAR 7 million invested, a valid investment licence, and ten jobs created within two years. Entrepreneur: SAR 400,000 with a 20% stake, or SAR 15 million with a 10% stake and twenty jobs within two years. Real Estate Owner: property worth at least SAR 4 million
Clean criminal record, medical clearance, and proof of financial solvency

How long it lasts: Permanent for the one-time product; annual for the SAR 100,000 product; up to five years, renewable, for the five category products.
Path to permanent residence: The permanent product is itself indefinite residency. Saudi citizenship remains outside the system — naturalisation happens only by exception, for individuals selected by the state.
Cost: SAR 800,000 one-time, SAR 100,000 annually, or SAR 4,000 for a category route — a spread of two orders of magnitude.
Processing time: Weeks to a few months depending on the route.

Worth knowing

The category routes are the underreported part of this programme. Most coverage fixates on the SAR 800,000 figure, but a Special Talent or Entrepreneur applicant pays SAR 4,000 — the eligibility test is the price, not the money. The SAR 4,000 is the application fee only; the qualifying investment or salary sits behind it.
The programme launched in 2019 with two products and was restructured on 10 January 2024 with five more. Anything describing Saudi premium residency as a straight choice between SAR 800,000 and SAR 100,000 is describing the pre-2024 version.
Premium Residency removes the sponsor (kafeel) entirely: you can own property, run a business, sponsor your own family, and change jobs freely. That is the substantive prize, not the visa itself.
Real-estate ownership rights for Premium Residency holders have specific restrictions, notably around Makkah and Madinah.

Sources:Saudi Premium Residency Center — Premium Residency Portal

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Work visa and Iqama (employer-sponsored)

The route almost every working foreigner in Saudi Arabia uses: a Saudi employer sponsors your residence permit.

What you need

Employment contract with a Saudi employer holding a valid block visa allocation
Attested degree certificate and, for many professions, Saudi Council verification of qualifications
Medical examination before travel and again on arrival
Biometrics and Iqama issuance after entry

How long it lasts: Iqama typically issued for 1 year, renewed while employment continues.
Path to permanent residence: None directly. The realistic upgrade is switching to Premium Residency, which decouples you from the employer — long service alone confers nothing.
Cost: Largely employer-borne, including the monthly expatriate levy; your medical and attestation costs are personal.
Processing time: Several weeks to a couple of months, dominated by attestation and Council verification.

Worth knowing

Since the 2021 labour reforms you can transfer employer and obtain exit/re-entry visas without the employer's consent in defined circumstances — a major change from the old kafala practice, though notice terms still apply.
Saudization (Nitaqat) quotas restrict how many foreigners a firm may employ and reserve a growing list of roles for Saudi nationals. This shapes what jobs are actually open.
Professional qualification verification through the relevant Saudi Council is the step that most often delays arrival.

Sources:Qiwa — Ministry of Human Resources labour platform Saudi MOFA — Visa services

FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Family residence (dependent Iqama)

Spouses and children of Iqama holders who meet the profession and salary conditions to sponsor.

What you need

A valid Iqama in an eligible profession — sponsorship rights depend on your job classification, not only your salary
Salary above the sponsorship threshold
Attested marriage and birth certificates
Family visit or residence visa issued through the employer

How long it lasts: Matched to the sponsor's Iqama.
Path to permanent residence: None on its own; dependants follow the sponsor's status.
Cost: Per-dependant Iqama fees plus the dependant levy, which is charged monthly and is substantial for larger families.
Processing time: Several weeks after your own Iqama is issued.

Worth knowing

The monthly dependant levy is a real and often underestimated cost — for a family of four it changes the economics of a Saudi package materially.
Whether you can sponsor family at all is governed by your listed profession on the Iqama. Getting that classification right at issuance matters more than people expect.

Sources:Saudi MOFA — Visa services

On the ground