1- In these Regulations, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings assigned thereto
Law: Premium Residency Permit Law.
Regulations: Implementing Regulations of the Law.
Non-Saudi: A natural person who does not hold Saudi citizenship.
Premium Residency Permit Holder: A non-Saudi who obtains a premium residency permit under the Law.
Family: Dependants of a premium residency permit holder (spouses, children less than 25 years of age, and parents).
Center: Premium Residency Center.
Board: Board of Directors of the Center.
Applicant: A natural person, male or female, who applies for a premium residency permit.
Electronic Portal: The Center’s portal which is designated for receiving applications electronically.
Electronic Account: An account created by an applicant on the electronic portal to enter and update his/her data as well as the data of his/her family members as required by the Center, and to complete the necessary procedures in accordance with the Law and these Regulations.
Points-Based System: The evaluation of qualifications, experiences, and accomplishments for rating special talent in important subfields of health and science.
2. The terms relating to wages and investment mentioned in these Regulations shall have the same definitions or meanings as used by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the Ministry of Investment.
1- Visas:
a. The Center shall, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, approve residency and visit visa applications for entry into the Kingdom for the applicant and his/her family. The Center shall send the applications to the Ministry to be forwarded to the Kingdom's diplomatic missions abroad to grant them entry visas.
b. The holder of a premium residency permit shall have the right to exit and enter the Kingdom without a visa and to use the lanes designated for Saudi nationals by presenting his/her premium residency permit. The provision of this paragraph shall apply to any of the family members of the permit holder and they shall present the cards issued to them.
c. Applications for visit visas for relatives, as referred to in Article 2(1)(b) of the Law, shall be subject to procedures to be set by the Center in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies. Such relatives shall include parents and their ascendants, children and their descendants, siblings and their children, and any other relative determined by the Center.
d. Visa applications for the recruitment of domestic workers and the procedures and provisions relating thereto shall be subject to the procedures and provisions applicable to Saudi nationals.
2. The border areas referred to in Article 2(1)(d) of the Law are areas designated as such pursuant to agreements, laws, regulations, legal instruments, or instructions.
3. The usufruct period of real estate located in the cities of Mecca and Medina shall not exceed the term of the fixed-term premium residency permit. The assignment of this right to others shall be in accordance with relevant controls.
4. The private means of transportation referred to in Article 2(1)(f) of the Law that may be owned by a premium residency permit holder or his/her family members shall include any means of land, sea, or air transportation intended for personal use. Such ownership shall be subject to the procedures and provisions applicable to Saudi nationals.
5. The holder of a premium residency permit shall, if he/she or any of his/her family members change employment, notify the Center through any of the means of contact provided in his/her electronic account, and shall indicate the change of employment in his/her account within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of such change.
6. The holder of a premium residency permit and his/her family members shall be exempt from the fees applicable to non-Saudis when changing employment.
7. The professions and jobs limited to Saudi nationals, as referred to in Article 2(1)(g) of the Law, are those specified in the Labor Law and relevant decisions.
8. “Parents”, as mentioned in the definition of the word “family” in Article 1(1), must not work inside the Kingdom in order to be considered dependants of the holder of a premium residency permit.
9. The records of family members shall be linked to the record of the premium residency permit holder; the records of children with special needs and unmarried females aged more than 25 years may also be linked to the holder’s record.
1. The premium residency permit shall be of two types:
a. Permanent: The holder's residency in the Kingdom is permanent.
b. Fixed-term: The holder's residency in the Kingdom is for a renewable period of one year or more.
2.The products of the premium residency permit for the two types referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article which are approved pursuant to Council of Economic and Development Affairs Decisions No. 1-3/44/S, dated 27/3/1444H, and No. 1-2/45/S, dated 18/2/1445H, are as follows:
a. Permanent residency.
b. Renewable one-year residency.
c. Special talent residency.
d. Gifted residency.
e. Investor residency.
f. Entrepreneur residency.
g. Real Estate residency.
3. The Center shall provide any person who wishes to apply for a premium residency permit with all the necessary information and shall facilitate related procedures
4. The applicant for a premium residency permit shall submit his/her application through the electronic portal by creating an electronic account and entering all the required information and data, using forms to be prepared by the Center for this purpose.
5. The applicant shall provide proof of notifying his/her employer of his/her premium residency permit application, and the Center shall determine the procedures necessary therefor.
When applying for the premium residency permit, the passports of the applicant and his/her family members must be valid for a period not less than 180 days and they shall not include any restrictions or conditions that may prevent their holders from returning at any time.
The financial solvency requirement provided for in Article 4(1)(b) of the Law shall be satisfied by proving that the applicant is financially capable of living in the Kingdom by providing a recent bank account statement or any other documents the Center deems necessary, in accordance with a mechanism to be set by the Center for this purpose.
The Center shall verify that the applicant and his/her family members have no criminal record by submitting an inquiry to the relevant agencies in the Kingdom and by obtaining the applicant’s consent to request information from relevant authorities outside the Kingdom about him/her and his/her family members.
The medical report referred to in Article 4(1)(d) of the Law shall be issued by a healthcare center licensed in the Kingdom or by a healthcare center certified by any of the Kingdom's diplomatic missions for applicants and their family members who are outside the Kingdom.
An applicant who files a premium residency permit application from inside the Kingdom must be a holder of a legal residency permit that is valid for at least 90 days from the date of filing the application.
Submission of the application shall be deemed an acknowledgment by the applicant that the provided information and data are complete and accurate. The Center shall have the right to cancel the application and close the applicant’s electronic account if he fails to complete the required information and data within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of application.
In addition to the requirements provided for in Article 4(1) of the Law, the minimum legal age to apply for the premium residency permit for the permanent residency product and the renewable one-year residency product shall not be less than 21 years. The special conditions and requirements for the other premium residency permit products shall be as follows:
a.Special Talent Residency Product:
- Health and Scientific Specialties: The applicant must have an employment contract; receive a total monthly wage of not less than thirty five thousand riyals; have a bachelor's degree or higher; and earn the minimum points on the points-based system set by the Center.
- Researchers: The applicant must have an employment contract; receive a total monthly wage of not less than fourteen thousand riyals; have a bachelor's degree or higher; and earn the minimum points on the points-based system set by the Center.
- Executives: The applicant must have an employment contract and receive a total annual wage of not less than nine hundred and sixty thousand riyals.
A person with special talent shall be granted a renewable fixed-term premium residency permit for five years. To obtain a permanent premium residency permit, he/she must maintain his/her employment contract with the minimum required total wage and reside in the Kingdom for a period not less than 30 months during his/her residency, whether consecutive or non-consecutive. A person with special talent who has been residing in the Kingdom for more than 10 years shall be directly granted permanent residency.
b. Gifted Residency Product:
- A gifted person is a person who has a unique gift or is the recipient of a specialized award.
- A gifted person shall be granted a renewable fixed-term premium residency permit for five years. To obtain a permanent premium residency permit, he/she must reside in the Kingdom for a period not less than 30 months during his/her residency, whether consecutive or non-consecutive.
c. Investor Residency Product:
- An investor must invest at least seven million riyals in investment activities inside the Kingdom as determined by the Center.
- An investor shall be directly granted a permanent premium residency permit.
d. Entrepreneur Residency Product
Category 1: Any person who obtains a minimum amount of four hundred thousand riyals from investments or through funding rounds, provided that the investment entity is one of the entities approved by the Center.
Category 2: Any person who obtains a minimum amount of fifteen million riyals from investments or through funding rounds, provided that the investment entity is one of the entities approved by the Center, and who creates 10 direct jobs during the first year and an additional 10 direct jobs during the second year.
- Entrepreneurs of Category 1 shall be granted a renewable fixed-term premium residency permit for five years. To obtain a permanent premium residency permit, the following conditions must be met:
1. Obtaining a minimum amount of fifteen million riyals from investments or through funding rounds, provided that the investment entity is one of the entities approved by the Center.
2.Creating 10 direct jobs during the first year and an additional 10 direct jobs during the second year.
- Entrepreneurs of Category 2 shall be directly granted a permanent premium residency permit; such permit shall be conditional for two years.
e. Real Estate Residency Product:
- Ownership or usufruct of real estate in the Kingdom shall be of a value not less than four million riyals.
- The validity of the term of the premium residency permit granted to a real estate owner shall be conditional upon the validity of the ownership or usufruct of the real estate.
- If a real estate owner sells the real estate, he/she may within 90 days replace it with another real estate the value of which is not less than the minimum limit for the real estate residency product.
- Upon expiration of the usufruct period, the real estate owner may within 90 days renew the usufruct period on the same real estate or utilize another real estate the value of the usufruct of which is not less than the value of the previous usufruct and not less than the minimum limit for the real estate residency product.
The Center shall set the detailed conditions, controls, and criteria for the provisions of paragraph (7) of this Article in accordance with the Law and these Regulations.
The Center shall establish a mechanism for persons who want to change their fixed-term premium residency permit to a permanent premium residency permit for the same product, or persons who want to change from one premium residency permit product to another product.
The products provided for in paragraphs 7(a), (b), and (d) of this Article shall, in accordance with Article 2 of the Law, have their respective special privileges, as indicated in the following table:
Product | Product Special Privileges |
|
Special talent residency | - Exemption from Nitaqat Program. |
|
Gifted residency | - Exemption from Nitaqat Program. |
|
Entrepreneur residency | - Nominating two persons from the entrepreneur’s work team to obtain a premium residency permit for the special talent residency product and exempting them from its provisions and criteria. |
The Center shall process premium residency permit applications and ensure that they satisfy the conditions and requirements specified in the Law and these Regulations. If the application is recommended for approval, the President of the Center shall issue a decision to approve or deny granting the applicant the premium residency permit. The Center shall notify the applicant of the decision through any of the means of contact provided in his/her electronic account. The applicant shall be deemed aware of the decision from the date he/she is notified. If the application is canceled, the Center shall notify the applicant through any of the means mentioned in this Article.