Introduction
Saudi Arabia announced the launch of 5 new categories of distinguished residences to increase the attraction of exceptional talent, including executives, talents, investors, entrepreneurs, and real estate owners.
The premium residency permit enables its holders to grant residency to their family members, participate in commercial business, be exempt from financial fees for expatriates and their companions, move to and from the Kingdom without a visa, own real estate, and many more.
The premium residency center provided only two categories of it:
Permanent residency with a total value of 800,000 riyals ($213,000), and another for one year, renewable for 100,000 ($26,000).
However, today, the KSA announced five new categories of premium residency, and specified the conditions for granting them, bringing the number of premium residency products to 7 categories: exceptional competence, talent, business investor, entrepreneur, and property owner, in addition to the previous two categories (one-year, renewable residency) and others of indefinite duration).
The introduction of the new categories is serving the goal of attracting the competencies required to push the achievement of the desired economic growth rate, which was among the goals of the “Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”
The flow of foreign direct investment into KSA has witnessed continuous growth in the past few years, rising from 27 billion riyals ($ 7B) in 2017 to 122 billion riyals ($32.5B) last year. (Crazy isn’t it).
Now this program is expected to give an additional push to Saudi Arabia's goal of increasing the contribution of foreign direct investment to the gross domestic product.
Application requirements
These requirements are for all categories. Such as the presence of a valid passport, passing a medical examination, in addition to paying a financial fee specified for all types of residencies of 4,000 riyals ($1,000), paid one time only, except for one-year residency and the other with the indefinite duration.
**Supporting the goals of “Vision 2030” **
The new distinctive residence categories come within the framework of implementing one of the goals of “Vision 2030”, which is “creating an attractive environment in which KSA can invest the human competencies and attract the best minds in the world to live on their land, and provide all the capabilities that they may need, in a way that contributes to advancing the development and attracting more investments.
The vision announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016 promised to “create an attractive environment for the required competencies by facilitating livelihoods and work,” with steps including “adopting an effective and facilitating system for issuing visas and residence permits.”
Last year, KSA revealed that the number of foreigners residing in the Kingdom reached about 13.38 million people, or 41.6 percent of the total population of 32.2 million people.
Conclusion
No doubt the Saudi administration is working hard and in different fields to reach its 2023 vision, economic, political, financial, and even sports.
Here the focus is on the economic impact of these new premium residency categories, tailored to diverse profiles like investors, entrepreneurs, and highly skilled professionals, which hold immense potential to boost foreign direct investment and fuel GDP growth. This targeted approach aligns perfectly with Vision 2030's goals and could unlock a new era of economic prosperity for Saudi Arabia.
