Entrepreneur Residency in Saudi Arabia in 2026

Saudi Arabia's Entrepreneur Residency is a Premium Residency product for qualifying founders. It is more precise than the informal phrase "startup visa": the published product has two categories with different funding, ownership and residence outcomes.

Category 1

Current Premium Residency Center material requires an entrepreneurial license from the Ministry of Investment, qualifying funding of at least SAR 400,000 from approved investment entities, an investor recommendation, and an applicant ownership share of at least 20%.

The Center describes Category 1 as a five-year limited Premium Residency that may be renewed once if the applicant continues to meet the criteria and satisfies the published residence-presence condition, including 30 months of residence within the five-year period.

Category 2

Category 2 currently requires an entrepreneurial license, qualifying funding of at least SAR 15 million, an investor recommendation, and an applicant ownership share of at least 10%.

The product also carries job-creation conditions: the Center publishes at least 10 jobs in the first year and 10 additional jobs in the second year. Category 2 can lead directly to permanent Premium Residency subject to the published conditions.

The product fee published by the Center is SAR 4,000.

Founder caution

Ordinary incorporation, owning a Saudi company, joining an incubator, or calling a business a startup does not automatically satisfy Entrepreneur Residency. Funding source, license, ownership and job-creation evidence matter.

Applicants who meet the larger investor framework rather than the venture-backed founder framework should compare Investor Residency. This guide does not present Saudi Arabia as having a general freelancer or digital-nomad visa.

See the Saudi Arabia immigration hub, methodology, and legal disclaimer.

Official and supporting sources

Related routes in Saudi Arabia