MISA Foreign Investment Licence: Types & Rules 2026

Foreign companies looking to establish a presence in Saudi Arabia can obtain an investment licence issued by the وزارة الاستثمار (MISA). Applications are submitted entirely online through the ministry's eServices and Invest Saudi portals (misa.gov.sa / investsaudi.sa), with no need to use separate government apps for the licence stage itself.

The ministry offers several licence categories tailored to different business activities. The most common is the service licence, covering consulting, IT and marketing, while the commercial (trading) licence applies to import, export, wholesale and retail. Other types include industrial, real estate development, agricultural, mining, professional consulting, foreign company branch, entrepreneur/startup, and the Regional Headquarters (RHQ) licence for multinationals basing their regional HQ in الرياض. Specialised categories also cover transport, audiovisual media, scientific and technical offices, and printing and publishing.

Capital requirements

Minimum capital varies by activity. Service, agricultural, mining and professional licences commonly require around SAR 25,000. The industrial licence often states a minimum of SAR 1,000,000, though activity-specific rules apply. For a commercial licence with full 100% foreign ownership, the committed capital is SAR 30,000,000 in the first year, with a presence in at least three regional or global markets required for some activities. A commercial licence with a Saudi partner (75% foreign / 25% Saudi) requires around SAR 26,666,667. Real estate development projects typically need a minimum of SAR 30,000,000, while the entrepreneur licence carries no fixed capital requirement.

To qualify, a foreign corporate investor generally needs an existing parent company registered outside Saudi Arabia, usually active for at least one year. For residents and business owners across الرياض and جدة, the licence framework offers a clear route to legally operate and expand within the Kingdom under رؤية السعودية 2030.

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