Business setup in Saudi Arabia from abroad: what can be done remotely

Which parts of setting up a Saudi company can you do from outside Saudi Arabia?

Usually most of the preparation and the main applications. The investment is registered online, and the company can then be created electronically. You sign and certify the documents in your own country. Some steps usually need someone in Saudi Arabia.

This is a general map. Your own plan may differ.

What is the Ministry of Investment’s service for setting up a company from abroad?

It is an online route for a foreign company to register its investment and then create its Saudi company. According to the Ministry of Investment’s frequently asked questions page, you apply for investment registration online, with no visit to its headquarters. The route has two separate steps. First, you register the investment with the Ministry of Investment. Then the company is created with the Ministry of Commerce, which authenticates the articles of association and issues the commercial registration electronically.

The Ministry of Investment (MISA) registers foreign investment in Saudi Arabia. Its frequently asked questions page describes the service like this:

• You apply for investment registration online, through Invest Saudi, the ministry’s online platform for investors.
• A file is then opened for the company with the Ministry of Commerce.
• The articles of association (the company’s founding document) are authenticated electronically.
• The company’s commercial registration (CR) is also issued electronically. The CR is the company’s entry in the official business register.
• The company’s contact person, named to the Ministry of Investment, makes the application to the Ministry of Commerce.
• You can register the investment first and create the company afterwards.

Registering the investment and creating the company are two separate steps. Investment registration replaced the foreign-investment licence in 2025. If you have read about a “MISA licence”, our guide on what the term means now explains the change.

Who signs what, and where, when you set up a Saudi company from abroad?

The people who can sign for your company sign the company documents and a power of attorney in your own country. This is usually done before a notary. Each owner usually signs in the country where that owner is based.

A notary is an official who checks your identity and confirms your signature on a document. When you sign for a company, the notary usually asks for proof that you may sign for it. This may be the company’s registration papers or a board decision (a written decision of its directors).

Some points to plan for:

• Your company’s papers. The Ministry of Investment usually asks for proof that your company is registered in its home country, and for its latest financial statements. Both must be certified for use in Saudi Arabia. Your business activity may need more.
• Owners in different countries. Each owner’s documents are certified in that owner’s own country, as the ministry’s answers describe.
• The person acting for you. The person you name in the power of attorney then acts for you in the Saudi applications.

The full document list depends on your structure and business activity:

• the document list for each structure

  The home-country documents a Saudi company registration needsComing soon

Do company documents from abroad need an apostille or embassy stamps?

Depending on the receiving body, documents from abroad are legalised by apostille or through a Saudi mission. Before you pay for any certification, we confirm what the receiving authority accepts.

An apostille is a certificate added in your own country. It confirms that the signature and stamp on a public document are real. Saudi Arabia has joined the Apostille Convention, an international treaty on public documents. The convention took effect for Saudi Arabia on 7 December 2022.

Legalisation is a chain of stamps for countries that have not joined the convention. Your country’s foreign ministry stamps the document first. Then the Saudi embassy or consulate in your country adds its stamp. Some Saudi offices also ask for a final stamp from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which calls this “ratification”.

The Ministry of Investment’s own answers still describe documents authenticated by the Saudi embassy. That is why we check what the receiving office accepts first. To see which route your country uses, check apostille or legalisation, by country.

Do you need a power of attorney to set up a Saudi company from abroad?

Usually, yes. A power of attorney lets a representative in Saudi Arabia, such as your lawyer, act for your company and its owners in the applications.

In Arabic, a power of attorney is called a wakala. Its wording lists exactly what the person you name may do. Keep it to what the set-up needs. Once we agree to act for you, we suggest wording that fits your structure.

It also needs an apostille or legalisation, like your company documents. Our page on power of attorney for Saudi Arabia, signed abroad explains the signing and the stamps in full.

Do company documents for Saudi Arabia need an Arabic translation?

Not for the Ministry of Investment itself, according to its frequently asked questions page. Other Saudi ministries and offices may ask for a translation.

When a translation is needed, it is usually a certified translation: one made by an approved translation office. Whether it is done in your country or in Saudi Arabia depends on the office that receives it. So ask us before you pay for a translation at home.

The investment registration certificate is issued in Arabic only. An accredited translation office can translate it if you need an English version.

Write every name exactly as it appears in the passport. A name in English letters can be spelt more than one way in Arabic. So ask the translator to use the same Arabic spelling on every document.

Which steps of setting up a Saudi company usually need someone there in person?

A few, depending on your structure and business activity. We tell you which steps apply to you before you plan a trip.

Banks and some other offices set their own requirements. If a founder or manager will live in Saudi Arabia, residency is a separate question. Later pages will cover residency and the registrations that follow the CR:

• residency for people who will run the company

  Residency routes for investors and foundersComing soon

• tax, social insurance, labour and address registrations

  After the commercial registration: the registrations that followComing soon

How does business setup in Saudi Arabia from abroad work, step by step?

1. Tell us your plan and your country. A few lines are enough: what the Saudi company will do, and where your company and its owners are based. Don’t send documents yet.

2. Confirm the business activity and the structure. First check that your business activity is open to foreign investors. Then choose a structure, such as a branch or a Saudi subsidiary. Where a lawyer helps: asking who controls the company, who signs for it, and how you could close it or sell your share.

3. Sign the company documents and a power of attorney in your country. This is usually done before a notary. Each owner usually signs where they are based.

4. Certify them for use in Saudi Arabia. Use an apostille or legalisation, depending on your country and the Saudi office that receives them. Where a lawyer helps: checking what the receiving office accepts before you pay for any certification.

5. Apply online for investment registration. You apply through Invest Saudi, the Ministry of Investment’s online platform for investors.

6. Create the company with the Ministry of Commerce. Once a file is opened with the ministry, the articles of association are authenticated and the CR is issued electronically. Where a lawyer helps: checking the articles of association and the trade name (the company’s registered name) before they are submitted.

7. Complete the registrations that follow the CR. These usually include tax and zakat (a charge similar to a tax), social insurance and Qiwa, the labour ministry’s online platform. The company also needs a National Address, its official address record.

8. Plan the steps that need someone in Saudi Arabia. We tell you which ones apply to you before anyone books a trip.

What to prepare before you contact a Saudi lawyer

A few facts are enough for a first message. Have them ready:

• Where your company is registered, and where each owner is based.
• What the Saudi company will do, and the structure you have in mind.
• Who will own it, who will manage it and who will sign for it.
• Whether anyone will move to Saudi Arabia to run the company.
• Whether your country uses the apostille or legalisation (see documents from abroad, by country).
• Every owner’s and manager’s name, exactly as it appears in their passport.

Please don’t send documents or passport copies until we agree to act for you.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Branch, subsidiary or regional headquarters: choosing a structure in Saudi Arabia
• Power of attorney for Saudi Arabia, signed abroad
• Apostille or legalisation? Documents for Saudi Arabia by country
• Setting up a company in Saudi Arabia as a foreign business