Investing in Saudi Arabia as a foreign company or investor

Common situations we help with

We help foreign companies and investors register and structure an investment in Saudi Arabia, and plan for what comes after. Start with the question closest to yours.

Is your business activity open to foreign investors in Saudi Arabia?

Many business activities are open to full foreign ownership, while some are restricted and need extra conditions or approvals. Whether you need a Saudi partner also depends on the activity. See how to check whether your business activity is open to foreign investors.

How does foreign investment registration work in Saudi Arabia?

Foreign investors register their investment online with the Ministry of Investment (MISA) before they start investing. This registration replaced the foreign-investment licence in 2025, which many people still call a “MISA licence”. See how foreign investment registration works now and what the term “MISA licence” means today.

We are also writing pages on these questions:

• How to protect your position in a shared company or as a minority owner.

  Investing with a Saudi partner: joint ventures and minority stakesComing soon

• The rights the Investment Law gives investors, and their limits.

  What protects a foreign investment in Saudi ArabiaComing soon

• Whether a regional headquarters or a special economic zone fits your plans.

  Regional headquarters and special economic zonesComing soon

• What to check before you buy a stake in a Saudi company.

  Buying into a Saudi company: listed and private sharesComing soon

• The residency options to look at when you invest or start a company.

  Residency routes for investors and foundersComing soon

• What to do when a partner or an official decision harms the investment.

  Disputes with a Saudi partner or a government bodyComing soon

• How to sell, transfer or close an investment in an orderly way.

  Exiting an investment in Saudi ArabiaComing soon

How does foreign investment in Saudi Arabia work, step by step?

Foreign investment in Saudi Arabia usually moves through six stages. You check that your business activity is open to foreign investors, register the investment with the Ministry of Investment (MISA), and create the company. Then you agree terms with any Saudi partner, keep your registrations up to date and plan how a dispute or an exit would work. According to MISA’s frequently asked questions page, you apply for investment registration online. Not every investor needs all six stages, and some run side by side.

1. Check that your business activity is open to foreign investors. The Ministry of Investment (MISA) registers foreign investment on two tracks: available activities and restricted activities. Restricted activities need extra conditions or approvals. See whether your business activity is open to foreign investors. Where a lawyer helps: describing your activity so that it matches the official list of business activities.

2. Register the investment with MISA. You apply online on the Invest Saudi portal, MISA’s online platform. This investment registration replaced the foreign-investment licence in 2025. MISA issues the registration certificate in Arabic only. See how foreign investment registration works now. Where a lawyer helps: checking your company documents before they are certified in your country.

3. Create the company and complete the registrations that follow. Investment registration does not create a company. The company is created with the Ministry of Commerce, which gives it a commercial registration (CR): its entry in the official business register. Tax, labour and other registrations follow. See setting up a company in Saudi Arabia. Where a lawyer helps: checking the articles of association (the company’s founding document) and the trade name before they are submitted.

4. Agree in writing how you will work with any Saudi partner. If you invest with a Saudi partner, your agreement with them matters as much as the registrations. It should say who decides what, and what happens if you disagree. Where a lawyer helps: explaining in plain words what the agreement says about deadlock (when the owners cannot agree), exit and your right to information.

5. Keep your registrations up to date. MISA’s Investor Guide lists services to renew and update a registration, change owners or business activities, merge registrations and cancel a registration. Each change needs its own application. Where a lawyer helps: checking a change before anyone signs.

6. Plan how a dispute or an exit would work. Decide early how you could sell your share, bring in a new owner or close the company. Open court cases, unpaid dues and changes that were never registered can all hold up an exit. Where a lawyer helps: listing what must be settled before a sale or a closure starts.

Can you invest in Saudi Arabia without travelling there?

Partly. Much of the preparation and the registration application can usually be done from your own country. Some later steps usually need someone in Saudi Arabia in person. We tell you which steps apply to you before you plan a trip.

MISA’s frequently asked questions say that you do not need to visit its offices to apply for investment registration. The application is made online.

A power of attorney (wakala in Arabic) is a signed document that lets someone, such as a lawyer, act for you. If you sign it abroad, it usually has to be certified before a Saudi authority will accept it.

This is the usual order when you invest from abroad:

• A person who can sign for your company, such as a director, signs the company documents and the power of attorney in your country.
• You have those documents certified in your country, so that Saudi authorities can accept them as genuine.
• If a Saudi authority needs a certified Arabic translation, we tell you whether to have it done in your country or in Saudi Arabia.
• Your Saudi lawyer can then act for you in Saudi Arabia under the power of attorney.

Depending on the receiving body, documents from abroad are legalised by apostille or through a Saudi mission. This means the Saudi office that will receive your document decides what it accepts. That is either an apostille, a single certificate from your own country, or certification through a Saudi embassy or consulate. Some Saudi bodies still describe embassy authentication in their own guides, so before you pay for any certification, we confirm what the receiving authority accepts.

For more detail, see power of attorney for Saudi Arabia, signed abroad and setting up a Saudi company from abroad. Your country matters too, so check whether your country uses an apostille or legalisation.

What are the main ways a foreign investor can take part in Saudi Arabia?

There are six common routes. You can set up your own company or branch, invest with a Saudi partner, or buy shares in a listed Saudi company. Other routes are a regional headquarters, a special economic zone or a Saudi distributor.

What should you prepare before contacting a Saudi lawyer about investing?

A few facts are enough for a first message. Have them ready, but please don’t send documents until we agree to work with you.

• What you plan to do in Saudi Arabia, in a few lines.
• Who will invest: a company, and where it is registered, or a person.
• Whether a Saudi partner, a company you plan to buy into or a distributor is involved.
• Anything already registered or signed, such as an old “MISA licence” or a draft agreement.
• Roughly when you hope to start (for example, “early next year”).

What’s changed recently

• 2025. Foreign investors now register their investment with the Ministry of Investment instead of applying for a licence. The updated Investment Law made this change, replacing the earlier Foreign Investment Law. It also sets out investors’ rights, including equal treatment, moving funds and protecting property, within limits set by the law. See our list of recent changes in Saudi law.

How we help foreign investors

We act as your counsel and coordinate trusted licensed partners for the registration filings. In other words, we are your law firm from start to finish, and licensed partner offices submit some of the government applications. You deal with the firm at every stage.

We look at an investment with later disputes and exit in mind. That means asking who controls the company, what happens if the owners disagree, and how you could sell your share or leave.

It starts with a short outline from you. We tell you whether we can help, what we need and how fees are agreed. We then put in writing what we will do and what it will cost. Work starts only after an engagement letter, the written agreement between you and the firm, is signed.

Payment is arranged directly with the firm, never on this site.

How we work with clients outside Saudi Arabia

Company details

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Setting up a company in Saudi Arabia as a foreign business
• Buying and owning property in Saudi Arabia as a foreigner
• Disputes with Saudi distributors, agents, contractors and suppliers
• Finding and checking a lawyer in Saudi Arabia