We’ll help you issue all of the required licenses to operate your company in Saudi Arabia with 100% foreign ownership, including registering with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, Ministry of Commerce and Investment (Commercial Registration), Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Labor, General Organization for Social Insurance, General Authority for Zakat and Tax, and Wassel Address. After we complete these steps on your behalf, you’ll be able to open a bank account, sponsor visas, and start doing business legally across Saudi Arabia. We include in our package three months of coworking at AstroLabs Riyadh for the first member of your team, serving as your soft-landing office.

AstroLabs has a successful track record of assisting companies from around the world to enter the Saudi Arabian market and is a partner of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). In order to get access to the subsidized and fast- tracked SAGIA Entrepreneurial License, you need to present an approval letter from a Saudi business incubator licensed by the SME General Authority. AstroLabs is the first and most active licensed international incubator in Saudi Arabia. With our incubator license, we’ll be able to sponsor your SAGIA Entreprenuer License, which is a subsidized license that will save you up to $57k of government fees over 5 years, start without minimum capital requirement, and be able to legally do business within 2-3 weeks.

The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority is the government entity that licenses foreign companies to operate in Saudi Arabia without a local partner. This is a mainland license with up to 100% foreign ownership.

The SAGIA Entrepreneur License is a new subsidized license category designed to attract innovative companies to Saudi Arabia, which you can apply for only through licensed incubators such as AstroLabs. The Entrepreneur License is open to companies of all sizes setting up in the Kingdom, including international expansions of existing entities.

The SAGIA Entrepreneur License is designed to attract innovative companies to the Kingdom, and the most common business activities we license are in the technology and professional services domains. Please note that trading and retail businesses are among the activities that SAGIA requires a minimum capital of SAR 30 million and do not apply for our subsidized setup packages. Also, traditional businesses like construction and oil & gas are not allowed. Please review the full list of activities allowed by SAGIA, and contact us below or through [email protected] to discuss your case in detail.

The new SAGIA Entrepreneur license makes setting up in Saudi Arabia much faster and more affordable. The standard SAGIA minimum capital requirement of SAR 500,000 is waived, and you’ll save fees of over SAR 200k over five years. We are able to process the license, along with your CR and Chamber of Commerce registration, within an expedited timeframe (2-3 weeks) compared to several months in the case of a traditional license.

The SAGIA Entrepreneur License functions exactly the same way as a SAGIA traditional license, allowing the investor(s) to open an onshore company (CR) with up to 100% foreign ownership. As per SAGIA requirements, the only constraint is that you must maintain a membership with a licensed business incubator such as AstroLabs. Our setup packages all include three months of free coworking at our beautiful Riyadh office and afterwards you can decide if you would like to remain with us or switch to a different incubator.

Yes, upon license renewal, you can elect to transition to a traditional license by paying the SAGIA standard annual fees of SAR 62k. You can keep the same CR and other licenses after completing this process. Afterwards you are no longer required to maintain a membership at a business incubator.

We have set up a fast-track process with SAGIA and are currently achieving SAGIA license issuance, Commercial Registration, and Chamber of Commerce certification within 2-3 weeks.

You only need to visit in person one time for attestation at the Notary. If you prefer to have us handle the entire process for you without requiring an in-person visit, we can take a power of attorney to sign on your behalf. Contact us for more details.

Yes, we can help you get a government visit visa through SAGIA to help you finalize your setup requirements.

You’ll need to share your company profile, shareholder details, and define the way you’d like the new company to be set up, including the activity, share capital, general manager, company name, etc. Our team will guide you through this process.

There are six main government stakeholders which you need to interact with to fully establish your business in Saudi Arabia: SAGIA, MoCI, CoC, MLSD, GOSI, and GAZT.

Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA): This entity gives permission to individuals or companies to establish companies in Saudi Arabia with foreign ownership. This permission to invest is your SAGIA license, and it serves as an input into getting a foreign-owned Commercial Registration from MoCI.

Ministry of Commerce and Investment (MoCI): This entity gives permission to operate your business in Saudi Arabia, conducting an approved activity. They will issue you a Commercial Registration (CR), which is called a Trade License in some countries.

Riyadh Chamber of Commerce (CoC): This entity allows you to formally attest your company letters. Many private/government entities require attested letters when dealing with them. The Chamber of Commerce will save the General Manager’s signature to be able to attest future documents. They will issue you a Chamber of Commerce Certificate.

Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD): This entity is responsible for controlling the labor market through its labor law. They are the main entity responsible for issuing visas. Every company in Saudi Arabia needs to have a Labor File at this ministry:

General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI). This entity is responsible for social insurance. Each company needs to create a GOSI file where the company registers its current employee details and pays relevant monthly fees. GOSI will review these data to ensure that each company is following the required Saudization quotas.

General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT): This entity is responsible for collecting Zakat and Tax. Each company in Saudi Arabia is required to create a GAZT file where it needs to submit audited financial statements after the conclusion of each year.

Yes. As part of the basic package, we’ll register your company in SAGIA, MoCI and CoC. We also have a service for additional licensing where we fully set your company up with the remaining entities.

The Commercial Registration (CR), known as a trade license in other countries, is issued by the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This document is mandatory and grants you permit to operate a certain activity or set of activities in Saudi Arabia. Further licenses may still be needed for certain regulated activities.

This certificate is issued by the Chamber of Commerce and is mandatory to have along with the Commercial Registration. It is mainly used to save and attest official company signatures for formal document use when required.

No, you will be able to work out of the AstroLabs Riyadh coworking space and meet all of your government licenses requirements.

There are no limitations on the number of visas you can get. Initially, you’ll be able to get visit visas for all shareholders. Then, you’ll be able to issue a General Manager residency visa. After that, you’ll be request additional visas from the Ministry of Labor as long as you’re meeting the local Saudization quotas.

Generally, if you have 5 employees or less, you’re only required to hire one Saudi national. Once you exceed 5 employees, you’ll have to follow the Saudization Nitaqat system based on your size and industry.

After getting your General Manager visa, you won’t be able to process the GM residency ID without hiring your first Saudi employee. Therefore, it’s recommended to start the hiring process early on. We can support you by with access to our jobs portal (jobs.astrolabs.com).

Yes, you will required to pay 20% taxes on your net profits, as is applicable to all 100% foreign-owned SAGIA entities.

Please fill out the form below or contact us directly at [email protected] if you’re interested and we’ll provide you with a quotation.