also called Iqama Mumayazah · Saudi Green Card · Saudi premium residency
Saudi Arabia's paid residency programme, nicknamed the Saudi Green Card, that lets foreigners live, work and own property without a local sponsor, sold as a renewable annual tier or a one-off permanent tier.
Premium Residency is Saudi Arabia's paid residency programme, nicknamed the Saudi Green Card, that lets a foreigner live, work and own property without a local sponsor. It is sold in tiers, including a renewable annual version and a one-off permanent one, and there are several talent, investor and property sub-categories with different rights. Losing the sponsor link is the whole appeal, but there is a menu here, not one product, so the cheap annual version is not the permanent one.
You compare Saudi Premium Residency against ordinary sponsored life and love that it drops the sponsor tie. Then you see it is priced like an investment product with several tiers, and the affordable annual option is not the permanent status you assumed, so you have to match the tier to what you actually need before paying.
It removes the sponsor link that defines ordinary Saudi Iqama life, which is the whole appeal, but it is priced as an investment product with several talent, investor and property sub-categories that carry different rights. People assume there is one Premium Residency when there is a menu, and the cheap annual version is not the permanent one. Match the tier to what you actually need before paying.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These describe how a foreigner legally lives in the Gulf.
Kafala is the sponsorship system that ties your residence and right to work to one named sponsor, usually an employer, and an iqama is the residence permit and ID card you hold once that visa is issued.
Premium Residency is Saudi Arabia's paid route, nicknamed the Saudi Green Card, that lets you live and own property without a local sponsor.
A new term lands on this site every day, and the email is how you get it the day it lands. No digest, no roundup, no pitch. One term, what it means, and what it costs you to get it wrong.
Unsubscribe in one click, any time. We do not sell or share your address.