Company Incorporation in Saudi Arabia
Entry into the Kingdom for a foreign investor is a two-step route: a MISA investment licence must be obtained BEFORE any commercial registration, after which the Ministry of Commerce / Saudi Business Center issues the Commercial Registration (CR) that is the operative proof of the company's existence. Under the Companies Law issued by Royal Decree M/132 (in force 19 January 2023) the available forms include the LLC (single-member permitted; the widely-cited cap of 50 partners is retained), the new Simplified Joint Stock Company designed for startups and venture capital, and the Joint Stock Company; a foreign parent may instead register a branch. Articles are drafted and notarised in Arabic. Post-CR you take Chamber of Commerce membership, ZATCA (Zakat/tax/VAT) registration, GOSI registration, a municipality licence and a national address.
20–60 business days
SAR
Compare the structures
Every column is a vehicle you can actually incorporate here, and each is bought on its own terms. Every fact carries where it was read: on the authority’s own page, or — marked Indicative — on a filing platform or publication we name and link. Anything we could not read anywhere is marked Pending verification and confirmed with the authority before you pay.
| Limited Liability Company (LLC)The default vehicle for a foreign investor entering Saudi Arabia — trading, services and most FDI; run by one or more managers rather than a board | Simplified Joint Stock Company (SJSC)Startups and venture-backed companies wanting several classes of shares and flexible governance — the flagship new form under the 2023 Companies Law | Joint Stock Company (JSC)Capital-intensive, regulated or pre-IPO businesses, including a closed JSC for a large joint venture or a public JSC for a Tadawul listing | Branch of a foreign companyA foreign contractor or service company executing a Saudi contract that wants a presence without a separate local entity — the parent bears liability | Sole proprietorship / Establishment (Mu'assasa)A single Saudi or GCC individual running a small business under a commercial registration — not a company, and not open to a foreign investor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum owners | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Maximum owners | 50 | Pending verification | Pending verification | Pending verification | 1 |
| Minimum directors | 1 | 1 | 3 | Pending verification | Pending verification |
| Liability | limited | limited | limited | unlimited | unlimited |
| Foreign ownership | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tax treatment | Split regime: 20% corporate income tax on the profit share attributable to non-Saudi/non-GCC ownership; 2.5% Zakat on th… | Same split regime as the LLC: 20% CIT on the non-Saudi/non-GCC share, 2.5% Zakat on the Saudi/GCC share. | Same split regime: 20% CIT on the non-Saudi/non-GCC share, 2.5% Zakat on the Saudi/GCC share. | Fully foreign - the branch's Saudi-source profits are subject to 20% corporate income tax (no Zakat, as there is no Saud… | Owner is a natural person. A Saudi/GCC-owned establishment is within the Zakat regime (2.5% of the Zakat base); business… |
| Audit required | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pending verification |
| Audit threshold | Pending verification | Pending verification | Pending verification | Pending verification | Pending verification |
| Annual compliance | High | High | High | High | Low |
| Typical use | Wholly foreign-owned or joint-venture LLC used by an overseas parent to trade or provide services in the Kingdom; requir… | New flexible corporate form introduced by the 2023 Companies Law, designed for startups and VC investment - can be forme… | Capital-intensive, regulated or pre-IPO businesses; a closed JSC for a large joint venture, or a public JSC for listing … | Foreign contractor or service company executing a Saudi contract that registers a branch under a MISA licence rather tha… | Small local trade or single-owner professional business held by a Saudi or GCC national under a commercial registration … |
What we will need from you
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MISA investment licence (for any non-Saudi/non-GCC investor) before commercial registration
MISA (successor to SAGIA since February 2020) issues foreign-investment licences and the licence must precede the CR — the only point in this chain with a confirmed citation, and that citation is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Investment_(Saudi_Arabia), not an authority page.
For a foreign corporate shareholder or parent: certificate of incorporation, commercial register extract, articles/memorandum and the last audited financial statements
Each document legalised and accompanied by a certified ARABIC translation. The legalisation route is the load-bearing unknown: Saudi practice uses MOFA / consular attestation and the apostille is not universally accepted, and whether the foreign parent's audited accounts are required was not confirmed. This MUST be read from the MISA licence-application page before it is relied on — Saudi legalisation differs materially from the apostille regimes used elsewhere.
Board resolution to invest in the Kingdom and to appoint the general manager and authorised signatory
Legalised and translated into Arabic. Not confirmed from an official MISA/MC page — confirmed at quote.
Legalised power of attorney to the local representative
Not confirmed from an official page; confirmed at quote against misa.gov.sa / mc.gov.sa.
Articles of association / bylaws in Arabic, notarised
An SJSC's bylaws also reflect the share classes and governance chosen. The exact notarisation process under the 2023 Companies Law was not confirmed from mc.gov.sa.
Passport copy for each manager and authorised signatory, plus Iqama for a resident manager
Not confirmed from an official page — confirmed at quote.
Registered office lease (Ejar contract) and a Saudi national address
Required for the CR and post-CR registrations; not confirmed from an official mc.gov.sa page.
Cost breakdown
Our fee and the government’s are always separate lines. Government fees are passed through at exactly what the authority charges — we add nothing to them.
| MISA investment licence — issuance fee (foreign investor)Provider and competitor sources circulate figures (an application around SAR 2,000, first-year totals of SAR 12,000–35,000, renewal of roughly SAR 10,000–60,000 by licence type and activity count) but those are provider claims, not statute, and are deliberately not published here. | Confirmed before payment |
| MISA investment licence — annual renewal feeonly if it appliesProvider claims range widely by licence type; none is a statutory citation. Confirm on misa.gov.sa. | Confirmed before payment |
| Commercial Registration (CR) issuance fee — Ministry of CommerceThe CR is now issued against the Saudi Business Center's unified invoice, which combines the CR, Chamber and municipality components — so it is a composite bill, not one published number. Confirm on mc.gov.sa. | Confirmed before payment |
| Chamber of Commerce membership — annual subscriptionConfirm with the relevant Chamber and on mc.gov.sa. | Confirmed before payment |
| Municipality (Baladi) licence — first yearone line of this schedule appliesActivity- and location-specific and bundled into the Saudi Business Center unified invoice. Not verified; confirm per activity on mc.gov.sa / the Baladi platform. | Confirmed before payment |
| Comriq professional fee | Fixed fee within 1 business day |
How it runs
You will see these exact stages update in your client portal as we progress.
MISA Investment Licence
A non-Saudi/non-GCC investor first obtains an investment licence from the Ministry of Investment; nothing can be commercially registered before it is issued. Sector eligibility is checked against MISA's foreign-investment restrictions.
Trade Name Reserved
The trade name is reserved with the Ministry of Commerce / Saudi Business Center. The reservation window was not confirmed from an official page.
Articles Drafted & Notarised
The articles of association (or SJSC/JSC bylaws) are drafted in Arabic and notarised. The exact process under the 2023 Companies Law is confirmed at the time of filing.
Commercial Registration Issued
The Ministry of Commerce issues the Commercial Registration — the operative proof of the company's existence — against the Saudi Business Center unified invoice.
Post-CR Registrations
Chamber of Commerce membership, ZATCA registration (Zakat/CIT and, above the threshold, VAT), GOSI employer registration, the municipality licence and a national address.
Indicative guidance — confirmed before payment
Requirements and statutory fees are set by Ministry of Investment (MISA) for the investment licence, then Ministry of Commerce / Saudi Business Center for the Commercial Registration (CR) and change without notice. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your engagement letter and quote are the binding documents.