In case you missed this week's The View From The Top, here is the Immigration update for the week of October 5, 2022 from Fragomen's Julia Onslow Cole.
In this show Julia discussed updates to the immigration framework in Saudi Arabia. It is exciting to hear that Saudi Arabia has a 2030 vision to drive the Kingdom away from oil dependency. This is a multi-sector approach, and as a result many companies are expanding into the region. There is a real drive on the Giga projects and they are forecasting a 10 times increase in visitors.
It is important to note that you need to have your regional HQ in Saudi Arabia by 2024 if you want to be considered for a government contract.
Many companies are moving part of managed services or management functions to the region in order to get the associated benefits.
As well as having a company in Saudi you also need one outside the GCC and in the EMEA region in order to comply. You need to show that you have moved a substantial part of your management functions to Saudi.
Visitors to Saudi
The process for visitors is quite complex. Using the tourist route, you get visas on arrival, however there are often issues with systems being temporarily down and what not. You can also apply for a same day E-Visa which is recommended. But remember this is limited to tourist activities. For business travelers we recommend the standard consular business visa.
Temporary work visas are causing a lot of headaches as they are still requiring all the same documents as you would need for a long term visa - this is very time consuming and is only good for a 90-day single entry. Fragomen is lobbying the authorities to make this easier in the near future.
Listen to Julia's complete update for more information on these important updates in Saudi immigration...
Access the complete show recording: Building a Mobility Technology Strategy. This episode of the show was facilitated by Beth Neilson, who did a wonderful job in Brian Friedman's absence.
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