Entering Saudi Arabia from the UAE.
The parts of the route that depend on your company being from the UAE: the documents, and the tax between the two countries. Everything else is the same for every foreign company, and set out below.
Your parent company’s documents
The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so a UAE parent’s documents go through the full legalisation chain: the issuing authority or a notary, attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, legalisation by the Saudi Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the Saudi Consulate General in Dubai, and the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs where the receiving authority asks for it. Free-zone companies start with their free-zone authority’s certified documents.
- Notarise private documents, or obtain certified copies from the registry.
- Attest each document at your Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then at the Saudi embassy or consulate.
- Translate everything into Arabic in the Kingdom, through a certified office, stamps included.
Plan for the chain from day one: each authority has its own queue, and a rejection late in the chain sends the document back to the start. We review every document against the receiving authority’s requirements before it enters the chain.
Government work and the regional headquarters rule
Many groups run the Middle East from Dubai. Since 1 January 2024, Saudi government bodies generally do not award contracts above SAR 1 million to multinationals whose regional headquarters is outside the Kingdom, with exceptions the buyer requests. If government work is part of your plan, decide early between a Saudi regional headquarters, a Saudi operating company, and relying on exceptions.
Tax between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
For a UAE parent the ownership chain matters more than a treaty: the share of a Saudi company held by GCC nationals, or by a UAE company owned entirely by GCC nationals, pays zakat at 2.5% of the zakat base rather than 20% income tax. If non-GCC owners sit anywhere above the UAE parent, their share is taxed at 20%.
Saudi domestic rates on payments to a non-resident parent: management fees 20%, royalties 15%, technical and consulting services 5%, dividends and branch remittances 5%, interest 5%, other services 15% (Income Tax Regulations, Art. 63). A tax treaty may reduce them; we confirm its status and rates for your file.
Inside the Kingdom the entity pays 20% income tax on its profit (zakat instead on any Saudi or GCC share), and VAT at 15% once taxable supplies pass SAR 375,000.
What is the same for every foreign company
- Investment registration with MISA, decided within 10 working days of a complete file; there is no longer a licence to renew, only an annual update.
- A limited liability company has no statutory minimum capital; MISA sets floors for some activities, trading above all.
- Saudisation is set profession by profession, and new visas need at least a Medium Green band.
- The general manager’s residence permit sits on the critical path: the bank wants it within 90 days of opening the account.
- The commercial registration is confirmed every year; 90 days late suspends it and every licence on it.
The details are in the references: entity forms, government fees and questions.
See it for your company.
The readiness check applies these rules to your country, activity and plans, and names the longest pole in your file. No email.
Sources: hcch.net Apostille status table · the issuing authorities’ own pages · zatca.gov.sa Income Tax Regulations Art. 63 and treaty list · incometaxindia.gov.in · gov.uk · chinatax.gov.cn · impots.gouv.fr · bundesfinanzministerium.de · home.treasury.gov