Employing abroad · 7 min read · Updated October 2026
Opening a Saudi entity: the registrations, the bank account and the first hire
How a foreign company opens an entity in Saudi Arabia: the investment and commercial registrations, the bank account, tax, and getting ready to hire.
How does a foreign company open an entity in Saudi Arabia?
Your company first registers its investment with the Ministry of Investment. It then incorporates a company, or registers a branch, through the Ministry of Commerce, which issues the commercial registration. The entity opens a bank account and registers with the tax authority. Before its first hire, it opens a file with the labour ministry on Qiwa and registers for social insurance. Someone can start under employer of record while it is opened.
Follow the steps from registration to the first payday
| Step | Where it is done | What your entity has at the end |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Register the investment | The Ministry of Investment, MISA | Its registration, for the activities it will carry on |
| 2. Incorporate a company, or register a branch | The Ministry of Commerce, through the Saudi Business Center | Its articles of association and its commercial registration |
| 3. Open a bank account | A bank in the Kingdom | An account in its own name, for paying wages |
| 4. Register for tax | ZATCA, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority | Its registration for income tax, zakat and value added tax, as each applies |
| 5. Open its labour file | The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, on Qiwa | The file its work visas, contracts and transfers run through |
| 6. Register for social insurance | GOSI, the General Organization for Social Insurance | Its registration, ready for each employee as they join |
| 7. Pay its first wages | Its bank, then Mudad | The month's wage file, uploaded to Mudad |
Some activities also need a licence or a permit from the authority that regulates them. MISA's comprehensive service centre can take those applications.
Register the investment before anything else
Under the Investment Law, a foreign investor registers with the Ministry of Investment, MISA, before making any investment in the Kingdom.
Besides anything its activity requires, MISA asks for two documents from your company at home, each authenticated by the Saudi embassy. One is its commercial registration. The other is its financial statements for its last financial year.
The registration is for the activities your entity will carry on, and they decide its track. An available activity is open to a foreign investor. A restricted activity is open only on the conditions set for it. Some activities are closed to foreign investors in principle. MISA publishes the list of excluded activities, restricted and closed alike. Some activities also set a minimum capital, which MISA's investor guide lists.
For an available activity, MISA notifies the registration within 10 working days of every requirement being met. The registration is then updated with MISA every year.
Take the commercial registration every later step builds on
With the investment registered, your company sets up the entity through the Ministry of Commerce, on the Saudi Business Center's platform. It can incorporate a company under the Companies Law, such as a limited liability company. Or it can register a branch of your foreign company.
The articles of association are authenticated electronically. The commercial registration is issued the same way.
From then on, the commercial registration number identifies the entity. Its labour file on Qiwa is opened against that number.
One commercial registration covers the whole Kingdom. It does not expire. Its details are confirmed with the Ministry of Commerce each year instead.
Open the bank account and register for tax before money moves
Open the bank account early, since the first wage file depends on it. Wages reach each worker through a bank. Mudad, the wage protection platform, needs a bank account in the establishment's own name.
Once the entity is registered with the Ministry of Commerce, ZATCA generates its tax identification number. Your entity then completes its registration on ZATCA's portal.
| Tax | When it applies to your entity |
|---|---|
| Income tax | On the share of the entity owned by non-Saudi nationals. An entity your foreign company wholly owns registers for income tax |
| Zakat | On any share owned by Saudi nationals. For zakat, a national of another Gulf Cooperation Council state counts as Saudi |
| Value added tax | Once its taxable sales in the Kingdom pass the mandatory registration threshold, or are expected to |
Make the entity ready to employ before anyone joins
An entity can hold every registration so far and still be unable to hire. A few more pieces make it an employer.
Its labour file is opened on Qiwa, the platform of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. The file holds the establishment's details and its licences. Each work visa, documented contract and transfer runs through it.
It registers with GOSI. Any private establishment that employs anyone must register. Each person is then registered by the last day of the month they join. Our guide to GOSI sets out the branches and the deadlines.
Its wages run through Mudad, the platform for the Wage Protection Program. Each month's wage file is uploaded there after the bank pays it. Our guide to Mudad sets out the upload and its deadline.
The rules on Saudi nationals apply from the first hire. Some professions are reserved for Saudi nationals in any establishment with anyone in those roles. Nitaqat, the ministry's Saudization programme, bands your entity by its Saudi share. The band decides whether it can obtain new work visas. Our guide to Saudization sets out both tests. Our guide to hiring in Saudi Arabia sets out the steps for each hire.
Check what a regional headquarters asks, and the government work it keeps open
A regional headquarters takes a licence of its own from MISA. It is for a foreign multinational whose entity in the Kingdom will support, manage and set the strategic direction of its branches and subsidiaries across the Middle East and North Africa.
| Condition | What MISA sets |
|---|---|
| The entity | A separate legal person in the Kingdom, as a company or as a registered branch of a foreign company |
| What it earns | Nothing from commercial activity of its own, beyond its licensed headquarters activities |
| Its mandatory activities | Begun within six months of its registration |
| Its optional activities | At least three, chosen when applying, begun within a year of its registration |
| Its people | At least 15 full-time employees in its activities within a year of its registration, including at least three at executive director and vice-president level |
Government work turns on where your regional headquarters sits. The rule concerns a foreign company whose regional headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa is in another country of the region. Since 1 January 2024, a government body may contract with such a company only in the cases the rules allow.
The rule covers only the companies named on a list the Ministry of Investment prepares. It reaches their agents and distributors too, for those companies' goods and services. Work and purchases with an estimated cost of no more than SAR 1,000,000 are outside it. The Minister of Finance can change that amount. Work carried out outside the Kingdom is outside it too.
Start your first hire while the entity is opened
Opening an entity takes months. The person you want may not wait that long. Global Kinect EOR lets them start in Saudi Arabia before your entity exists.
The employment is put in place under Saudi law, with a contract written under it. They are paid every month in their local currency. Tax, social insurance and the statutory filings are handled and filed. Work permits and visas are arranged where the role needs them. You decide who you hire, the role and the salary package. You direct their work day to day.
A role reserved for Saudi nationals stays closed to a foreign national whichever route you take.
Once your entity is ready, your people can move across to it. Our guide to moving from employer of record to your own entity sets out the order.
Once your entity employs people, someone has to run their pay. If your entity will pay and file itself, that is payroll, a separate service. Our guide to payroll or employer of record sorts the needs side by side. If you would rather hand it over, PEO pays the people your own entity employs, every month in their local currency, with benefits and compliance handled. PEO is part of Global Kinect EOR.
Common questions.
Does a Saudi national have to own part of the entity?
Do we have to visit the Kingdom to register and set up the company?
Do our documents need translating into Arabic?
Hiring where you have no entity? Name the country and the role.
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