3OCT

Saudi premium residents gain 31 services

2 min read

13:31UTC

Saudi Arabia's Premium Residency Center launched 31 new and updated services for holders on 22 September, including registration of their work contracts through the Qiwa labour platform, Okaz reported.

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Key takeaway

Saudi Premium Residency holders now register work contracts through the Qiwa platform.

Saudi Arabia's Premium Residency Center added 31 services for Premium Residency holders on 22 September, the newspaper Okaz reported⁠¹. Primary holders now register their work contracts through Qiwa, the labour ministry's online platform, and dependants through the Ajeer platform. Holders can also transfer property through notaries, register rentals and add dependants by self-service. The package follows June's rule that Premium Residency holders obtain Qiwa work permits, and it builds the online plumbing for that rule.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Saudi Arabia sells a long-stay residency called Premium Residency. Holders get rights such as owning property. In June the government said holders must get a separate work permit before taking a job. On 22 September it added 31 services, including online registration of work contracts. The changes make daily tasks, such as renting a home or adding family members, easier to do through government websites.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Saudi Arabia runs its labour market through platforms. Qiwa, run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, is the channel for work permits, so a programme that grants work rights has to route them there.

The package reduces manual steps. Dependants can be added and their residencies issued by self-service, and property and vehicle rules sit in services holders can reach without a visit to a government office.

The vehicle rule shows the programme's selling point. Holders may import up to two vehicles a year and own more than two, which is a privilege that general residents do not have in the sources Lowdown holds.

What could happen next?

Consequence
Residency holders who work must register contracts on a government labour platform before starting.
Immediate · Reported
Opportunity
Self-service routes for dependants, property and rentals lower the cost of staying long term.
Short term · Reported
Risk
Without a stated grace period, a holder who starts work before registration may breach the rule.
Short term · Suggested

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: Saudi Arabia's own June change (ID:4690) is the closest case. It required holders to obtain a separate work permit through Qiwa before taking any job, at a base fee of 100 riyals plus employer-size subscription fees. The 22 September package wires the same platform into the programme's routine services.

Counter-parallel: South Africa's Cabinet approved a white paper on 3 April 2026 that proposes a points-based system with new visa categories for remote work, start-ups and skilled workers, plus an electronic travel authorisation (ID:2895). It builds the remote-work route into the visa, where Saudi Arabia attaches work rights through the labour platform. Parliament must pass enabling Acts before any element binds.

Immediate: holders who want to work now register contracts through Qiwa or Ajeer and pay the fees set in June. Property transfers go through Najiz and notaries, and rentals through Ejar.

Structural: the programme's value lies in ownership and mobility rights, since the vehicle and property services are among the 31. A holder who owns property and imports cars becomes tied to the country through assets as well as employment.

Consensus view: Okaz, which reported the package first, describes a plumbing exercise: primary holders' employment contracts register through the Qiwa platform and dependants' through Ajeer, property transfers run through Najiz and notaries, and rentals through Ejar. Holders can also register directly with employers through the General Organization for Social Insurance and use Hadaf workforce incentives.

Counter-view: The June rule that created the work-permit step carried no stated grace period and no post-issuance amendment route. The new services connect the programme to platforms but the sources do not say whether they relax either gap.

Key tension: Whether a residency sold as a visa that includes a right to work is now a visa plus a labour-market registration, with the registration doing the work.

Sources:Okaz

Mentions:Saudi Arabia →Premium Residency Programme →Qiwa →Parliament →South Africa →Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development →General Organization for Social Insurance (Saudi Arabia) →Premium Residency Center (Saudi Arabia) →

First Reported In

Update #14 · Spain's Congress sinks its rental decrees

Okaz· 3 Oct 2026

Read original →

Causes and effects

Caused by

Saudi golden visa loses its work right

The June Qiwa work-permit requirement preceded the 22 September service additions.

Occurred 31 May 2026

Read story →

This Event

Saudi premium residents gain 31 services

Saudi Premium Residency holders can now handle work contracts, property and dependants through state online platforms.

Different Perspectives

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy

Nandy told MPs around 3 September that England's register of short lets will be fully operational by March 2027. Wales opened compulsory registration for every paid stay on 1 October, with a deadline of 31 March 2027.

Venice budget assessor Michele Zuin

Zuin told Il Gazzettino on 21 September that a charge of about €30 on peak days from 2027 would be the most concrete solution. He added that the city must set new rules together with government and Parliament.

Saudi Premium Residency Center

The Center added 31 services on 22 September, according to the newspaper Okaz. Primary holders now register employment contracts through the Qiwa platform, and no Saudi Press Agency release confirms the package.

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Mitsotakis announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair on 5 September that new short-let registrations in central Athens and Thessaloniki stay suspended to 31 December 2027. No ministerial decision has been found, and golden-visa applications fell 39% from January to July.

Cape Town housing group Ndifuna Ukwazi

Ndifuna Ukwazi backs the city's draft by-law, which rates lets available over 183 nights a year as commercial from 1 July 2027. Finance mayco member Siseko Mbandezi said it ensures fairness in the commercial accommodation sector.

Klungkung Regency and KPK

Klungkung took 2.7bn rupiah on Nusa Penida from 1 to 9 September against 1.1bn in the first ten days of August. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) sent files on eight suspects in a residence-permit extortion case to prosecutors on 30 September, alleging 145.5bn rupiah was taken.