Saudi Arabia to Grant Citizenship to Talented Professionals Under Vision 2023

Saudi Arabia has declared that it will grant citizenship to ‘outstanding’ and gifted foreigners from different fields to help achieve its Vision 2023 goals.

The decision is in line with a royal decree by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud that allows the granting of Saudi citizenship to a selection of distinguished individuals with unique expertise and specializations in religious, medical, scientific, cultural, sports, and technological fields regardless of nationality, the Saudi Gazette reported on Thursday.

It detailed that the new citizens “will contribute to the development of various sectors throughout the Kingdom, and in support of achieving its Vision 2030 goal, of creating an attractive environment that enables attracting, investing in and retaining exceptional creative minds”.

According to Bloomberg, the kingdom has already granted an unspecified number of citizenships in a bid to diversify away from oil. It is also believed that the new plan is inspired by a similar policy of the UAE that was announced earlier this year.

We adopted law amendments that allow granting the UAE citizenship to investors, specialized talents & professionals including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors and their families. The new directives aim to attract talents that contribute to our development journey.

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) January 30, 2021

Acquiring citizenship in any Gulf country has never been easy. Although it is traditionally not offered to foreigners, the new system will provide experts and investors with a rare chance to establish deeper roots in Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom had announced plans to grant citizenship to distinguished professionals in December 2019, without specifying the details, but the program was delayed by two years because of the pandemic.