Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, in cooperation with the Royal Oman Police (ROP), issued 217 investor residency cards for various nationalities, since the launch of the Investor Residency Programme (IRP) in October 2021.
As many as 142 cards were issued for the 10-year category, 73 cards for the 5-year category and 2 cards for the retirees' category. The IRP grants foreign investors and retirees a long residency in the Sultanate of Oman. The move aims at facilitating the granting of residency to investors wishing to invest in the Sultanate of Oman. The residency period reaches 5 or 10 years, subject to renewal. It also aims to support integrated efforts to enhance the investment environment, promote economic diversification and attract quality investments according to clear and specific controls.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion said that to obtain an investor residency card, a request should be submitted through the investment services centre in the ministry's website that links all authorities concerned.
The plan aims to attract and retain investments and business entities and generate more job opportunities. Accordingly, any investor who is willing to or has already invested a minimum sum of RO 250,000 in the country can avail a residency permit for five years. An investor with RO 500,000 can hold a residency permit of 10 years. Long-term residency permits have many other benefits associated with them.
The new Investor Residency Programme offers foreign investors and retirees the right to long-term stay in the Sultanate of Oman. An investor is entitled to a residency status for up to 10 years if he has an investment of at least RO 500,000 in a limited liability company, closed joint-stock company or government bonds, or has established, or will be establishing a company which employs at least 50 Omanis without specifying the capital.
The programme is an addition to the incentives and advantages that the Sultanate of Oman offers to the investors. The Sultanate of Oman provides incentives and advantages to investors within the foreign capital investment law, including allowing the foreign investors to own 100 per cent, without a minimum capital, and also launched the automatic licensing service through Invest Easy portal for more than 1,500 economic activities to facilitate the start of doing business in the country. The investor should establish a public or closed joint-stock company. To avail the benefits, he must submit a certificate from one of the licensed brokerage companies operating in the country proving his ownership of shares with a market value of not less than RO 500,000.
To avail resident card for a retiree, he must provide proof of his work in the Sultanate of Oman (work contract) for at least 2 years, and submit a personal bank statement from one of the banks or commercial entities in the country of at least 6 months to prove that his monthly income is not less than RO 4,000, and to submit a house title deed, or a residential lease contract in the name of the applicant, and to attach with the application an integrated biodata. The ministry sources further said that all the details, applicable terms and conditions and other criteria are there on the ministry website.
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