Saudi Arabia's New Fast-Track Foreign Investment License Application Procedure for Qualifying Applicants
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.17.14
The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) is tasked with licensing most foreign capital investments in businesses in Saudi Arabia. In an effort to address ever lengthening license processing times, SAGIA announced in June 2014 that it would be implementing a fast-track license application procedure (the Fast-Track Procedure) for qualified license applicants. After some initial difficulties during its roll-out, the Fast Track Procedure seems now to be providing qualifying applicants with a welcome alternative to SAGIA's often lengthy standard license application procedure.
Under the Fast-Track Procedure, the following types of foreign companies would typically be eligible to submit an abbreviated foreign investment license application that can result in a foreign investment license being issued in as little as five business days:
- Foreign companies with branches or subsidiaries in more than one jurisdiction.
- Foreign companies that are publicly listed on their home country's stock exchange or on an international stock exchange.
- Foreign companies that manufacture products that are classified and approved by independent agencies and employ certified process technology.
- Foreign companies that own registered trademarks, patents, or copyrights.
- Foreign companies that are establishing a regional office in Saudi Arabia.
- Foreign construction companies that are classified as Class A in their home countries.
- Foreign companies that have assets worth more than SAR 50 million (about US$ 13,333,333), that have more than 2,000 employees, and that have completed at least one project with a value of at least SAR 500 million (about US$ 133,333,333).
- Foreign companies contracting with the Saudi government or a Saudi government-owned entity or entering into a joint venture with a Saudi company listed on the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange.
Insights
Client Alert | 5 min read | 12.12.25
Eleventh Circuit Hears Argument on False Claims Act Qui Tam Constitutionality
On the morning of December 12, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al., No. 24-13581 (11th Cir. 2025). This case concerns the constitutionality of the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam provisions and a groundbreaking September 2024 opinion in which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that the FCA’s qui tam provisions were unconstitutional under Article II. See United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024). That decision, penned by District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, was the first success story for a legal theory that has been gaining steam ever since Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh indicated they would be willing to consider arguments about the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Res., 599 U.S. 419 (2023). In her opinion, Judge Mizelle held (1) qui tam relators are officers of the U.S. who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause; and (2) historical practice treating qui tam and similar relators as less than “officers” for constitutional purposes was not enough to save the qui tam provisions from the fundamental Article II infirmity the court identified. That ruling was appealed and, after full briefing, including by the government and a bevy of amici, the litigants stepped up to the plate this morning for oral argument.
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.11.25
Director Squires Revamps the Workings of the U.S. Patent Office
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.10.25
Creativity You Can Use: CJEU Clarifies Copyright for Applied Art
Client Alert | 4 min read | 12.10.25
Federal Court Strikes Down Interior Order Suspending Wind Energy Development
