Venture funding across the Middle East fell in the first half. But those deals were done before the missiles, so the real reckoning is still to come.
Permit conversions and a cooling property market kept volumes high through the Gulf’s most turbulent year in decades.
The stock route gets 50% pricier, tilting the program decisively toward active business; approvals average 85 a year against a 500 cap.
A zoning-based framework replaces case-by-case discretion, aiming to direct foreign capital to Saudi’s new mega-projects while Makkah and Madinah open to Muslims only.
Non-Omanis can now buy and own property across the country. Vito Magagnino says the move “signals maturity rather than desperation.”
The government’s draft cleared committee but not Parliament, asking for half a million dollars to settle in a still-frozen economy.
About 70% of applicants already live in Oman, so the volume reads more as residents securing status than fresh foreign money.
Dubai scraps AED 750k floor for two-year property visa; Savory calls it a cushion for the market’s weakest segment.
A single-portal residency channel offers operational predictability for investors and corporate mobility teams. Whether it offers security is a different question.
He left for India on a family trip. When he tried to fly back, his ten-year golden visa no longer existed.
October’s consular expansion for Golden Visa holders gets its first real-world test as airspace closures strand hundreds abroad.
The visa crackdown began quietly over the past two months as Saudi-UAE tensions hit a fever pitch. Mahmoud Elwakil says the unofficial policy is “unlikely to last.”
Qatar to launch extended residency option for entrepreneurs, aligning the program with GCC competitors.
After receiving over 40,000 applications in 18 months, Saudi Arabia may further expand its Premium Residency program with Abu Dhabi-style pathways for superyacht owners and the ultra-wealthy.
Bahrain’s program now prices into the GCC’s lower-to-mid band, undercutting Oman and Saudi Arabia, but at nearly twice the UAE’s Golden Visa minimum.
Egypt processed citizenship applications from 15 countries in 2025, approving 36 while implementing stricter verification requirements.
Kuwait, the GCC’s last mover on golden visas, is now in the game: 10-year residency for property investors, 15 years for business investors.
The new threshold could give Qatar’s program a price edge over regional rivals such as the UAE, albeit with caveats.
The UAE adds yet another route for its Golden Visas, allowing philanthropists to qualify via Islamic endowments.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs extends citizen-level consular services to Golden Visa holders in what officials describe as a globally unprecedented move.