Bangladesh
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is the largest source of money sent home to Bangladesh. It is also one of the hardest places for a Bangladeshi founder to own a company, and the reason sits on both sides.
Riyadh asks who files the application. Dhaka asks where the money comes from. Very few founders have a good answer to both.
This page sorts readers into three situations, says which has a route, and spends most of its length on the Bangladeshi rules, read in the texts.
Three readers, three different answers
The same passport gives three different files. Where you have lived for the past year, and whether you own an exporting company, decide which one is yours.
| Your situation | Saudi side | Bangladeshi side | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual living in Bangladesh | No published path without a company or a residence status | Capital may not leave without permission | No practical route |
| Exporting company in Bangladesh | Fits the regular corporate track | Bangladesh Bank approval, case by case | Possible, slow, rare |
| Bangladeshi working in the Kingdom | Entrepreneur track or Premium Residency | Savings earned abroad sit outside the surrender rule | The realistic case |
The third row is where most real demand is. Bangladesh Bank recorded USD 1,649.67 million sent from Saudi Arabia between July and September 2026, out of USD 8,592.53 million from all countries.
That is a labour corridor. Press estimates put the community at several million, and no public register of Bangladeshi owned companies in the Kingdom was found.
What Saudi Arabia asks, in short
The Saudi rules are set out in 100% foreign ownership in Saudi Arabia. Four points matter here.
- Ownership can be 100% foreign in services, consulting, software and industry, with no published capital figure.
- Trading at full foreign ownership needs SAR 30,000,000 of capital, which closes the door on a small import or retail plan.
- The ministry registers companies and Premium Residency holders. An individual with neither has only the entrepreneur track.
- The general manager is expected to hold an iqama, even when the shareholder stays abroad.
The third point is the one that meets Bangladeshi law head on. Saudi Arabia wants a corporate applicant with last year's financial statements, and Bangladesh restricts exactly that kind of company from investing abroad.
Filing steps are in how to register a company in Saudi Arabia.
Bangladesh's exchange control: closed by default
The governing text is the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947. It does not list what is forbidden. It forbids, then lets Bangladesh Bank open exceptions.
- Section 2 defines a capital account transaction to include foreign direct investment, real estate and personal capital movements.
- Section 4(6), added in 2015, lets Bangladesh Bank, in consultation with the Government, specify the classes of capital transactions that are permitted.
- Section 5 bars any person in, or resident in, Bangladesh from paying a person resident outside it, or paying for property acquired abroad, without an exemption.
- Section 13 bars sending or transferring securities abroad without permission.
For a resident individual, no class of permitted transaction covers buying shares in a Saudi company. The annual travel allowance and current account payments are a different matter, and using them to fund capital is a breach.
An individual in Bangladesh who wants a Saudi company therefore has no route today. Building the business inside an exporting company is the only door the law has opened.
The exporter route, and what could not be confirmed
Outward investment by companies was opened in 2015 in principle, and structured by the Capital Account Transaction (Overseas Equity Investment) Rules of 2022. The practice is narrow.
The United States Department of State writes in its 2025 statement that export related enterprises may invest abroad, "but only a few large exporting companies with international experience have been approved".
The sources read for this page do not agree on the mechanics.
| Point | What one source says | What another says |
|---|---|---|
| Export retention quota balance | Bangladesh Bank guidelines, 2018 edition: it "cannot be used for investment abroad by the exporter" | Press accounts of the 2022 rules: it is the funding source for approved investment |
| Ceiling | The Daily Star: linked to 20% of paid-up capital or average export earnings | Other figures circulate in the press |
| Approval | Prior approval of Bangladesh Bank, in every account | Same |
We could not open the text of the 2022 rules. Treat every ratio you are quoted as unconfirmed until your bank shows you the rule, and ask whether the 2018 guideline wording has been amended.
A second obstacle is Saudi. Many Bangladeshi exporters sell garments, and distributing goods in the Kingdom is trading.
- A garment exporter that wants its own Saudi distribution company meets the SAR 30,000,000 line.
- A Saudi distributor plus a scientific and technical office is the published alternative for product support, without the right to trade.
- A services subsidiary, in software or engineering support for example, carries no published capital figure.
- Recruitment is a restricted activity, with track record and integrity conditions of its own.
If you already work in the Kingdom
This is the case the law treats differently, and almost no guide says so. Exchange control follows residence, not nationality.
| Test | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange control resident | Residing in Bangladesh six months or more in the last twelve | Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, section 2 |
| Tax resident | 183 days in Bangladesh in the year | Income Tax Act 2023, section 2(45) |
| Tax resident, second test | 90 days in the year, after 365 days in the four preceding years | Same |
A worker who has spent more than six of the last twelve months in the Kingdom is outside the first test. Two provisions then work in your favour.
- Section 5(2)(b) leaves untouched a payment made with foreign exchange received as salary for work not done in Bangladesh.
- The surrender rule has an exception. Citizens must sell foreign exchange to a bank within one month, except balances in accounts abroad "opened and credited while the account holders were working abroad".
- Foreign securities need no return from persons usually residing outside Bangladesh, under chapter 9 of the guidelines.
- 1Where did you live for the last twelve months?Six months or more in Bangladesh makes you a resident for exchange control
- 2Resident in BangladeshCapital cannot leave without Bangladesh Bank permission, given to approved exporters only
- 3Working in the KingdomSavings held in accounts abroad, built from your salary there, are outside the surrender rule
- 4Then the Saudi test: who files?Entrepreneur track with a Saudi university or incubator letter, or Premium Residency
- 5Then: who manages?A general manager with an iqama, which may be you after a change of status
The limit is the money you have already remitted. Once it is in Bangladesh, it is under section 5 like any other resident's funds, and it cannot come back out to capitalise a company.
From employee to owner: the Saudi side
A Bangladeshi employee on an iqama is sponsored by an employer. Becoming a shareholder is a change of status, and the published paths are few.
- Entrepreneur registration. The Investor Guide asks for a support letter from a Saudi university or an accredited business incubator.
- A no-objection letter from your employer, with a copy of your residence permit, when the applicant is an individual living in the Kingdom.
- Premium Residency. Holders are exempt from the company documents. Market reporting gives SAR 100,000 a year or SAR 800,000 once, to be checked.
- Your own company abroad. Not available from Bangladesh without approval, as shown above.
One shortcut is common among small shops and should be named. A Saudi national holds the registration, and the expatriate runs the business and keeps the profit.
That is concealment, known as tasattur, and Saudi Arabia has dedicated legislation against it. The business belongs to the Saudi holder on every register, and your claim rests on a private paper.
Bangladeshi tax on Saudi income
Saudi Arabia does not tax salaries. The Saudi company pays 20% on its profit and 5% on dividends sent abroad, as explained in Saudi Arabia withholding tax for non-residents. The Bangladeshi position depends on residence again.
| If you are | Bangladesh taxes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Non-resident for tax | Income arising or received in Bangladesh only | Section 26 |
| Resident for tax | Income from all sources, in Bangladesh and abroad | Section 26 |
| A citizen bringing foreign income home | Exempt, when brought in under the remittance laws | Sixth Schedule, Part I, clause 17 |
Three details catch people.
- The second residence test is easy to meet. Ninety days at home in one year can be enough for someone who lived in Bangladesh before leaving.
- The exemption is written for income brought into Bangladesh through the formal channel. Profit left in the Kingdom by a tax resident is not described by those words.
- Undisclosed offshore assets carry a heavy penalty. Section 21 sets it at the fair market value of the asset, for a resident Bangladeshi who cannot explain it.
A worker who plans to return home should expect the Saudi shares to become a declared offshore asset in the first return filed as a resident.
The 2011 tax treaty: two caps out of three do nothing
The convention was signed in Riyadh on 4 January 2011 and is reported in force since 1 October 2011. Its English text prevails if the versions differ.
| Article | Rule on the text | Effect for a Bangladeshi owner |
|---|---|---|
| 10, dividends | Not more than 10% of the gross amount | None, Saudi law takes 5% |
| 11, debt-claims | Not more than 7.5% | None, Saudi law takes 5% |
| 12, royalties | Not more than 10% | Saves 5 points against 15% |
| 5, services | Permanent establishment after more than six months in twelve | Protects short projects |
| 23, relief | Exemption, or a credit for dividends, interest and royalties | Bangladesh credits the Saudi tax |
The convention has no article on technical service fees. They fall under business profits, taxable in the Kingdom only through a permanent establishment there.
Relief is claimed by the Saudi payer, on a tax residency certificate from Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, a foreign tax credit must be claimed within two years of the assessment year.
Visas and documents in October 2026
Access rules moved several times in 2025. The last dated sources found are below, and their current state was not confirmed.
| Measure | Date | Status found |
|---|---|---|
| One-year multiple entry visas suspended for 14 nationalities, Bangladesh included | February 2025 | No end date published |
| Hold on block work visa quotas for the same 14 | 28 May 2025 | Lifted 12 June 2025 |
| Business visit visa for investors opened to all nationalities | November 2023 | Allows meetings and opening a bank account |
| Skills verification before a work visa, five trades | February 2023 | In place when announced |
Documents are simpler than they were. Bangladesh joined the Apostille Convention with effect from 30 March 2025, and Saudi Arabia, a party since December 2022, did not object.
The Investor Guide still asks for documents authenticated by the Saudi Embassy. Ask the ministry which it accepts before you legalise anything.
Where it goes wrong
- Funding the capital from Bangladesh informally. Hundi and similar channels turn a company formation into an exchange control and money laundering matter.
- Registering in a Saudi friend's name. It is concealment in the Kingdom, and you own nothing.
- Planning retail or import below the SAR 30,000,000 trading line.
- Counting on the treaty for dividends, where it changes nothing.
- Spending 90 days at home without checking the second tax residence test.
- Leaving the Saudi shares out of a Bangladeshi return after moving back.
- Assuming the employer will sign. The no-objection letter is in the employer's hands.
Bank account questions, including opening on a passport before the iqama, are in business bank account in Saudi Arabia.
The bottom line
From Bangladesh itself, this route is closed to individuals and narrow for companies. That is Bangladeshi law, and no Saudi structure changes it.
From inside the Kingdom, it is open on the Bangladeshi side and conditional on the Saudi one. The work is to find the track that fits: an incubator letter and your employer's consent, or Premium Residency.
Settle your residence position first, in both senses, then the Saudi activity code, then the applicant.
If you live in the Kingdom and want your case checked against the official tracks, start with the Saudi Arabia company formation service.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Bangladeshi own a company in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi law allows full foreign ownership in most service and industrial activities. The ministry registers companies and Premium Residency holders, and an individual with neither has only the entrepreneur track, which needs a Saudi university or incubator letter.
Can I send money from Bangladesh to start a company in Saudi Arabia?
Not as an individual. Section 5 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 bars payments abroad without an exemption, and no general permission covers buying shares in a foreign company. Outward investment is approved case by case for exporting companies.
I work in Saudi Arabia on an iqama. Can I use my savings there?
Bangladeshi exchange control does not stand in the way. Balances in accounts abroad opened and credited while you worked abroad are outside the rule that forces citizens to sell foreign exchange. Money already remitted to Bangladesh is not.
Do I need my employer's permission to register a business in the Kingdom?
On the entrepreneur track, yes. The Investor Guide asks an individual residing in the Kingdom for a no-objection letter from the employer and a copy of the residence permit.
What are the Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia tax treaty rates?
The convention caps tax at 10% on dividends, 7.5% on income from debt-claims and 10% on royalties. Saudi domestic rates are 5%, 5% and 15%, so the treaty only lowers the rate on royalties.
Will Bangladesh tax the profit of my Saudi company?
It depends on your tax residence. A non-resident is taxed on Bangladeshi income only. A resident is taxed on worldwide income, with an exemption for a citizen's foreign income brought home through the formal remittance channel.
Are Bangladeshi documents accepted with an apostille in Saudi Arabia?
Both countries are parties to the Apostille Convention, Bangladesh since 30 March 2025, and Saudi Arabia did not object to the accession. The Investor Guide still refers to authentication by the Saudi Embassy, so confirm with the ministry first.
Sources
- Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia double taxation convention, English text as gazetted and hosted by the National Board of Revenue: 10% cap on dividends (Article 10), 7.5% on income from debt-claims (Article 11), 10% on royalties (Article 12), six month services threshold (Article 5)
- Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, consolidated text: who is a person resident in Bangladesh (section 2), capital account transactions permitted only by class (section 4), and the ban on payments abroad without exemption (section 5)
- Income Tax Act 2023, authentic English text: tax residence at 183 days (section 2), worldwide income of residents (section 26), penalty on undisclosed offshore assets (section 21), exemption of foreign income remitted home (Sixth Schedule)
- Bangladesh Bank, workers' remittance inflows by country, July to September 2026: Saudi Arabia first at USD 1,649.67 million out of USD 8,592.53 million
- MISA Investor Guide, 13th edition 03-2026: who can apply for investment registration, and the no-objection letter asked of an individual already resident in the Kingdom
Official and read on 5 October 2026: the English text of the Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia convention as gazetted in Bangladesh (a scanned file, re-read by hand), sections 2, 4, 5 and 13 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, chapters 9 and 13 of Bangladesh Bank's Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Transactions (2018 edition, read in a copy archived in June 2024), the Income Tax Act 2023 in its authentic English text, Bangladesh Bank remittance data, the Hague Conference status table for the Apostille Convention, and the MISA Investor Guide. Saudi rules are summarised from the guides of this series. Secondary: the practice of outward investment approvals comes from the United States Department of State investment climate statement for 2025, visa measures from Fragomen alerts dated 2023 and 2025, and Premium Residency prices from market reporting. Not read and to reconfirm before acting: the text of the Capital Account Transaction (Overseas Equity Investment) Rules 2022, including eligibility and ceilings; the date the convention entered into force; the state of Saudi visa restrictions in October 2026; the size of the Bangladeshi community in the Kingdom. No Bangladeshi or Saudi lawyer has reviewed this page. This is not legal or tax advice.