From filing a commercial lawsuit to registering a trademark or documenting a lease, government fees in Saudi Arabia are now published and computable through unified digital platforms. This guide compiles the full fee baseline for judicial, corporate, and consumer services as of June 2026 — fees change by subsequent decisions — organized by authority, with worked examples, within the business guides on Hala Law.

1. Judicial costs — the Judicial Costs Law (M/16)

The Judicial Costs Law, enacted by Royal Decree M/16 with its Executive Regulations, imposes tiered costs on financial claims, borne by default by the losing party. The percentage decreases as the claim value rises:

| Claim value bracket (SAR) | Applied rate | Cap | | --- | --- | --- | | Below 100,000 | 5% | — | | 100,000 to 499,999 | 4% | — | | 500,000 to 999,999 | 3% | — | | 1,000,000 and above | 2% | SAR 1,000,000 |

Unquantified claims carry fixed fees: SAR 10,000 for private criminal cases, SAR 5,000 before commercial courts and circuits, SAR 3,000 before general courts and for urgent lawsuits, and SAR 2,000 for labor disputes filed by non-exempt parties. Procedural motions and appeals are charged separately, with a cumulative cap of SAR 10,000: a petition for reconsideration costs 10,000, cassation 7,000, appeal 5,000, and incidental requests 1,000.

Financial execution requests are assessed at 2% of the demanded amount, with a minimum of SAR 500 and a maximum of SAR 10,000; execution-phase disputes carry a flat SAR 3,000 fee.

Statutory exemptions cover: workers subject to the Labor Law, those exempted from it, and their beneficiaries in labor claims; personal status cases before their courts (excluding cassation and reconsideration); prisoners and detainees in non-criminal financial cases; government bodies; and proceedings under the Bankruptcy Law. Settlement is structurally rewarded: settling before the first hearing waives the costs entirely, and settling afterwards but before judgment reduces them to 25%.

To compute the cost of a specific claim, see the court fees calculator, and for the digital court pathways see the Najiz guide.

2. Company registration — Ministry of Commerce

Commercial Registration (CR) fees are annual and scale with entity type, plus publication fees and VAT:

| Entity type | Annual CR fee (SAR) | | --- | --- | | Sole proprietorship — main | 200 | | Sole proprietorship — branch | 100 | | General / limited partnership | 800 to 1,000 | | Limited liability company (LLC) | 1,200 | | Joint stock / simplified joint stock | 1,600 |

A SAR 500 publication fee applies on issuance or renewal, and the service invoice is subject to 15% VAT. Alongside the CR, Chamber of Commerce membership is mandatory and tiered by capital and workforce: from SAR 200 to 500 annually in the lower classes covering most small businesses, up to SAR 10,000 annually for the premium class serving the largest entities. The issuance path is detailed in the Commercial Registration guide.

Worked example — forming an LLC: CR fee of SAR 1,200 plus SAR 500 publication, a SAR 1,700 base subject to 15% VAT — a government filing cost of SAR 1,955, excluding the variable Chamber subscription.

3. Foreign investment — MISA

A MISA license is the foreign investor's gateway to up to 100% ownership in eligible sectors:

| License type | Year 1 | Later years | | --- | --- | --- | | Standard license (commercial / service) | SAR 12,000 (10,000 service fee + 2,000 annual fee) | SAR 62,000 per year from year 2 | | Entrepreneur License | SAR 2,000 per year for years 1–3 | SAR 12,000 in years 4–5, then 62,000 from year 6 |

The Entrepreneur License requires strict verification — a business plan, proof of innovation, and endorsements from Monsha'at, venture capital firms, or recognized accelerators — in exchange for a five-year runway of reduced fees before the standard rate applies.

4. Intellectual property — SAIP

| Service | Fees (SAR) | | --- | --- | | Trademark — one class (application 1,000 + publication 500 + certificate 5,000) | 6,500 | | Trademark ten-year renewal | 5,000 (up to 6,500 within the grace period) | | Patent (filing 800 for institutions / 400 for individuals + substantive examination 7,500 + certificate 5,000) | up to 13,300 | | Industrial design (application 1,000 + publication 1,500 + certificate 3,000) | 5,500 | | Copyright registration (voluntary) | 500 |

The trademark application fee (SAR 1,000) is non-refundable whether the mark is accepted or rejected, and publication opens a 60-day opposition window before the certificate fee falls due. Fees are calculated per Nice Classification class: registering a mark in three classes means paying the SAR 6,500 lifecycle cost three times.

Worked example — a local coffee shop's trademark in one class: 1,000 + 500 + 5,000 = SAR 6,500 for ten years of protection.

5. Lease registration — the Ejar platform

Registering a contract on Ejar turns it into an executive bond enforceable directly through the Execution Courts; an unregistered lease has no standing before the courts:

| Item | Fees (SAR) | | --- | --- | | Residential contract | 125 per contract year — borne by the landlord by statute | | Commercial contract | 200 for year 1 + 400 for each subsequent year | | Real estate broker commission | Capped at 2.5% of first-year rent — one-time |

Worked example — a three-year commercial lease: 200 for year 1 + 400 for year 2 + 400 for year 3 = SAR 1,000 in registration fees for the full term.

6. Notarization and powers of attorney

Issuing, managing, and revoking electronic powers of attorney through the Najiz portal via Nafath is entirely free. Licensed private notaries (the Mwathiq system) are instead governed by statutory limits per instrument type:

| Private notary service | Statutory minimum (SAR) | Statutory maximum (SAR) | | --- | --- | --- | | Powers of attorney | 100 | 4,000 | | Declarations and mortgages | 100 | 4,000 | | Real estate transfers (title deeds) | 100 | 5,000 | | Corporate contracts and marriage contracts | 100 | 5,000 |

7. Traffic violations

Filing an objection via Absher is free and must be made within 30 days of the violation. Payment within 45 days earns a 25% discount. Fines scale with severity: SAR 150 to 300 for minor infractions, 300 to 500 for mid-level offenses, 1,000 to 2,000 for certain severe commercial infractions, and up to SAR 10,000 for the most serious violations.

Worked examples across domains

  • A SAR 200,000 commercial claim: falls in the 4% bracket — a judicial cost of SAR 8,000, borne by default by the losing party.
  • Executing a SAR 400,000 judgment: 2% of the amount = SAR 8,000, within the 500 minimum and 10,000 maximum.
  • Forming an LLC: SAR 1,955 including VAT, as detailed above.
  • An expatriate worker claiming SAR 150,000 in end-of-service benefits: the cost to the worker is SAR 0 under the labor exemption.

When do you need a licensed lawyer or advisor?

The tables above are general information on the fee baseline — not an assessment of any specific case. Engaging a licensed lawyer carries practical weight when the cost estimate turns on how a claim is characterized or valued, when planning a multi-license corporate or investment structure, or in intellectual property and lease disputes where the statutory fee interacts with the parties' contractual positions.