Most content on "Oman golden visa" stops at one program and one set of numbers. That's half the picture. As of June 2026, Oman runs two separate residency-through-property routes with different rules, different costs, and different property eligibility, and conflating them is the single most common mistake buyers make when planning around residency. This guide covers both, in full, including the newer one most existing articles haven't caught up to yet.
The Golden Residency Program#
This is Oman's flagship investor residency route, run jointly by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion and the Royal Oman Police. It started life as the Investor Residency Programme in October 2021 and was relaunched and expanded in September 2025, per Deloitte's Middle East tax practice.
The two tiers:
| Property investment | Residency granted | Renewable |
|---|---|---|
| OMR 250,000+ | 5 years | Yes |
| OMR 500,000+ | 10 years | Yes |
The distinction that actually matters here isn't the price gap, it's what the two tiers signal about how Oman is positioning this program: unlike neighboring golden visa schemes that reward passive spend, Oman ties the longer, more privileged residency to a materially larger commitment, and holds both tiers to the same requirement below. That requirement is the one buyers most often overlook:
- The property has to sit inside a designated Integrated Tourism Complex (ITC). This isn't paperwork, it's the entire foundation of the program. ITCs are the specific, licensed freehold zones created under Royal Decree 12/2006, and this tier of residency doesn't exist outside them.
- Spouse, children, and dependent parents can be included under the primary applicant.
- Baseline eligibility runs through the standard checks: minimum age 21, a police clearance certificate, and a medical exam.
- This is residency, not a citizenship track. A 10-year Golden Residency doesn't shorten Oman's separate, considerably stricter naturalization requirements.
Where this route actually applies#
Four developments we track pricing and yield data for on this site are established ITCs eligible under this program:
- Al Mouj Muscat — Oman's flagship freehold waterfront ITC and the reference point most expat buyers compare everything else against.
- Muscat Hills — a golf-course ITC community near Muscat International Airport.
- Hawana Salalah — Oman's largest beachfront resort ITC, with a rental market driven heavily by Dhofar's Khareef monsoon season.
- Muscat Bay — an ultra-luxury coastal ITC near Qantab built around a private lagoon, with deliberately limited supply and among the highest total prices tracked on this site.
Jebel Sifah and AIDA at Yiti are also established ITCs under this route. Here's the one check every serious buyer should run before signing anything: confirm the specific development's current ITC licensing directly with the developer or MOCIIP. ITC status is a legal designation, not a marketing word. Plenty of listings use "freehold" loosely; only a licensed ITC actually confers the ownership and residency rights this program requires.
The Owner's Residence Permit — Oman's newer, quieter route#
Here's what most "Oman golden visa" content has missed entirely: in June 2026, Oman opened a second path to residency that operates on completely different terms. Royal Oman Police Decision No. 87/2026, published in the Official Gazette on 21 June and effective the next day, created the Owner's Residence Permit.
This program exists to solve a different problem than the Golden Residency tier does. Where Golden Residency rewards a large, ITC-restricted commitment with a long-duration, high-privilege visa, the Owner's Residence Permit removes the barriers entirely and trades them for a shorter runway:
- No minimum investment threshold.
- Any qualifying property nationwide, including off-plan and not-yet-registered units, not just ITC zones.
- No local sponsor required.
- Extends to first-degree relatives.
- Valid roughly 6 months to 1 year, renewable rather than a flat 5 or 10 years.
- Fewer attached privileges: no GCC visa-free travel benefit, no domestic-staff sponsorship, no business-ownership rights.
This is Oman's on-ramp for owners who want residency attached to a property purchase without meeting the Golden Residency Program's price floor or zone restriction, and who are fine trading that for a shorter, renewable term instead of a decade-long grant.
Golden Residency vs. Owner's Residence Permit#
| Golden Residency Program | Owner's Residence Permit | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum investment | OMR 250,000 (5yr) / OMR 500,000 (10yr) | None |
| Eligible property | ITC zones only | Nationwide, including off-plan |
| Duration | 5 or 10 years | ~6 months–1 year, renewable |
| Sponsor required | No | No |
| Dependents | Spouse, children, dependent parents | First-degree relatives |
| GCC travel privilege | Yes | No |
| Business/domestic-staff rights | Yes | No |
| Launched/relaunched | Sept 2025 | June 2026 |
The choice between them comes down to one question: are you making a large, specific ITC investment you'd want the longer-term privileges for anyway, or do you want the lowest-friction way to attach residency to a property you're already buying? Golden Residency is built for the first buyer. The Owner's Permit is built for the second.
The mistakes that cost buyers time#
Assuming ownership alone grants residency. Both routes require an active application after purchase. Buying the property is step one, not the finish line.
Blending the two programs' numbers. The OMR 250,000/500,000 thresholds belong to Golden Residency only. The Owner's Permit has no minimum. Treating these as one program with contradictory rules is the fastest way to misjudge your own eligibility.
Assuming this leads to citizenship. It doesn't, on either route.
Skipping the ITC verification step. If you're targeting Golden Residency specifically, confirm your target property's current ITC licensing before you get financially committed to it. Our freehold and ITC buying guide walks through exactly how that verification works.
Where residency fits into the actual decision#
Residency eligibility should be one input into your property decision, not the whole thesis. The property still has to work on its own terms: competitive price per sqft, a real rental yield, a developer with a credible delivery track record. Run the numbers with our yield calculator or get matched to areas that fit your budget with the AI Property Advisor, both built on the same real, cited price and yield data shown on every area page on this site.
Program rules here have already changed twice in under a year. Before you apply, confirm the current terms directly with Invest Oman, the Royal Oman Police, or a licensed Omani immigration consultant, not from any single article, including this one.