Introduction
Thinking about setting up a workshop, factory, or small assembly line in Oman but not sure how the 2025 rule changes affect you? You’re in the right place. The oman industrial license process used to feel like a long paper chase split between different ministries; now everything runs through a single online gateway and most low-risk applications clear in under two weeks. Even better, if you’re buying or leasing space in Sandan Industrial City, you can submit documents, pay fees, and walk out with both a deed and an industrial licence from one on-site counter. This guide walks you through the exact steps, fees, and documents you’ll need, while flagging shortcuts (and common trip-ups) for UAE-based owners who need attestations or GCC origin paperwork.
Quick snapshot: what you’ll learn
- The new 3-tier licence fees for 2025 and which band your activity falls into
- A clear, 8-step timeline showing how long each stage really takes
- Mainland versus free-zone differences and why Sandan’s hybrid desk is faster
- The must-have document checklist, including UAE e-notary tips
- Cost examples so you can plug numbers into your own budget model
- Why the 2025 rule update matters
Up until last year you had to juggle two portals—MoCIIP for mainland plots and OPAZ for free-zone sites—each with its own forms, fee tables and payment screens. Royal Decree 38/2025 merged those pipelines into one Industrial Gateway and simplified the price list:
- Low-risk activities like light assembly or packaging: 250 OMR
- Medium-risk work (food handling, plastics moulding): 750 OMR
- High-risk operations (chemicals, heavy metal processing): 3 000 OMR
The best part? If your facility sits inside Sandan Industrial City, the zone’s on-site counter feeds your file straight into the new system. No shuttling between ministries, no second “free-zone” licence to maintain—just one fee, one PDF and you’re legal. For oman industrial license process veterans that’s night-and-day faster than the old routine.
- One glance at who handles your file
| Where your unit is | Button you click | Who reviews it | Typical turnaround* |
| Mainland estate (e.g., Rusayl, Ghala) | “MoCIIP Industrial” tab | MoCIIP reviewers | 10-14 days |
| Coastal SEZ (Duqm, Sohar, Salalah, Khazaen) | “OPAZ Free Zone” tab | OPAZ reviewers | 8-12 days |
| Sandan Industrial City | Hand docs to Sandan desk or upload via their kiosk | MoCIIP fast-track queue | 7 days |
*Low-risk applications; add 3–5 days for medium/high risk because of extra HSE vetting.
The takeaway: location now decides which reviewers touch your file, but the backend is identical. Sandan just trims the wait by walking your folder to the front of the MoCIIP line—handy when you’re paying contractors by the day and every extra week eats cash.
- The 8-step oman industrial license process in plain English
- Reserve your space
– Sign a purchase or lease agreement (Sandan lets you put down just 5 percent to hold a unit).
- Open the portal
– Log in to the Industrial Gateway, choose mainland or free-zone, and fill out a three-page wizard with your activity code, power load and staff count.
- Upload the basics
– Attach your commercial-registration copy, passport, simple floor plan and a letter from the landlord or deed holder (Sandan’s sales team gives you this in a click).
- Environment tick-box
– Low-risk? Click “self-declaration” and move on. Medium or high-risk? Attach the short HSE form; no need for a full EIA unless flagged.
- Pay the band fee
– Card or SADAD gateway; you’ll see 250, 750 or 3 000 OMR auto-filled by the system.
- Digital safety review
– The zone HSE team checks exits, fire points and machine layout. In Sandan, this is often a screen-share with the inspector, saving an on-site visit.
- Licence issued
– An e-licence PDF lands in your dashboard and email. Print it or keep it on your phone; both the banks and customs accept the digital copy.
- Activate visas and VAT
– The system pushes your new activity code to Royal Oman Police and the Tax Authority so you can request staff visas and a VAT number the same day.
Total clock for a low-risk project in Sandan: one week. Mainland estates average ten days, and remote SEZs can stretch to twelve when inspectors travel in.
- What to budget and the documents you should gather now
Minimum paperwork pile
- Commercial-registration copy (if you are migrating from the UAE, the GCC-uniform CR works)
- Passport and Oman ID for the authorised signatory
- Deed or lease contract of the unit (Sandan emails a signed PDF)
- One-page floor plan marked with exits, firefighting gear and any gas lines
- Public-liability insurance certificate (scan and upload)
Real-world fee stack
| Fee | Low-risk | Medium-risk | High-risk |
| Licence band | 250 OMR | 750 OMR | 3 000 OMR |
| E-service admin | 10 OMR | 10 OMR | 10 OMR |
| Inspection* | 0–50 OMR | 75 OMR | 150 OMR |
| Typical total | 260–300 OMR | 835 OMR | 3 160 OMR |
*Sandan usually waives the on-site visit for low-risk files if you supply clear phone photos of the workshop.
Grab these documents before you even sign the unit contract and you can blitz through the upload in under an hour—turning the oman industrial license process into a box-ticking formality rather than a project-stopping chore.
- Mainland, free zone or Sandan—how the playing field really differs
Leaning toward a coastal free zone because you’ve heard the words duty free? Push pause and look at the whole picture.
| Question | Mainland estate | Coastal free zone (Duqm, Sohar, Salalah) | Sandan Industrial City |
| Who signs the licence? | MoCIIP | OPAZ | MoCIIP on-site at Sandan |
| Title type | Lease or 25-year usufruct | Lease (25–30 years, renewable) | Outright deed in your company’s name |
| Corporate income tax | 0 % for non-oil SMEs | 0 % for 15–30 years | 0 % (no sunset) |
| Customs on imported machinery | 5 % (reclaimable if re-exported) | 0 % | 5 % (reclaimable if re-exported) |
| Average licence time | 10–14 days | 8–12 days | 7 days |
| Collateral value | Limited (lease) | Limited (lease) | High (banks lend up to 70 % on the deed) |
If your business model depends on duty-free raw-material imports or you need a berth next door, the coastal SEZs still shine. But when speed to market, bank collateral and Muscat’s workforce matter more, Sandan’s hybrid desk makes the decision a lot easier.
- Easy-to-miss snags and the five-minute fixes
Notarisation hiccups
: UAE-issued documents must be notarised and stamped for Oman. The quick route is Dubai Courts e-notary. Download the QR-coded PDF and upload it—MoCIIP accepts the digital seal, saving a courier run.
HSE drawing rejections
: Most knock-backs happen because exits or extinguisher icons are missing. Email your floor plan to Sandan’s technical desk first; they add the red lines the inspector expects.
Omanisation waivers filed late
: Companies with fewer than ten employees can request a one-year waiver, but only during the initial application. Tick the waiver box in Step 2 so you don’t end up paying a per-head levy later.
Bank letter delays
: Your capital-verification letter is just a printout, but banks won’t issue it unless you ask. Book an appointment the same day you open your Oman account and you’ll have the letter within 24 hours.
Utility-load surprises
: Muscat’s grid is healthy, yet heavy users sometimes forget to pre-book extra kVA. If your machines draw more than 100 kW, lodge the load sheet during Step 2; the utility company can have a transformer on-site by the time your licence drops into your inbox.
- Real-world speed test: how a Dubai auto-parts firm got licensed in 15 days
Rashid Autospare runs a 12-person parts-distribution business out of Sharjah. In March 2025 he bought a two-storey, 55 m² workshop in Sandan to assemble brake-pad kits for the Omani market. Here’s how the oman industrial license process played out, day by day:
| Calendar day | Action | Notes & cost |
| 1 | Paid 5 % booking fee (1 750 OMR) & signed the sale–purchase agreement online | Sandan emailed a stamped contract within an hour |
| 3 | Logged into Industrial Gateway, uploaded CR, passport, deed, floor plan | System auto-assigned low-risk band (250 OMR) |
| 4 | Paid 260 OMR (band fee + admin) by card | Receipt hit inbox instantly |
| 6 | HSE video call with Sandan inspector; sent smartphone photos of fire points | No on-site visit required |
| 8 | E-licence PDF issued—valid three years | File automatically pushed to visa & VAT systems |
| 12 | First consignment of imported caliper hardware cleared customs | 5 % duty paid; reclaimable once finished goods exported |
| 15 | Assembly line live; issued first Omani tax invoice | Total official cost: 260 OMR; total calendar time: 15 days |
Rashid’s verdict: “Faster than my Dubai mainland licence renewal—plus I own the building, so the bank already offered to finance inventory against the deed.”
- Five quick FAQs investors always ask
Can I bump my licence from low- to medium-risk later?
Absolutely—upload revised HSE drawings, pay the 500 OMR difference, and the system issues a fresh PDF within 48 hours.
How long before I need to renew?
Low- and medium-risk licences last three years; high-risk ones renew annually because of the extra inspections.
Can one licence cover multiple products?
Yes, as long as they sit in the same risk tier. Otherwise you’ll pay the higher band once and list all activities under it.
Do I still need a municipal trade licence?
Only if you plan to sell retail from the premises. Pure manufacturing or storage is covered by the industrial licence.
What if I hire fewer Omanis than the quota?
You can apply for a one-year waiver during your initial submission; after that, shortfall penalties kick in at roughly 200 OMR per missing headcount per year.
- Turning the checklist into a live licence
Ready to hit “Apply”? Follow this sprint plan and the oman industrial license process becomes a scheduled task, not an open-ended worry.
- Block two hours on your calendar. Use the first 30 minutes to gather PDFs of your CR, passport, and floor plan.
- Sign your space. If you’re eyeing Sandan, a 5 percent refundable booking fee locks a unit while you finish paperwork.
- Open the Industrial Gateway. Choose MoCIIP (mainland) or OPAZ (free zone). Sandan owners select “MoCIIP via zone desk” and let staff upload for them if they prefer.
- Pay the fee immediately. The payment screen times out after 60 minutes; card in hand avoids a repeat login.
- Set a daily reminder. Check the portal for comments—most delays happen when applicants miss a simple clarification request.
- Schedule utilities once the e-licence drops. A two-day head start means power and water are live before your first pallet arrives.
Follow those six bullets and you can land a low-risk licence in Sandan inside one working week and a mainland estate in roughly ten days—comfortably before your first supplier invoice is due.
- Final takeaway
Oman’s 2025 licensing overhaul stripped away the slow stairs and left a single elevator. Whether you plug into Muscat’s established estates, the deep-water SEZs, or Sandan’s deed-in-hand workshops, the steps are now clear, fees are flat and the portal does most of the legwork. For SMEs that need to move fast—especially those crossing the border from the UAE—Sandan’s on-site counter and freehold collateral shave both time and long-term risk. Treat the process like any other project: gather the right files, pay the fee the same day, answer clarifications within 24 hours. Do that and you will have an industrial licence in your inbox before your first pallet hits Omani soil.
