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Move & retire

Oman

A golden residency arrived in 2025 — at half a million dollars.

4/4
ingredients confirmed
Every ingredient this page asks for has a figure and a source.
Living
~$1,850/mo
Couple, all in. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level behind it prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.
Safety
Mid
Sixtieth globally and third in the Middle East and North Africa, though it recorded the region’s largest deterioration this edition
ResidencyRecently changed
A route, if you have half a million dollars
Healthcare
Insurance is compulsory, and it is on you
Out-of-pocket spending is 6.3% of current health expenditure here (World Bank, 2023, CC BY 4.0). Read it with care: the measure counts only what insured people pay — not premiums, and not the uninsured — which is why the United States comes out at 10.9%, ahead of most countries on this site. The very low figure reflects a public system free at the point of use for Omani nationals, and says nothing about what an expatriate resident faces.

More is being checked.

Where these figures came from

One row per ingredient. Open any of them for the source, how far we trust it, and when we last checked.

Living~$1,850/mo

Pathoff judgement directed by evidence, not computed from it: the country’s position comes from the World Bank household consumption price level for 2024 (0.481 of the United States, CC BY 4.0 — the ICP benchmark carried forward annually by the World Bank’s own method); the US reference budget is ours. See the Pathoff method, section 12.

Couple, all in. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level behind it prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.

Confidence
made by us from the source
SafetyMid

Global Peace Index 2026: rank 60 of 163, score 1.85. Converted by the Pathoff GPI formula (GPI in lib/scoring.ts)

Sixtieth globally and third in the Middle East and North Africa, though it recorded the region’s largest deterioration this edition

Confidence
made by us from the source
ResidencyA route, if you have half a million dollars

Pathoff outcome rubric (the Pathoff method, section 10-4), residency band "A route with conditions you can meet": The Golden Residency launched on 31 August 2025 publishes renewable five- and ten-year permits against defined investment or property thresholds — reported from OMR 200,000 up to OMR 500,000 — with spouse and children included. At the foot of the band: the only route that does not need an employer is an investment one at a level few reach, nothing becomes permanent, and the scheme is a year old with its terms still being restated.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Rule
Changed recently — older guidance elsewhere is out of date
Last checked
2026-09
HealthcareInsurance is compulsory, and it is on you

Pathoff healthcare rubric (the Pathoff method, section 13-2), band "You buy your own, and it is affordable": The public system is built for Omani nationals; expatriate residents are required to hold private health insurance, and Muscat’s private hospitals are good and quick. High in the band because the requirement makes cover predictable rather than optional, and because most serious treatment is done in Muscat rather than abroad.

Out-of-pocket spending is 6.3% of current health expenditure here (World Bank, 2023, CC BY 4.0). Read it with care: the measure counts only what insured people pay — not premiums, and not the uninsured — which is why the United States comes out at 10.9%, ahead of most countries on this site. The very low figure reflects a public system free at the point of use for Omani nationals, and says nothing about what an expatriate resident faces.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Rule
No change known to us
Last checked
2026-09

What it is like here

Oman is the calmest country in the Gulf and a third cheaper than the UAE, with real mountains, a long coast, and a health system that works if you are insured. In August 2025 it finally opened a route for people without an employer: a five- or ten-year golden residency for investors. Read the price before you plan around it, and note that the scheme is barely a year old.

How the process works

1

Decide between sponsorship and investment

Without an employer, the golden residency is the route, and it is priced accordingly.

⏱ 3–9 months
2

Take out the compulsory health insurance

Expatriate residents are required to be covered, and the requirement is enforced.

⏱ 1–2 weeks
3

Expect the terms to move

The scheme launched in 2025 and its thresholds have already been restated once.

Timing not confirmed

Where people settle

Muscat
The hospitals, the airport and most of the foreign community
Salalah
Green through the summer monsoon, and far from everything else
Musandam
Fjords and diving, and an enclave reached through the UAE

Open any ingredient above to see where its figure came from, how far we trust it and when we last checked. Nothing here is a substitute for the official source. Last reviewed 2026-09-04.

Photograph of Oman by Safa.daneshvar, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.