From 26 August 2026, GCC vehicles in Saudi Arabia owned or driven by a Saudi citizen or resident may stay only 90 days in any 365-day period, consecutive or split. Days count from first entry through a customs port. Owners can ask the Ministry of Interior for an extension before the limit runs out.
What changed
Until now there was no clock on how long a Gulf-plated car could sit inside the Kingdom. There is one now. The Council of Ministers approved the controls at its session on 17 February 2026, and the text appeared in the official gazette, Umm Al-Qura, on 27 February 2026 as Decision No. 736 dated 29/08/1447H. The controls come into force 180 days after that publication, which lands on 26 August 2026.
| Item | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| Maximum stay | 90 days in any 365-day period |
| How days are counted | Consecutive or split, then added together |
| When the clock starts | First entry through a Saudi customs port |
| Who it covers | A vehicle registered in another GCC state that is owned by, or authorised to be driven by, a citizen or resident inside the Kingdom |
| Exempt | A car rented from a licensed rental company in a GCC country |
| Extension | Request to the Ministry of Interior before the period expires |
| Penalty basis | Traffic Law Article 68, paragraph 5, item 25 of violations schedule 5 |
| In force from | 26 August 2026 |
Who the rule actually targets
Read the scope clause carefully, because a lot of the panic circulating on WhatsApp is misplaced. The controls apply to a vehicle registered in another Gulf state that is owned by a citizen or a resident of Saudi Arabia, or that one of them has been authorised to drive. That is the situation the regulation is built around: a car wearing Bahraini, Emirati, Kuwaiti, Qatari or Omani plates that in practice lives in Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam year-round and never gets registered here.
Many expats in Saudi Arabia are in exactly that position without thinking of it as unusual. You bought a car cheaply across the causeway, or a relative in Dubai signed a tafweed authorisation letter so you could keep using their vehicle. Under the new controls that arrangement has a 90-day ceiling.
One clear carve-out exists. If the authorisation covers a car rented from a licensed rental company in a GCC country, the controls do not apply to it. A weekend hire car from Bahrain is not what the regulation is chasing.
How the 90 days are counted
This is the part people get wrong. The count is cumulative across a rolling 365-day window that starts the first day the vehicle enters through a Saudi customs port. Driving out to Bahrain for a weekend and coming back does not reset anything. Those days simply keep adding up against the same 90.
A worked example makes it concrete. Say the car enters on 1 September 2026 and stays 40 days, leaves, then returns in December for 30 days, then again in March for 25 days. That is 95 days inside a single 365-day window, so the last five days are already an overstay even though the car left the country twice in between.
Registering the vehicle at the port
The controls also put a duty on the driver at the crossing itself. The owner or the authorised driver has to register the vehicle’s data at the customs port, following the procedures set by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority. ZATCA then passes what the Ministry of Interior needs for enforcement, so the day count is not something anyone has to track manually on your behalf or on trust.
Expect the border routine at King Fahd Causeway, Al Batha and Al Khafji to get slightly heavier from late August while this beds in. Build in extra time on the first few crossings.
Asking for more time
An extension is possible, but only if you ask before the 90 days run out. The regulation lets the owner or the authorised driver apply to the Ministry of Interior, and the ministry decides at its discretion and sets the paperwork it wants. There is no automatic entitlement and no stated cap on how long an extension can run, so treat it as a request, not a formality. Diarise the deadline the week you cross in, not the week it expires.
If you go past the limit
Overstaying is handled as a traffic offence rather than a customs dispute. The controls point to Article 68, paragraph 5 of the Traffic Law, treating the vehicle as being in breach of item 25 of the fifth violations schedule. If you are unfamiliar with how Moroor applies these, our guide to traffic fines and the points system in Saudi Arabia explains how violations are recorded and settled through Absher.
What this means for expats
If you keep a Gulf-plated car here permanently, the realistic choices narrow to three: take it out and bring it back inside a workable pattern, apply for an extension in good time, or clear and register the vehicle properly in Saudi Arabia. Nobody enjoys the third option, but it is the only one that ends the counting.
For anyone weighing that, a locally plated car removes the whole problem, and our guide to buying a used car in Saudi Arabia covers the checks worth doing before you hand over money. Whichever route you take, make sure your cover is valid on this side of the border, because insurance issued in another GCC state may not answer a Saudi claim. You can check your vehicle insurance validity in a couple of minutes online.
Two more practical notes. Your licence matters as much as your plates, so confirm you are driving on something Saudi authorities recognise before the next crossing, which our Saudi driving licence guide walks through step by step. And if the whole reason your car is Gulf-plated is regular family travel to the Emirates, the UAE eVisa route for Saudi residents is worth reading alongside this.
Frequently asked questions
Does leaving Saudi Arabia reset the 90 days?
No. The count is cumulative across a rolling 365-day period that begins the first day the vehicle enters through a Saudi customs port. Separate trips are added together. Driving out to Bahrain or the UAE for a few days and returning does not restart the clock or give you a fresh 90-day allowance.
Does this apply to a Gulf tourist visiting in their own car?
The controls are written around vehicles owned by, or authorised to be driven by, a citizen or a resident inside Saudi Arabia. That is the situation being regulated. A visitor arriving in their own registered car is a different case, and if your circumstances are borderline, confirm your position with the customs port before you rely on it.
What about a rental car from another GCC country?
Rented vehicles are the one stated exception. Where the authorisation to drive covers a car rented from a licensed rental company in a Gulf Cooperation Council country, the controls do not apply. This exempts ordinary short-term hire and keeps the rule aimed at privately owned cars kept in the Kingdom long-term.
How do I get an extension?
Apply to the Ministry of Interior before the permitted period expires, not after. The ministry reviews each request at its discretion and sets the data and procedures it requires. Because approval is not automatic and no fixed extension length is published, start the request well before your 90 days are used up.
When exactly does the rule start?
The controls take effect 180 days after publication in Umm Al-Qura on 27 February 2026, which falls on 26 August 2026. A small number of reports have circulated a different August date, so if you are planning a crossing in the first half of the month, check the position with the customs port directly.
