90-Day Grace Period Set for Gulf-Registered Vehicles

The Kingdom has set a 90-day corrective window allowing certain owners of Gulf-registered vehicles to regularize or remove their vehicles before new stay regulations take legal effect. The window runs for 90 days starting 26 August 2026 and ending at the close of 23 November 2026.

The measure applies to Gulf-registered vehicles owned by Saudi citizens or by non-Gulf residents living in Saudi Arabia — or vehicles they are formally authorized to drive — that are already inside the Kingdom before the new rules take effect on 26 August 2026.

Under the new stay limit, from 26 August 2026 a Gulf-registered vehicle owned by a Saudi citizen or non-Gulf resident, or authorized for their use, may remain in Saudi Arabia for a maximum of 90 days within any 365-day period. The 90 days may be continuous or non-continuous and are counted from the date of entry through a customs port. Exceeding the limit without correction is treated as a traffic violation subject to penalties.

How to correct vehicle status

Owners and authorized drivers have two main options during the grace period. The first is to take the vehicle out of the Kingdom through a customs port before the 90-day window ends; its stay is then reset and re-counted from any later re-entry. The second is to complete procedures inside Saudi Arabia to convert the Gulf-registered vehicle to a legal, locally-registered status.

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority oversees customs entry and exit, stay-limit enforcement, and the implementing decision. Traffic-violation rules, in-Kingdom regularization, and extension requests fall under the Ministry of Interior and the General Directorate of Traffic. Affected residents in Riyadh, Jeddah and elsewhere are encouraged to review their vehicle status early to avoid penalties.

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