المملكة: Prohibiting Gulf vehicles from remaining in the Kingdom for more than 90 days without extension

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has approved controls to regulate the survival of Vehicles registered in one of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in a step aimed at controlling the movement of Gulf vehicles, regulating the periods of their stay, and enhancing procedural integration between the Authority and the Ministry of Interior, in order to achieve compliance with the applicable traffic and customs regulations.

The new controls come under the name "Controls for vehicles registered in one of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to remain in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia"to establish a clear regulatory framework that defines the categories covered, the mechanism for calculating the length of stay, and registration procedures, in addition to the penalties resulting from violating the provisions.

The second article stipulates that Controlsare applied to a vehicle owned by a citizen or resident – or who has been authorized to drive it by either of them – inside the Kingdom, with the exception of the authorization issued for a vehicle rented from a facility licensed in any of the member states, which reflects taking into account the cases related to the Gulf-licensed vehicle rental sector.

This text confirms that the legal responsibility is not limited to the owner only, but extends to the authorized person to drive the vehicle, which enhances the control of the legal relationship between the parties to the actual use of the vehicle inside the Kingdom.

90 A maximum day during the year

Article Three sets a clear time limit For the vehicle to remain inside the Kingdom, as it stipulated that it may not remain for a period or periods whose total exceeds (90) days, whether these periods are continuous or separate. She explained that the period of stay is calculated for every (365) days starting from the first day of the vehicle’s entry through the customs port.

This means that a Gulf vehicle can enter the Kingdom several times during the year, provided that the total number of days of its stay does not exceed 90 days during the 365-day period calculated from the date of the first entry. This is a regulation that aims to prevent fraud through repeated entry and exit to exceed the regulatory period.

The possibility of extension with controls. Internal

The controls allowed the owner of the vehicle or the person authorized to drive it to submit to the Ministry of Interior a request to extend the period of stay before its expiration, provided that the Ministry has the authority to approve the extension according to the considerations it deems appropriate. The Ministry was also authorized to specify the required data and the procedures governing the submission of an extension request.

The same article obligated the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority to provide the Ministry of Interior with all the data necessary to implement the provisions of this article, which reflects information integration between the two bodies to ensure the accuracy of calculating periods and monitoring violations.

Registering data at the customs port

Within the framework of strengthening procedural control, Article Four obliges the owner of the vehicle or the person authorized to drive it to register The vehicle data is at the customs port upon entry, in accordance with the requirements and procedures specified by the Authority.

This procedure represents the cornerstone of the process of calculating the period of stay, as the date of entry registered at the customs port is adopted as the starting point for calculating the 365-day period, which enhances the reliability of the data and limits any possible violations.

Article Five stipulates that anyone who exceeds the period of stay specified in Article Three will be punished, in accordance with what is stated in Paragraph (5) of Article (Sixty-eighth) of the Traffic Law, as it is in violation of Paragraph (25) of the Schedule of Violations No. (5) attached to the Law.

This means that exceeding the 90-day period is not only considered a procedural violation, but also results in a regular traffic penalty, which reflects the seriousness of dealing with violation cases and enhances adherence to the specified periods.

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