Saudi Arabia public decency rules are written down, which is more than can be said for the unwritten etiquette of many countries. Since 2019 a short regulation approved by the Council of Ministers, backed by a Ministry of Interior table of nineteen specific violations, has defined what is expected of anyone in a Saudi public place: dress modestly, do not photograph people without their consent, keep music down, do not harass, litter, queue-jump or deface, and do not wear anything that offends. Breaches are dealt with by fines rather than arrest; each fine is capped at 5,000 riyals, and the fine is doubled for a repeat within a year. Alongside that regulation sit older and far more serious laws on alcohol, drugs, sexual conduct and speech, which are not matters of decency fines at all. This guide separates the two, explains exactly what the regulation says, and sets out what tourists cannot do in Saudi Arabia in practice.
Two framing points first. The rules apply to everyone in the Kingdom, visitor or resident, and ignorance of them is not a defence. And conduct is only half of the picture: as of 13 October 2026, GOV.UK warned against all but essential travel to the capital’s province, to Jeddah, Taif and Dammam and to every Saudi airport apart from Madinah’s, citing regional missile and drone activity; check the live FCDO advice before any trip, whatever this article says about conduct once you are there.
What is the Public Decency Regulation and when did it come into force?
The Public Decency Regulation is Council of Ministers Resolution No. 444, issued on 9 April 2019, which corresponds to 4 Shaban 1440 in the Hijri calendar. The US Library of Congress’s Global Legal Monitor summary describes it as a ten-article regulation on public behaviour and public decency. Its core articles prohibit appearing in public in indecent clothing or in clothing carrying images, signs or phrases that offend public decency (Articles 3 and 4), writing or drawing on the walls of public places and public transport (Article 5), and statements or acts in public that threaten, intimidate or endanger people (Article 6).
The regulation arrived in the same year as the tourist eVisa and was widely reported as part of the Kingdom’s preparation for international visitors. On 28 September 2019 the Ministry of Interior issued the accompanying penalty table that gives the regulation its practical teeth, listing the specific violations and the fine attached to each. The official visa platform reproduces the regulation’s key provisions as a Public Decorum charter, opening with the principle that “all visitors of public place shall respect common values, customs and traditions of Saudi Arabia”.
Saudi Arabia public decency rules: the nineteen listed violations
The Ministry of Interior’s table, as summarised by the Library of Congress, lists the following: sexual harassment in public; playing loud music in residential areas; playing music during prayer times; littering; not removing pet waste; occupying seats reserved for people with disabilities; bypassing barriers to enter public places; wearing underwear or pyjamas in public; wearing shirts with nude images; wearing shirts with phrases that offend public decency; writing or drawing on public walls; putting racist stickers on cars; distributing unlicensed advertisements in public; starting fires on desert trips outside designated areas; threatening people verbally or through gestures; cutting in line at public venues; shining laser pointers into people’s eyes; photographing people without their permission; and photographing traffic accidents without the permission of those involved.
Read as a whole, the list is less exotic than visitors expect. Most of it would be an offence, or at least a reason for a security guard to intervene, in a European shopping centre. The items that catch visitors out are the two on photography, the one on music during prayer times, and the dress items, because those are where Saudi norms differ most from home.
How much are the fines and who issues them?
Article 8 of the regulation sets a ceiling: a violator “may be fined a maximum of 5,000 Saudi riyals” for a first offence, with the fine doubled if the offence is repeated within a year. The penalty table then sets the actual amounts per violation, which the Library of Congress summary and the Ministry of Media’s Saudipedia entry both give as ranging from 50 to 3,000 riyals. A fine can be appealed to the competent administrative court.
Enforcement sits with the Ministry of Interior, which under the regulation decides, in coordination with the national tourism authority, which bodies may issue violations; the text allows licensed private security companies to be included. Saudipedia states that in practice violations “are issued by police officers in coordination with personnel from the Ministry of Tourism”, and that the rules apply in tourism settings including hotels, museums, beaches, parks and all forms of transport. A separate body, the Saudi Society for Public Decency, runs awareness campaigns but does not issue fines.
What does “dress modestly” mean for a visitor?
According to the charter on the visa platform, modest dress is expected of every visitor in public places, and clothing should not carry photos, figures, signs or phrases that violate common decency. The listed violations make the floor concrete: no underwear or sleepwear as outerwear, no nudity on clothing, no offensive slogans. Above that floor, the governments that advise travellers fill in the detail. The FCDO’s safety and security page says men and women should wear loose clothing covering the elbows and extending below the knees, avoiding tight-fitting items and anything with political symbols, and confirms that women visitors are free to go without an abaya and without covering their hair. The US State Department adds that men “may be denied entry to public spaces if they are wearing shorts”.
So the practical answer for both sexes is trousers or a long skirt, sleeves to the elbow or beyond, and nothing printed that you would not wear to meet a client. The abaya is optional for women and many visitors find one convenient rather than obligatory. Saudi Cab Co’s practical dress code guide deals with heat, mosques, beaches and resort enclaves in more detail than this article has room for.
Can you take photographs in Saudi Arabia?
Of landscapes, buildings in general, food and your own travelling party, yes. The limits are of two kinds. Under the decency regulation, photographing people without their permission and photographing traffic accidents without the consent of those involved are listed, fineable violations. Under other law, the FCDO states that filming or photographing government buildings, diplomatic premises, military installations and palaces is illegal, and the State Department is blunter still: “do not photograph police and military or security personnel. It is illegal”, adding advice never to photograph women in public or places where women gather.
Two further points for anyone planning to publish what they shoot. The FCDO notes that producing or distributing media requires advance permission from the General Authority of Media Regulation, so a professional shoot or a commercial travel video is not the same as a holiday snap. And in the current security climate both governments specifically warn against recording or sharing images of missile or drone incidents or their interceptions. A reasonable rule of thumb: point the camera at things, not people, ask before any portrait, and keep it in your bag anywhere near a uniform or a checkpoint.
Music, noise and prayer times
Two of the nineteen violations concern music: playing it loudly in residential areas and playing it during prayer times. For a visitor the second is the one to remember. Prayer is called five times a day, and for the duration of each call and prayer the expectation is quiet in public spaces; a Bluetooth speaker in a park or music audible from a car window at that moment is exactly what the rule targets. Headphones are not the issue, nor is music inside a licensed venue that manages its own sound. Saudi Cab Co’s explainer on prayer times and travel planning explains how the daily schedule shifts through the year and how shops and services pause around it.
The FCDO’s broader behavioural guidance, which sits alongside the regulation rather than inside it, is to avoid swearing, rude gestures and loud music in public generally. Entertainment has changed enormously since 2019, with concerts, festivals and cinemas now part of ordinary city life, but the setting matters: what is normal inside a festival ground is still not normal on a residential street at the evening call to prayer.
What about public displays of affection?
Public displays of affection are not one of the nineteen listed decency violations, but every government travel page tells visitors to avoid them, and for good reason. The FCDO advises against “showing affection in public” and states that sex outside marriage and adultery are illegal, including for tourists, while also confirming that unmarried tourists may share a hotel room. The State Department warns that public displays of affection “may be criminalized” and that same-sex relations are illegal, advising all couples to avoid affectionate behaviour in public, particularly same-sex couples.
In practice, holding hands between a married or apparently married couple attracts little attention in the big cities’ malls and restaurants, but kissing, embracing and anything more demonstrative does, and the legal exposure is real rather than theoretical. The sensible line for a visitor is the one most Saudis follow themselves: warmth in private, reserve in public, and no assumptions that a resort or a hotel lobby is exempt. The softer conventions around greetings, hospitality and gratuities are covered in the company’s guide to tipping etiquette and everyday travel norms.
Alcohol, drugs and the limits of “decency”
None of this belongs to the decency regulation, and the penalties are of a different order. The FCDO’s advice is to bring no alcohol into Saudi Arabia and not to arrive under its influence; drinking or being drunk in public is illegal, British nationals have been arrested for drunken disorderly behaviour, and brewing, possessing or selling alcohol can carry prison sentences. Tourists cannot buy alcohol in the Kingdom.
On drugs the FCDO describes zero tolerance: possession of even small quantities can mean up to five years in prison and a fine of 30,000 riyals, and dealing or smuggling can result in a death sentence. The State Department’s country page extends the warning to cannabis and CBD products, which are illegal regardless of their status at home. The FCDO’s health page separately notes that some UK prescription and over-the-counter medicines are controlled substances in Saudi Arabia and should travel with an official prescription or a stamped doctor’s letter giving the drug, dose and quantity.
Speech, social media and sensitive subjects
This is the area where a visitor is most likely to be surprised by how far the law reaches. The FCDO states that “it is illegal to say publicly anything that the Saudi authorities deem disruptive to public order”, advises against comments on the royal family, the government, the police, Islam and the situation in Israel and Palestine, and warns that “statements made on social media many years ago, or those published outside Saudi Arabia, may be taken into account”. The State Department reports that current and past social media activity “may lead to your arrest” and that courts often do not consider when or where a post was made. Protests and demonstrations are illegal.
For most travellers this means a short audit of their own feeds before departure, a decision not to post commentary on local politics or religion while in the country, and care with jokes in group chats that might be read out of context at a border. It is not a reason to avoid the country, but it is a reason to treat the phone in your pocket as public space.
A fictional afternoon at a Riyadh mall
Consider a pair of travellers we have made up purely to illustrate the rules: two visitors from Birmingham on a long weekend in Riyadh, spending a hot afternoon in one of the city’s large malls. He is in knee-length shorts and a band T-shirt with a stylised skull; she is in a sleeveless top and cropped trousers. At the entrance a security guard stops them courteously and explains that the shorts and the sleeveless top will not be admitted. They return to the hotel, change into trousers and a long-sleeved shirt and a tunic with a light scarf, and are waved through without comment on the second attempt.
Inside, the afternoon prayer is called. The music in the shops stops, shutters come down on some units, and the couple sit with coffee for the duration before the mall comes back to life. Later, he raises his phone to film the atrium’s fountain; a family is in the frame, and he lowers it until they have passed. Nothing in the afternoon costs them a fine, because the only rules they brushed against were explained before they broke them. The lesson they take home is that the system is designed to correct rather than to catch out, provided the visitor accepts the correction gracefully.
A fictional roadside incident on the way to the airport
A second made-up example, with no real passenger behind it: a solo business traveller is being driven to King Khalid International Airport when traffic slows past a minor collision on the hard shoulder. Out of habit he lifts his phone to photograph the scene for a colleague. His driver, briefed on the booking that this is the passenger’s first visit, asks him not to, and explains that photographing a traffic accident without the consent of those involved is one of the listed public decency violations and that traffic police are often present at such scenes. The passenger puts the phone away. It is a small moment, but it illustrates how the rule most likely to catch a visitor is not the one about dress but the one about pointing a camera at strangers in a difficult moment.
What should you do if you are fined?
A decency fine is an administrative penalty, not a criminal charge, and the regulation gives a right of appeal to the administrative court. Ask for the violation notice, note which of the listed items it cites, and pay or appeal as you judge best. Be aware that any penalty issued to you, motoring or otherwise, sits on the Absher record tied to your passport or ID; the FCDO warns that outstanding fines must be settled before you can leave the country and that payment at the airport is possible only during Saudi office hours. A small decency fine left unpaid could therefore become a missed flight.
Carry identification at all times; the FCDO advises tourists to carry a copy of passport and visa and warns that failing to produce ID can itself attract a fine or detention. The tourist visa is electronic, as the company’s guide to Saudi eVisa basics explains, so keep a printout or a saved copy on your phone alongside the passport copy. If you are stopped by police or a tourism inspector, be polite, produce your documents, and do not argue the point on the pavement. For anything beyond a fine, contact your embassy.
Saudi Arabia visitor conduct rules: the short checklist
- Dress loose and long: elbows and knees covered, no offensive prints, no shorts for men in malls and public buildings.
- Photograph places, not people; never government, military, police or security sites; ask before any portrait.
- Keep music and noise down, and silent during the call to prayer.
- No public displays of affection beyond the most restrained.
- No alcohol, cannabis or CBD in any form; carry a doctor’s letter for controlled medicines.
- No littering, queue-jumping, reserved-seat use or graffiti.
- Think before you post, and review old posts before you travel.
- Carry a copy of your passport and visa; settle any fine before your departure flight.
- Read the live FCDO and State Department advice before booking.
How Saudi Cab Co helps visitors stay on the right side of the rules
A great deal of the conduct guidance above is about avoiding awkward moments in public space, and a private car is one of the few spaces a visitor controls. A pre-booked driver who knows you are new to the country can tell you that the music should go off at the call to prayer, that the checkpoint ahead is not a photo opportunity, or that the mall you are heading to will not admit shorts, before any of it becomes a problem. Saudi Cab Co sends driver and vehicle details before pickup, works from the quote shown in the booking tool, and gives a full refund on any cancellation made 48 hours or more before the car is due; after that point the deposit is retained. If you would like a driver briefed for a first visit, or simply want to ask how the rules apply to your itinerary, contact Saudi Cab Co.
Sources reviewed 15 October 2026: Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor summary of Council of Ministers Resolution No. 444 (2019) and the Ministry of Interior penalty table; Saudi Unified National Visa platform Public Decorum charter (visa.visitsaudi.com); Saudipedia (Ministry of Media) entry on public decency; US State Department country information for Saudi Arabia; GOV.UK Saudi travel advice on warnings, safety and health. The full Arabic text of the regulation and penalty table was not independently reviewed and individual fine amounts per violation are therefore given only as the official range. Photo: mingche lee / Pexels.
