If you came here to find out whether Saudis like foreigners, this article is going to disappoint you on purpose. We are not going to tell you what a population thinks of you. Nobody has measured it, the question has no answer that could be sourced, and an article that answers it anyway is making claims about millions of real people. What can be sourced is the framework you will actually live inside: the Labor Law, the rules of public conduct, and the places where even the Kingdom's own publications stop.

The question this article will not answer

There is no survey, census table or ministry publication that establishes the attitude of Saudi citizens towards foreign residents. So any sentence of the form "most Saudis feel X" is an invention, however warmly it is phrased — and the warm version is not safer than the cold one, because both are unfounded assertions about identifiable people. The version of this article we are replacing had several, plus a quotation attributed to an unnamed Saudi citizen that we could not trace to any source.

It also printed a headcount for the Kingdom's non-Saudi population. We do not publish counts of a national or ethnic community, because the figures that circulate are unreliable and the claim is the kind that does damage when it is wrong. If you need the official numbers, the General Authority for Statistics publishes the census itself and is the only place to read them.

What follows instead is what is written down, with the article numbers so you can check it.

What the Labor Law says about a non-Saudi's contract

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development publishes the Labor Law and, in its labor-education material, its own answers about how it applies. Two rules are specific to people who are not Saudi nationals, and they decide more about your position than anybody's attitude does:

• The contract must be fixed-term and written. The Ministry's wording: The non- Saudi employment contract shall be fixed and in writing.
• If the contract names no term, the work permit's term becomes the contract's term: If the term is not specified in the contract, the term of the work permit shall be deemed the term of the contract. That is Article 37, and it is why your permit expiry and your job security are the same date.

Around that sit the general rules on fixed-term contracts, in Article 55. A fixed-term contract expires at the end of its term, but if the parties to it continue to implement the contract, it shall be considered renewed for an indefinite period. Where a contract provides for renewal, repeated renewal has a limit — the Ministry's text sets it at three consecutive renewals, or the original term plus renewals reaching four years, whichever is less, after which the contract becomes one of indefinite term. Article 55(1) is explicitly Subject to the provisions of Article (37) of this Law for non-Saudis, so read the two together rather than separately.

On probation, Articles 53 and 54: the period must be explicitly stated in the employment contract, the total duration does not exceed one hundred and eighty days in all cases, both parties may terminate during it, and A worker may not be placed under probation for more than one time with the same employer. One caution on that figure: an older Ministry guide gives ninety days as the base, extendable in writing, and we could not establish the date on which the current wording took effect. Check the article against the live text for your own contract date.

What the employer may not do

This is the most practically useful published rule for a new arrival, and it is short. Citing Article 6 of the Implementing Regulations of the Labor Law, the Ministry states that the employer may not withhold the passport, residence or medical insurance card of the non- Saudi workers. If that happens, it is not a local custom you have to accommodate. It is contrary to the published rule, and the Ministry is the body that says so.

Where a wage or a dispute actually goes

The Ministry publishes the channels, and knowing their names is worth more than knowing how people feel:

• The Wage Protection program monitors wage payment across private sector establishments — the Ministry's description covers both Saudis and foreigners, male and female — and the Ministry's own page carries the date 11 June 2017 beside it. Its FAQ states plainly that The system targets all private sector establishments.
• Friendly Settlement for Labor Disputes is listed among the Ministry's services: the route a disagreement takes before it becomes litigation.
• Qiwa is described as the main digital platform for the services of the Saudi labor system and the unified interface for transactions between employees, establishments and government.
• Musaned covers domestic workers specifically, with published guides on the rights and obligations of both sides.
• Ajeer organizes temporary work and access to the labor force already inside the Kingdom.

These are the names to use in a complaint. A grievance filed in the right system beats a good relationship with the wrong person.

The rules of public conduct are written down

People ask about attitudes when what they actually need is the conduct rules, and those are published. The Public Decency Regulations were issued by Council of Ministers decision on 9 April 2019; the Ministry of Interior's version consist of nineteen sections that are legally binding, enforced by police officers in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism. The listed conduct includes spitting or littering in undesignated areas, occupying seats reserved for people with disabilities, the elderly, or other designated users, crossing barriers or entering through unauthorized areas, writing or drawing on walls or vehicles without authorization, playing music loudly in residential neighborhoods or during the call to prayer, and wearing underwear, sleepwear, immodest or inappropriate clothing in public.

On the money: that official encyclopedia, published by the Ministry of Media and read on 24 October 2026, gives fines ranging from SAR 50 to SAR 3,000, doubled for repeat offenses. Other widely republished accounts give a higher ceiling for the same regulation, and we could not reconcile them against a Ministry of Interior fee schedule. Take the range as an order of magnitude and confirm the current list and amounts with the Ministry of Interior, not with a guide — this one included.

One fee with no official source at all

The exit and re-entry visa is the permission a resident needs to leave the Kingdom and come back, and it is the charge that catches families out. It is also the clearest example in this article of a number you should distrust.

No official source for it exists. Checked on 21 October 2026: neither the Ministry of Interior nor Absher publishes a fee schedule for it. What our reference data holds is what four independent publishers each state, recorded as observed and never as official:

• Single-entry, covering up to two months: SAR 200, then SAR 100 for each further month
• Multiple-entry, covering up to three months: SAR 500, then SAR 200 for each further month

Two of the four attribute these to a decision effective 23 January 2023. Two of the four also say that applying from outside the Kingdom doubles the per-month rate. Dependants pay the same rate each; there is no family discount. Not included: an Absher transaction fee named by only one of them, and the re-entry consequences of an overstay, where the four contradict each other outright. Budget on this, do not rely on it, and get the amount from Absher at the moment you apply.

What expats should know

• Nobody has measured what Saudis think of foreigners. Treat any article that tells you as unsourced, including the friendly version.
• Your contract must be fixed-term and in writing under Article 37.
• If the contract states no term, your work permit's term is your contract's term. Know both dates.
• Probation is capped and can be imposed once by the same employer; the current text gives one hundred and eighty days, an older guide ninety.
• Your employer may not hold your passport, residence card or insurance card — Article 6 of the Implementing Regulations.
• Learn the names Qiwa, Musaned, Ajeer and Friendly Settlement before you need them.
• The public conduct rules are a published list of nineteen sections, enforced by police. Read the list rather than guessing at etiquette.
• The exit and re-entry fee has no government source. Confirm it in Absher every single time.

Where to check

The contract and probation articles are on the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's pages for Articles 53 to 57 and employment contracts, and the rules for non-Saudis and the passport-withholding rule are in its labor education FAQ. The programs and platforms are listed on the Ministry's own site. The Public Decency Regulations are described in the Ministry of Media's encyclopedia entry. All read on 24 October 2026. The exit and re-entry amounts are held in our reference data as observed figures from four independent publishers, checked on 21 October 2026, with no government source behind them.

AI-Generated Content: This article was created with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important information with official sources.