TEACH ENGLISH IN SAUDI ARABIA Rules and Regulations
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Saudi society and Western ones are very different. Acceptance of this fact from the start will avoid potential conflict.

Immigration and Customs

• The following items cannot be taken into Saudi Arabia: alcohol, pork products, pornography, drugs and guns.
• The immigration form you fill in on entry tells you in prominent, red letters: "WARNING DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKER".
• Videos and computer disks are liable to be held for 24 hours and checked for pornography - a problem if your final destination is not near the airport.
• Non-Islamic religious items may be confiscated permanently, including Christmas trees and decorations. · Interpretation of prohibited items can be surprisingly broad.
• Magazines may be confiscated or have offending pages torn out - for example if they have photos of women with bare arms or legs.
• Even diet pills with banned ingredients have landed people in jail.
• Baggage searches are usually thorough and not always orderly.
• Anyone with special equipment, books or presentation materials may need the help of their Saudi employer or sponsor to clear customs.
• If in doubt, check with your employer or sponsor, or an expat familiar with the regulations.

Entry and Exit Visas

• Saudi Arabia does not normally issue individual tourist visas, although there are plans underway to gradually introduce organized tourism.
• Applications for business or visitor's visas are frequently turned down if everything is not in order.
• The entry visa allowing you to enter and live in Saudi Arabia, does not give you the right to leave. Exit and reentry visas or exit-only visas are required by residents who wish to leave the country. Obtaining these visas generally takes at least two days, although emergency visas can be obtained in a few hours.
• Try to make visa applications a week or two week before your departure date. Allow even more time before the Eid holidays.
• Once a visa has been issued, it must be used or cancelled before the expiry date, or there will be a fine of 1,000 riyals.

Passport or "Iqama" Should Always Be Carried

• Visitors should always carry their passports with them. These will be needed even to buy a long-distance bus ticket.
• Long-term employed residents must carry an identity document called an iqama. Dependents can either carry their passports or a properly stamped and authenticated copy of an employee's iqama listing family members.

Women Travelling Alone

• Foreign women, travelling on their own are regarded with suspicion, particularly if not married. Saudi women do not travel long distances without an male family member - either their husband or a very close relative.

Women Cannot Drive

• In Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive.

Prayer Time and Shopping

• Shops, offices and other businesses, including restaurants, must close during prayer times, which vary and are published daily in the newspapers. There are prayers five times a day, and all of them except those in the early morning fall within shopping hours.
• When prayers are announced you must leave the shop for about twenty minutes. In some parts of the country restaurant patrons are allowed remain inside, but no more food or drinks are served.

The "Religious Police"

• The Mutawwa, or "religious police" are accompanied by uniformed police and their function is to monitor public behaviour and ensure that the Islamic code is obeyed. Things which might attract their attention would be inappropriate dress, physical contact between the sexes in public or eating in public during Ramadan.
• Never argue with the mutawwa. Find out what you have done wrong, apologize and correct the error.

Women Smoking

• Although smoking is common, it is not acceptable for women to smoke in public.

Photography

• Many Muslims are totally opposed to photography, except for essential items such as passports.
• Never photograph people, particularly women, without first asking permission, and do not expect automatic consent.
• Military installations, airports, government buildings palaces should never be photographed without prior approval.
• Photographers who ignore these conventions risk confiscation of their film and possibly their camera.
• Professional photographers should obtain an official permit from the local government offices, although the envelope containing the permit is seldom opened, as the stamp on the envelope is usually considered proof of permission.
• Once permission has been given, photographers will find that some Saudis are enthusiastic subjects, especially children.
• A Polaroid camera can be useful to provide extra, instant photos as gifts.