Bodyguard Laws by Country

In the United Kingdom and the UAE, personal security is never permitted to carry firearms; in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong the law is equally absolute, and in Greece private details are unarmed by statute. Nothing is lost by it. These are among the best-policed places on earth, and the craft there is intelligence-led: anticipation, positioning, route planning, counter-surveillance and movement, delivered by a licensed officer who blends into the environment. Across most of continental Europe the position is close cousin to this: armed cover exists in law but is tightly restricted, authorised case by case, and rarely what a threat assessment actually recommends. In Geneva, Paris or Vienna, a well-trained, low-profile unarmed officer with a security driver is the correct answer far more often than not.

A different logic applies in the Americas. In the United States, armed close protection is lawful state by state: New York pairs guard registration with a pistol licence, California issues the BSIS exposed firearm permit, Florida runs its Class ‘D’ and ‘G’ system. In Brazil, armed protection requires specific Federal Police authorisation for certified vigilantes, and in Colombia the escolta modality operates under SuperVigilancia credentials, with armoured vehicles authorised separately. In these markets an armed officer, often with an armoured vehicle, is frequently the professionally correct recommendation rather than an indulgence.

The practical rule that follows: unarmed close protection mobilises on a standard 48-hour lead time, with priority requests honoured within 24 hours. Any armed requirement, anywhere, needs a minimum 30-day lead time for authorisation, and that authorisation may be refused. Armed profiles and multi-officer teams sit above the market base and are quoted to the brief. If your itinerary may call for armed cover, raise it at the first enquiry, not the week before travel.

Licensing matters for three reasons. First, legality: in the UK, working as an unlicensed close protection officer is a criminal offence, and in New York engaging unlicensed individuals exposes the principal, not only the provider, to serious legal risk. Second, portability: a licence stops at its border. A bodyguard flown in from abroad has no standing to operate in Switzerland or Japan, cannot lawfully carry in Brazil, and cannot clear Monaco’s case-by-case authorisation. Third, quality: a licence is the legal minimum, not a mark of excellence. Every market holds firms that clear the bar on paper; the work is knowing which of them perform to standard. That is why every Algoz detail is delivered by locally licensed, vetted and NDA-bound operatives, in the framework of the country the principal is actually standing in.

Algoz is the coordinating house, not the local licence holder. In each jurisdiction we retain vetted partners who hold the required permits: SIA in the United Kingdom, CNAPS in France, SIRA in Dubai and PSBD in Abu Dhabi, TULPS institutes in Italy, SuperVigilancia in Colombia, and the local equivalent everywhere else on this page. We profile the principal, plan the operation, brief the licensed team under NDA and supervise delivery, so a season that runs London, the Riviera, Dubai and São Paulo crosses four legal frameworks with one accountable contact and one standard. As a guide, unarmed close protection starts from EUR 850 per day, the Western European market base; the full picture is in how much a bodyguard costs, and the discipline itself is explained in Close Protection Explained.