DAMMAM, 10 July 2003 — New amendments proposed in the Saudi nationality regulations stipulate that naturalized citizens could be stripped of their nationality within 10 years of naturalization if convicted under the Shariah and sentenced to a prison term.
Under the new amendments proposed by Interior Minister Prince Naif and approved by the Shoura Council, these naturalized citizens could also be stripped of their nationality if implicated in acts undermining the security of the Kingdom or committing acts that make them undesirable. The Interior Ministry has also rectified the marital status of those detained in connection with the May 12 bombings in Riyadh, and who are married to foreign women without permission from the authorities. Most of the foreign wives involved are Yemenis, Pakistanis, Moroccans and Chechens.
The ministry has also announced that it was rectifying the marital status of the wife of Ali Abdul Rahman Al-Faqaasi Al-Ghamdi, who recently surrendered to the authorities in connection with the bombings. Al-Faqaasi’s wife is of Moroccan origin.
Under the new amendments to the Saudi nationality law, the interior minister has been empowered to grant Saudi nationality to a foreign woman married to a Saudi without the requisite permission.
All marriages to foreigners must be approved by the authorities, and without it the marriages are not legally recognized. The new amendments also stipulate that a Saudi woman married to a foreigner should not be stripped of her Saudi nationality unless she declares that she wants to take the citizenship of her husband’s country.
Until now a Saudi woman marrying a foreigner was expected to take up the nationality of her husband’s country.
