JEDDAH, 10 May 2004 — The 120-member consultative Shoura Council yesterday passed a newly relaxed naturalization law which could allow foreigners who have been living in the Kingdom for at least 10 years to apply for Saudi citizenship. “A regular Shoura meeting, chaired by its President Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid, approved amendments to some of the articles of the Saudi Citizenship Law,” Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr, the council’s secretary-general, told the Saudi Press Agency.
Al-Badr said the revised law would now be passed to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd for final endorsement. He said the Shoura approved changes to eight of the law’s 38 articles.
“Article Nine, which was among those amended, explains the conditions for granting citizenship to a foreigner,” the secretary-general said without spelling out the conditions. According to previous reports, foreigners who have been living in the Kingdom continuously for no less than 10 years can apply for Saudi citizenship.
Applicants must be fluent in written and spoken Arabic and have a profession that is needed in the Kingdom. They must not have served more than six months in jail and must show evidence that they have been earning their livelihood in a legitimate manner.
“Article 16 of the amended law allows the interior minister to grant citizenship to a foreign woman married to a Saudi or a foreign widow of a Saudi,” Al-Badr said.
According to Article 17, Saudi women married to foreigners will no longer automatically lose their citizenship.
Article 12 explains the requirements for the dependents of naturalized citizens.
The Cabinet could revoke the citizenship of any naturalized Saudi within 10 years on recommendation of the interior minister, the Shoura official said.
Article 21 said citizenship could be revoked if a person is sentenced to more than a year in prison for a crime “related to trust or honor”. “It will also be taken away if judicial action is taken against a person for committing a crime undermining the Kingdom’s security or if they are involved in such a crime or declared unwanted in the country,” Al-Badr said.
The new law stipulates a maximum two-year jail term or a SR30,000 fine for anyone submitting false documents or lying about their citizenship. Al-Badr said the Interior Ministry would issue the executive bylaws within 120 days after the publication of the amended law in the official gazette.
Many expatriates who have spent several years in the Kingdom have welcomed the Shoura decision. “I think it would make my life a lot easier if I could get Saudi citizenship,” expatriate Ghulam Muhammad told Arab News.
Although citizenship has never been closed to foreigners in Saudi Arabia, it has become very difficult to obtain. In the 1960s, the Kingdom was very liberal in granting citizenship to residents but in later years this changed as thousands sought Saudi nationality.
