Since it is men in this country who make laws and decide how they should be enforced, it is hardly surprising that these man-made laws serve the interests of those who made them. It doesn’t matter if women suffer as a result of the laws as long as it is men who benefit in the end.
A Saudi man who marries a non-Saudi woman will have his wife get Saudi citizenship within five years. This period can be shortened if the husband is able to prove his virility by fathering three children. The faster the children come, the better the chance their mother has of becoming a Saudi citizen. As for the children, they automatically get their father’s nationality.
On the other hand, consider a Saudi woman married to a non-Saudi man. None of the privileges enjoyed by the Saudi man married to a non-Saudi apply here. Not only that, but a host of hurdles and obstacles are put in the Saudi woman’s path. A girl born to a Saudi wife and a non-Saudi husband is granted citizenship only when she is 35 years of age or more (up to 40 years) if she is unmarried until that age. She is given citizenship apparently out of mercy, compassion or sympathy since by that time she would have already joined the spinsters’ club. By that age there is very little, if any, chance for her to conceive even if she does find a husband. Granting citizenship at that age may also be because the law wants to reward her for refusing to marry a non-Saudi.
The simple feeling by anyone, man or woman, that they belong to a country is a responsibility and commitment and not just something to talk about. People with patriotic sentiments may devote their entire lives to fulfilling the responsibilities they feel toward their country. There are no privileges when it comes to paying back what your country has given you. Men and women alike have the same duties and obligations toward their country. Granting citizenship to children of a Saudi woman married to a non-Saudi means the country will benefit far more than it loses. Giving the children citizenship will instill in them a sense of belonging to a country that cares for them and that will become a motive that spurs them to achieve.
