JEDDAH, 18 September 2006 — Nuha Mohammad is one of many foreign-born spouses that learned a hard lesson in getting marriages between Saudis and non-Saudis — even non-Saudi Arabs — recognized in the Kingdom. After marrying a Saudi national, the only way the Syrian woman could legally live with her husband in Saudi Arabia was to become his maid.

“At the beginning of our marriage my husband would very often travel to Syria, and I would go to the Kingdom using an Umrah visa,” Nuha, now in her late 20s, told the daily Al-Watan recently.

“After some time, my husband got fed up with continuous travel and decided that I should stay with him in the Kingdom. He went to an office and paid SR15,000 to get me a residential visa. But the office arranged a maid’s visa.”

Nuha said she thought the office had been deceptive and was offended by the only visa status the broker could provide her. She went back to Syria, still married to her Saudi husband but leaving behind her son in the Kingdom.

Indeed, the obstacles of getting these inter-national marriages recognized in Saudi Arabia are not just bureaucratic but also the unscrupulous marriage brokers who often fall short of their promises or disappear after the fees have been prepaid.

These marriage brokers can charge anywhere between SR5,000 ($1,333) and SR100,000 ($26,666) for their services, according to the Al-Watan report.

“I came to the Kingdom without completing official formalities and problems started to rise after I delivered my baby,” said Zahra, an Arab expatriate in her 30s. “My husband failed to register our son. Then my husband died in an accident and I found it difficult to prove that we were legally married.”

Zahra, who didn’t want her full name published, said she took out bank loans to pay a broker. After it became apparent that the man could not or would not do anything for the woman, she had to sue to get her money back. It took her two years, she said, to recoup the money and to get her son recognized by the state as a Saudi national.

“I suffered a lot in trying to get back my money from those unscrupulous brokers and to finally prove my son’s kinship to his dead father,” she said.

Ahmad Saeed, a family law adviser and authorized provider of Saudi marriage contracts, blames the ignorance of young couples about the hurdles of marrying outside Saudi society for the problems they face.

“Many young Saudis fall victims to shadowy brokers,” said Saeed. “It’s much better to go through proper governmental channels; better still: Marry Saudis. Marrying foreigners leads to many problems.”

Saeed points out that marrying foreigners before obtaining permission from the concerned authorities is tantamount to “disobeying the state”.

F.M., a non-Saudi Arab, said that she was able after great efforts on her part to deal directly with the Interior Ministry department that deals with inter-national marriages to get her marriage recognized.

M.D., a Saudi who married a Palestinian woman, also found that dealing with the ministry directly is the best way to go.

“I paid SR25,000 ($6,667) to a broker who moved and changed his phone number,” said M.D. “My brother-in-law advised that we go to the Interior Ministry, which turned out to be much more helpful.”

Legal adviser Majed Al-Khaja says dealing directly with the government department is the best way. He warns against using brokers because they may not actually be providing legally recognized marriage certifications.

“Statistics show that there is a large number of undocumented, illegal marriages,” he said.

Ahmad, a Saudi doctor, said that some women are privy to the problems of marrying Saudis. When he proposed to a colleague, she accepted but insisted upfront on official recognition before the ceremony.

However, it seems that the system itself tends to work very slowly, perhaps consciously, in order to discourage Saudis from marrying non-Saudis. And the stakes are high.

Al-Khaja warns that marriage certificates not officially recognized will result in denial of social benefits because the children of these marriages are not recognized as Saudi nationals.

Suaad Al-Yamani, a Saudi woman, said she accepted a well-educated non-Saudi Arab who proposed to her.

“When he wanted to get an approval for our marriage contract, he was told that he does not have the permission to marry a Saudi woman,” said Al-Yamani.

Years have passed and Al-Yamani said her husband’s children are now of school age. However, they can’t enroll their children in public school because, despite years of trying to get their marriage approved, they have been unable to certify their relationship.

Non-Saudi women married to Saudi men are particularly at risk, says Al-Khaja, because it is more difficult to get children of non-Saudi women recognized as citizens of the Kingdom.

Furthermore, custody disputes favor the Saudi parent and often rules in favor of men, putting non-Saudi women at greater risk of losing custody and being forced to leave the country after divorce. Visitation rights under these circumstances are virtually non-existent unless the Saudi parent with custody voluntarily puts in the effort to make the arrangements.

K.A., a Gulf Arab, said her marriage was opposed by the husband’s family due to “denominational differences”. Their married life was further disrupted when the couple paid a broker SR20,000 ($5,333) to arrange Saudi marriage certification; the broker fled with the money.

Eventually the couple divorced, and K.A. went back to her country, leaving behind her daughter because her husband was favored in the custody litigation.