Sultan Ahmed Al-Shammari had legally married a Syrian woman six years ago before he was sentenced to five years in jail in a drug case.

“During this period my wife and children lived in Syria,” said Al-Shammari.

Al-Shammari said he had brought his wife to Saudi Arabia on an Umrah visa and during that period their first son, Muhammad, was born. Later he succeeded in completing official procedures to register the child’s name in the family identity card.

After the expiry of the Umrah visa his wife left the Kingdom for Syria so that she would not be blamed for violating the residency law.

“After three years she gave birth to his second son Salman and she left for Syria. The birth of Salman was registered at the Saudi Embassy in Damascus, which issued him a temporary passport,” he said.

I thought I would be able to register him at the civil affairs department in order to issue an official passport for him.

He said the travel ban on him has delayed procedures to include his second son in the family card and bring his family to the Kingdom.

“I have approached a number of ministries to find a solution for my family problem but all has been in vain,” Al-Shammari said.