RIYADH, 2 May 2005 — Thousands of foreign residents have gathered at the Civil Affairs Department in the capital for the last two days to apply for Saudi citizenship. More than 10,000 applicants of different nationalities and ages rushed eagerly to get a hold of the application forms.
An official source in the Civil Affairs Department in Riyadh said that a large number of applicants were taxi drivers of Pakistani and Indian origins. Others were bakers, welders and plumbers. He added that men were applying for the citizenship more than women.
“The crowd was enormous. Eighty percent of the applicants were ineligible for citizenship,” the source said. “However, the application forms were given to all to avoid overcrowding.”
The Civil Affairs Departments in Jeddah and Makkah also reported a similar rush of aspirants for Saudi nationality on Saturday, the first day application forms were made available.
The Ministry of Interior has prepared one application form that includes information about residency, educational and professional status and details of Saudi relatives.
The official explained that giving out the application form doesn’t mean that their wish for citizenship has been approved or they meet the required conditions.
A three-member committee initially looks into the applications to verify whether the applicant has legally entered the Kingdom and owns a valid passport and iqama.
The application forms are then referred to the Civil Affairs Department of the Interior Ministry and then approved upon by Interior Minister Prince Naif.
The official source also said that most applicants who came to the department were misinformed or misunderstood the requirements for applying for citizenship. Therefore, the department has prominently posted the detailed requirements for obtaining the Saudi citizenship. The department also has been fully prepared to receive large numbers of applicants.
“The number of application forms was more than enough,” the official said. “We tried hard to facilitate the procedure of distributing the application forms without creating a commotion.”
But in Jeddah, the department had run out of forms by 9 a.m., creating a lively black market with original forms selling for SR30 and photocopies for SR3 each.
The conditions that the foreign resident should meet to be a qualified candidate for the citizenship must accumulate at least 23 points out of a possible 33.
Ten points are given for living in the Kingdom for at least 10 years continuously. Thirteen points for graduate or postgraduate degrees in specialized fields that the Kingdom is in need of. However, only one degree is counted.
As for kinship relations, if the applicant’s father is Saudi, he is given three points. If the mother and the grandfather are Saudis 3 points are given and two points if only the mother is Saudi. As for the husband, if his wife and her parents are Saudis he is given two points. If the wife alone is Saudi, one point. If the applicant has more than two Saudi children or brothers he is given 2 points. If only he has one Saudi child or brother, 1 point is given.
Saudi Arabia does not allow dual citizenship and only those who are ready to renounce their original nationality will qualify for citizenship.
A naturalized Saudi (for five to 10 years) can be stripped of his or her citizenship if convicted of a crime that violates trust or honor, or threatens the Kingdom’s security.
According to the latest statistics, 6.14 million expatriates live in Saudi Arabia, which has a population of about 22.67 million.
