JEDDAH, 24 May 2005 — Over 50,000 expatriates with Ph.D. degrees began submitting their applications yesterday for Saudi Citizenship. Each application will be carefully evaluated. Applications from those holding Ph.D. degrees will be accepted for the next 15 days; after that, it will be the turn of people with master and bachelor degrees.
The Civil Affairs Dept. at the Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Sunday that a minimum of 23 points out of 33 is a requirement in order for citizenship to be granted. Applicants are granted a certain number of points depending upon their academic qualifications, length of residence in the Kingdom and other factors. The statement said: “Any request that fails to attain the minimum number of points will be rejected.”
According to the statement, applicants accepted for possible citizenship will be given a ticket enabling them to check on the application’s status within a month of applying. They will then be informed of the results and the application will be transferred to the civil affairs office where the applicant lives. The application with all its documents and certificates will then be checked again to make sure the minimum requirements have been met.
All requests should be filed with a copy of the appropriate academic qualification, a copy of its translation if not in Arabic, a copy of the applicant’s iqama showing the computer number and the special citizenship application form.
The dates for accepting applications are as follows:
Ph.D. degree holders in medicine, engineering and other sciences who have lived in the Kingdom for a total of 10 years and have the 23 minimum points — from Monday 15-4-1426 to 1-5-1426.
MA degree holders who have lived in the Kingdom for 10 years or more and have the 23 minimum points with 5 coming from the family bond category — from Saturday 4-5-1426 to 22-5-1426.
BA or BS degree holders who have lived in the Kingdom for 10 years and have the 23 points with at least 8 coming from the family bond category — from 25-5-1426 to 14-6-1426.
