The Pakistani community has called for reinstating the services related to marriage and divorce cases which were withdrawn by the consulate two years ago as they were not officially sanctioned by the Pakistani government.

The service which issued marriage and divorce certificates facilitated marital issues for Pakistanis residing in the Kingdom.

Abid Ali, a Pakistani national, told Arab News that he was facing a lot of problems after getting his daughter married and wanted the consulate to help him out.

He said he couldn’t return to Pakistan to finalize his daughter’s marriage procedures because of his job. “The people in Pakistan are not being cooperative at all,” he said. He added that the bride was unable to travel to Pakistan after the marriage and now her husband and his family are creating problems. He wants his daughter to get a “Khula” or divorce but the husband is not willing to cooperate. “I really don’t know what to do,” he said, adding that the marriage was conducted in a hurry as his wife had died suddenly and now he was regretting the hasty decision.

He appealed to the Pakistani consulate to restore the community service as “this is a matter of my daughter’s life,” he said.

Ameer Mohammed, a prominent member of the Pakistani community said that it was a burning issue. “If someone who is on an Umrah visa wants to marry here how he can do so?” he asked.

He pointed out that divorce cases of foreigners could be handled by Saudi courts if both spouses are in the Kingdom but there can be issues if one of the spouses is not present. He also said that he failed to understand why the consulate had stopped conducting the “nikah” ceremony which is only a “matter of 20 minutes.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan Consul General Aftab Ahmed Khokhar told Arab News that the Pakistani consulate was ready to help its community members but within the framework of the law.

He said that they had already sent a request to the Pakistan government, the Interior and Justice Ministries to issue them formal permission to provide marriage and divorce certificates provided that both spouses were in the Kingdom at the same time.

He pointed out that as the Saudi government does not allow marriages of Umrah and Haj visitors with residents in the Kingdom, a legal approval should come from the Pakistan government.

Khoker further said that “According to Shariah and humanitarian laws, it is not fair to divorce someone without her knowledge.”

He added that the consulate was still providing counseling services to couples to settle their issues instead of heading for a separation or divorce which would affect the whole family.

He reiterated that the consulate understood the problems of the community and was willing to facilitate and serve them, but it had to be done legally.