Saudi Arabia makes it tough to give nationality to foreigners

The Saudi cabinet has approved making an amendment on certain items of the nationality law, according to which it has become difficult for foreign residents, especially women, to get the Saudi nationality.

According to the amendment which was issued in a statement and adopted by the Shoura council, it is stipulated for immigrants to be given the nationality "they must be of adult age and has won the residency for ten years" instead of five years as in the previous law. The law also states that the applicant for the Saudi nationality to be of a profession the country needs and this condition is not applicable to the one who was born in the Kingdom from a foreign mother and unknown father." The amendment also includes a series of conditions on mixed marriages in which the Saudi woman is given the option between preserving her own nationality or acquiring the nationality of her husband.

The wife of the Saudi man can get the nationality if she stays in the country and gives up her original nationality.

Press sources said that according to the law, the nationality can be withdrawn if "the one given the nationality violates the security of the country."

Concerning al-Badoun -- people of the Arab tribes in the Arab Peninsula who left it and do not carry the Saudi nationality -- several members of the Shoura council demanded the need of "raising their issue in order to deal with their situation especially as they carry permanent residency that does not enable them continuing their learning or taking part in the other life activities like work." The Saudi authorities bans its citizens from getting more than one nationality. According to the amended text, the Saudi woman who is married to a foreigner losses her nationality when she chooses to get her husband's nationality.

However, the tough measures adopted in giving nationality in Saudi Arabia is attributed to the increasing number of foreigners living in it. According to statistics of the ministry of labor, there are some 8.8 million foreigners in Saudi Arabia while its population is 17 million.