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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Shoura Debates Citizenship Norms for Foreigners |
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| BlessedToBeMuslim |
| 10/26/03 at 16:21:15 |
| [Saudi] Shoura Debates Citizenship Norms for Foreigners JEDDAH, 20 October 2003 — Foreigners who have been living in the Kingdom continuously for not less than 10 years may be able to apply for Saudi citizenship, according to proposals being debated at the Shoura Council. Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr, the Shoura’s secretary-general, said the 120-member consultative body yesterday started discussing proposals aimed at relaxing the country’s naturalization laws. “The new proposals aim at solving the problems official agencies and some citizens have had with the existing law,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying. He said the Shoura would discuss the proposals in detail next week. “By that time the members will have had more time to review the articles and the necessary changes,” he added. According to the proposals carried by Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper yesterday, an applicant for Saudi citizenship should be an adult of good conduct and character. He or she must be fluent in written and spoken Arabic and should have a profession that is needed in the Kingdom. Applicants should not have served more than six months in jail and must show evidence that they have been earning their livelihood in a legitimate manner. If a foreign man is given Saudi citizenship, so is his wife provided she relinquishes her previous citizenship. His underage children also become Saudi citizens if they are living in the Kingdom. They will have the choice to select either the Saudi citizenship or their previous citizenship within a year after reaching legal age. “If the children reach adulthood when the application of their father in being processed, the interior minister will have the right to award them citizenship,” the proposals said. In such cases, the children should have lived in the Kingdom no less than five years and apply within a year after their father is granted citizenship. The interior minister will have the right to give Saudi citizenship to the foreign wife or widow of a Saudi if she applies and relinquishes her previous nationality. “A Saudi woman will not lose her nationality if she is married to a foreigner unless she decides to take her husband’s citizenship,” the paper said quoting the proposals. The citizenship of naturalized Saudis can be withdrawn by Cabinet decision within 10 years on recommendation of the interior minister if they are sentenced to jail. It can also be withdrawn if “a person commit or is involved in an act that undermines the country’s security or becomes an undesirable person,” the draft says. [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=33918&d=20&m=10&y=2003] ====== How fast are you running to get in line? P.S. Sorry about the duplicate threads... |
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