From a Saudi paper:
The Civil Affairs Department experienced an overwhelming rush of aspirants for Saudi nationality yesterday, the first day application forms were available to the public. By 9 a.m. the department had run out of forms, causing a lively black market to develop with original forms selling for SR30 and photocopies for SR3 each.
Black market application forms were openly on sale in baqalas (local grocery stores) near the Civil Affairs Department’s office here.
The rush of people around the Civil Affairs Department’s office hampered traffic, resulting in several heated exchanges between applicants and motorists. Police tried to control the traffic but the sheer numbers of people made their job difficult.
The rush was expected because the department had previously announced that forms would be available yesterday but the huge crowd that turned up was not anticipated. Many of the would-be applicants were disappointed, failing to get hold of an application form.
Similar scenes were witnessed in Makkah too where aspirants for Saudi nationality thronged the Civil Affairs Department office.
The forms for the Saudi nationality were distributed among those who met the required conditions — deemed as impossible by some of the applicants — set out by the Council of Ministers.
The first large batch of applicants gathered yesterday morning, a mix of ages and nationalities — some born in the Kingdom or with special qualifications or rare specialties. Only those who met the stringent conditions were given an application form.
The crucial dividing line in the application process is between category 8 and 9. Category 8 includes those either born in the Kingdom or whose mothers are Saudis. All others fall into category 9.
To qualify for category 9, an applicant must have lived in the Kingdom for 10 continuous years and acquired or obtained educational qualifications such as doctorate, postgraduate or graduate degrees in very specialized fields, for example medicine or engineering.
A category 9 applicant must accumulate a minimum of 23 points out of a possible 33. Points are awarded on the length of residence in the Kingdom — 10 points for 10 years — and educational qualifications. A Ph.D in sciences scores 10 points, while a doctorate in medicine, engineering or architecture receives 13 points.
The Ministry of Interior has issued one form for nationality requests that includes information about residency, educational and professional status and details of Saudi relatives.
The Civil Affairs Department will process applications relating to category 8 while category 9 applications will be submitted to the department’s headquarters in Riyadh.
In Jeddah, most of those applying at the Civil Affairs Department were Yemeni nationals with ages ranging from 20 to 50 years.
“The conditions concerning Article 9 are impossible to meet,” said Fouad Mohammad who has lived in the Kingdom for 17 years continuously and is a jeweler. “I ask the authorities to reconsider the conditions.”
“If I had a Ph.D, Master’s or B.A. degree in medicine or engineering I would return to my own country,” said Ramadan Hamed who has lived in the Kingdom for 28 years and works in the watch repair business.
“I completed all my schooling here in Jeddah,” said Mohammad Ahmad, who is among those born in the Kingdom. “When I reached the university stage I wasn’t accepted, because I was not Saudi. Yet among the conditions for getting the Saudi nationality is to have at least a B.A., which is a contradiction.”
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THE POINTS SYSTEM
HOW TO QUALIFY
Applications for naturalization will be evaluated under a points system that requires a minimum of 23 points to qualify. The three requirements that carry points are:
Uninterrupted stay no less than 10 years in the Kingdom with or without exit and re-entry travel (10 points).
Profession as proved by academic certificates (13 points). Only one degree will be considered in assigning points, as follows:
a) MD or Ph.D in engineering (13 points).
b) Ph.D in other sciences (10 points).
c) Master s degree (8 points).
BA or BS (5 points).
Proof that the applicant has Saudi relatives. The 10 points available under this category are as follows:
An applicant with a Saudi father (3 points).
b) The applicant s mother and her parents are Saudi (3 points)
The mother alone is Saudi (2 points).
The applicant s wife and children are Saudi (2 points).
The applicant s wife alone is Saudi (1 point).
The applicant has more than two Saudi children and brothers or sisters (2 points).
The applicant has no more than two children, brothers or sisters who are Saudi (1 point).
Applications must be submitted with certified copies of qualifications translated if originally not in the Arabic language. Scientific, artistic or intellectual production of applicants as well as their language proficiency must be indicated in the application.
Also to be included with the application form are:
A statement on the applicant s wealth within and outside the Kingdom as well as income sources.
An employer s certificate determining the nature of the applicant s work and his/her monthly income.
Declarations on the applicant s religious faith, political or party activity and previous military service.
A medical report issued by a government hospital the applicant must be physically and mentally fit.
Certificate signed by the Imam of the mosque in the district where the applicant lives
Certificates of conduct from the applicant s work place or agency of affiliation.
A declaration by the applicant that he or she has not been convicted of a criminal charge or sentenced to prison for a moral crime. The applicant s criminal record must be clean; competent agencies must have no reservations against an applicant
True copies of all documents must be submitted. Applicants fluency in Arabic shall be established by using a special form for the applicant to fill.
As for those with Saudi relatives, the following are the conditions:
a) The wife of an applicant who has acquired Saudi citizenship can become a Saudi herself whenever she chooses to come to the Kingdom and expresses her willingness to become naturalized as Saudi, subject to her giving up her original citizenship before a judge or a public notary.
b) Children of an applicant who has acquired Saudi citizenship shall become Saudi if they are below the age of maturity.
c) Foreign women married to Saudis can also become naturalized as Saudi subject to fulfilling a number of conditions such as:
The marital relationship should be legally established
The wife should give up her original citizenship
The marriage should have taken place according to instructions regulating the marriage of Saudis to non-Saudi women.
The Civil Affairs Department experienced an overwhelming rush of aspirants for Saudi nationality yesterday, the first day application forms were available to the public. By 9 a.m. the department had run out of forms, causing a lively black market to develop with original forms selling for SR30 and photocopies for SR3 each.
Black market application forms were openly on sale in baqalas (local grocery stores) near the Civil Affairs Department’s office here.
The rush of people around the Civil Affairs Department’s office hampered traffic, resulting in several heated exchanges between applicants and motorists. Police tried to control the traffic but the sheer numbers of people made their job difficult.
The rush was expected because the department had previously announced that forms would be available yesterday but the huge crowd that turned up was not anticipated. Many of the would-be applicants were disappointed, failing to get hold of an application form.
Similar scenes were witnessed in Makkah too where aspirants for Saudi nationality thronged the Civil Affairs Department office.
The forms for the Saudi nationality were distributed among those who met the required conditions — deemed as impossible by some of the applicants — set out by the Council of Ministers.
The first large batch of applicants gathered yesterday morning, a mix of ages and nationalities — some born in the Kingdom or with special qualifications or rare specialties. Only those who met the stringent conditions were given an application form.
The crucial dividing line in the application process is between category 8 and 9. Category 8 includes those either born in the Kingdom or whose mothers are Saudis. All others fall into category 9.
To qualify for category 9, an applicant must have lived in the Kingdom for 10 continuous years and acquired or obtained educational qualifications such as doctorate, postgraduate or graduate degrees in very specialized fields, for example medicine or engineering.
A category 9 applicant must accumulate a minimum of 23 points out of a possible 33. Points are awarded on the length of residence in the Kingdom — 10 points for 10 years — and educational qualifications. A Ph.D in sciences scores 10 points, while a doctorate in medicine, engineering or architecture receives 13 points.
The Ministry of Interior has issued one form for nationality requests that includes information about residency, educational and professional status and details of Saudi relatives.
The Civil Affairs Department will process applications relating to category 8 while category 9 applications will be submitted to the department’s headquarters in Riyadh.
In Jeddah, most of those applying at the Civil Affairs Department were Yemeni nationals with ages ranging from 20 to 50 years.
“The conditions concerning Article 9 are impossible to meet,” said Fouad Mohammad who has lived in the Kingdom for 17 years continuously and is a jeweler. “I ask the authorities to reconsider the conditions.”
“If I had a Ph.D, Master’s or B.A. degree in medicine or engineering I would return to my own country,” said Ramadan Hamed who has lived in the Kingdom for 28 years and works in the watch repair business.
“I completed all my schooling here in Jeddah,” said Mohammad Ahmad, who is among those born in the Kingdom. “When I reached the university stage I wasn’t accepted, because I was not Saudi. Yet among the conditions for getting the Saudi nationality is to have at least a B.A., which is a contradiction.”
*************************************************************
THE POINTS SYSTEM
HOW TO QUALIFY
Applications for naturalization will be evaluated under a points system that requires a minimum of 23 points to qualify. The three requirements that carry points are:
Uninterrupted stay no less than 10 years in the Kingdom with or without exit and re-entry travel (10 points).
Profession as proved by academic certificates (13 points). Only one degree will be considered in assigning points, as follows:
a) MD or Ph.D in engineering (13 points).
b) Ph.D in other sciences (10 points).
c) Master s degree (8 points).
BA or BS (5 points).
Proof that the applicant has Saudi relatives. The 10 points available under this category are as follows:
An applicant with a Saudi father (3 points).
b) The applicant s mother and her parents are Saudi (3 points)
The mother alone is Saudi (2 points).
The applicant s wife and children are Saudi (2 points).
The applicant s wife alone is Saudi (1 point).
The applicant has more than two Saudi children and brothers or sisters (2 points).
The applicant has no more than two children, brothers or sisters who are Saudi (1 point).
Applications must be submitted with certified copies of qualifications translated if originally not in the Arabic language. Scientific, artistic or intellectual production of applicants as well as their language proficiency must be indicated in the application.
Also to be included with the application form are:
A statement on the applicant s wealth within and outside the Kingdom as well as income sources.
An employer s certificate determining the nature of the applicant s work and his/her monthly income.
Declarations on the applicant s religious faith, political or party activity and previous military service.
A medical report issued by a government hospital the applicant must be physically and mentally fit.
Certificate signed by the Imam of the mosque in the district where the applicant lives
Certificates of conduct from the applicant s work place or agency of affiliation.
A declaration by the applicant that he or she has not been convicted of a criminal charge or sentenced to prison for a moral crime. The applicant s criminal record must be clean; competent agencies must have no reservations against an applicant
True copies of all documents must be submitted. Applicants fluency in Arabic shall be established by using a special form for the applicant to fill.
As for those with Saudi relatives, the following are the conditions:
a) The wife of an applicant who has acquired Saudi citizenship can become a Saudi herself whenever she chooses to come to the Kingdom and expresses her willingness to become naturalized as Saudi, subject to her giving up her original citizenship before a judge or a public notary.
b) Children of an applicant who has acquired Saudi citizenship shall become Saudi if they are below the age of maturity.
c) Foreign women married to Saudis can also become naturalized as Saudi subject to fulfilling a number of conditions such as:
The marital relationship should be legally established
The wife should give up her original citizenship
The marriage should have taken place according to instructions regulating the marriage of Saudis to non-Saudi women.
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