Expat hopes dashed as nationality rumor quashed

The Ministry of Interior’s civil affairs department on Tuesday dashed the hopes of thousands of expats when it denied a report that had gone viral on social media sites that children born in the Kingdom to Saudi mothers and foreign fathers would be given citizenship.

“There is no truth to the report,” said Mohammed Al-Jasser, spokesman of the department that processes citizenship applications. He also denied reports that the Council of Ministers had amended the citizenship law to this effect. “All these reports are totally false,” the spokesman said.

This would disappoint many expats, especially Arabs, who were overjoyed by the report, thinking it would end their family problems.

Al-Jasser urged the public not to follow rumors and ensure the authenticity of reports before circulating them.

The video report, quoting MBC channel, said all those born in Saudi Arabia would be given citizenship when they reach puberty. Then they would be given a grace period of a year to either select Saudi citizenship or keep their original citizenship.

Some of the report’s portions had been removed to mislead public. Saudi analyst Badr Almotawa said it was unrealistic to think Saudi Arabia would liberalize citizenship regulations. “Western countries that provide citizenship to foreigners get financial benefits in terms of taxes. There is no tax in Saudi Arabia and the government provides many services such as water, electricity and oil on heavily subsidized rates,” he told Arab News. “We should be realistic when we talk about citizenship in the Kingdom. It implies so many things, such as additional economic burden and pressure on public utilities,” he said. However, Almotawa pointed out that the Kingdom had given citizenship to thousands of people in the past.

The rumor stated that men would be given citizenship immediately while women would only get identity cards, with full citizenship granted when they marry Saudis. “This measure was taken to prevent her foreign husband from benefiting from her citizenship such as opening business ventures,” the report said.

Arab News found the same report on Al-Arabiya.net, which was published on March 31, 2007 quoting Maj. Gen. Abdul Qader Kamal, a member of the Shoura Council’s security committee.

At least 10,000 foreign children are born in the Kingdom annually, the report added.

In September 2013, the Cabinet decided to give foreign mothers of Saudi children permanent residence in the Kingdom without sponsors.