Amendment of the law on granting citizenship in Saudi Arabia, the authority was given to the Crown Prince

In Saudi Arabia, Article 8 of the Citizenship Law was amended, according to which the authority to grant citizenship was given from the Minister of Interior to the Crown Prince.

According to Saudi media, amendments to the citizenship law were introduced at the direction of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. The phrase “by the decision of the Minister of Home Affairs” in the Act was replaced by “on the proposal of the Minister of Home Affairs and by order of the Prime Minister”.

After the amendment in the law, the power to grant citizenship has now gone to the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister. The Home Minister can only recommend and the decision to grant citizenship or not will be taken by the Prime Minister (Crown).

Under this law, Saudi citizenship will be granted to the child of a foreign father and a Saudi mother upon fulfilling certain conditions upon being born in the country.

Conditions include reaching the legal age for citizenship, permanent residence in the state, good morals and character, and no involvement in any crime.

In addition, the applicant for citizenship must not have been sentenced to imprisonment of more than six months for any indecent offense and must be proficient in and fluent in the Arabic language.

It should be noted that on September 27 last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was also given the title of Crown Prince. This change was interpreted as the adoption of a democratic government setup alongside the monarchy in Saudi Arabia.