8/9/2019 Saudi Women Opting to Marry Foreigners

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Saudiwomenopting to

marryforeigners

Permission isalso required fora Saudi womanto marry a Non-Arab, who is nota citizen of aGulf CooperationCouncil (GCC)state.

Mohammad KhairulIslam

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JEDDAH Saudi women are increasingly opting to marry foreigners.

Recent statistics issued by the Interior Ministry showed that in the past

five years 20,000

marriages have been registered between Saudi women and foreign men.

Saudi women are prohibited from marrying non-Saudis, except with

special permission from higher authorities. Permission is also required for

a Saudi woman to marry an Arab, who is not a citizen of a Gulf

Cooperation Council (GCC) state.

According to Majed Al Sharif from Riyadhs Marriage Court, this year there

have been, a higher number of cross-nationality marriages compared to

previous years. He said that his office had received 28 applications for

such marriages.

Shaikh Abdulaziz Al Askar, a marriage registrar, said that the number of

marriages between Saudi women and expatriates are way below the

number of marriages between Saudi men and foreign women. 'The former

doesnt go above 13 per cent of the total cross-nationality marriages that

are registered,' he said.

Al Askar said that this is due to the fact that applications by men to marry

foreign women take less time to get approved than applications by

women. He added that men also have options to have more than one wife

and this explains why the number of marriages between Saudi men and

foreign women surpass the number of marriage between Saudi women

and foreign men.

'Cross-nationality marriages are discouraged by many members of

society, particularly when it involves a daughter marrying a foreigner,'

said Dr Muhammad Al Zulfa, a member of the Shoura Council. He added

that living in a rich and tax-free country is attractive for many foreigners,

who can easily achieve this by marrying a Saudi woman. For this reason,

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some families remain unsure about a foreigners real intention in getting

married and so reject him.

Some Saudi social experts believe that Saudis, a majority of whom have

tribal roots, which used to consider marriage to another Saudi tribe as asource of disgrace, are now becoming more accepting to the idea of cross-

national marriages.

Dr Nasir Al Oud, associated dean of academic research at the Imam

Muhammed ibn Saud University in Riyadh, said that Saudi families, who

regularly travel abroad, are generally more broad-minded when it comes

to their daughter marrying foreigners.

One example of such a marriage is that of Mona Makkawi, a 33-year-old

Saudi dermatologist, who is married to a German man of Lebanese

descent. The couple, who met at a medical training course in Hamburg,

faced opposition from Makkawis family.

Makkawis father, who has worked abroad for many years, accepted her

choice. However, her relatives opposed the idea and still do so. Something

she thinks will never end.

'Its the relatives who can be the greatest source of pressure on such a

marriage. However, the actual decision lies with the person getting

married and her parents,' she said.