No nationality for expats born in KSA

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Expatriates born in the Kingdom will not get Saudi nationality, the Civil Affairs Department of the Interior Ministry has clarified. The department was refuting a strong rumor which went viral on social media recently to the effect that a decision has been issued by the supreme authorities to nationalize the expatriates born in the Kingdom, reported Makkah Arabic daily on Sunday. “This is totally incorrect,” department’s spokesman Mohammed Al-Jassir said, adding that such an issue would only be issued through official channels represented by the Council of Ministers. “This is not the first time the issue of Saudi nationality was raised on social media,” he said. The spokesman mocked the method in which the fake circular on social media was drafted. It carried an introduction similar to those of the royal decrees. A number of news sites circulated the rumor. Some of them even attached it to earlier statements made by Maj. Gen. Abdul Qadir Kamal who was a former member of the Shoura Council though his membership was long terminated. Kamal had said that expatriates born in Saudi Arabia should have the choice to opt for Saudi nationality.