Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister, pictured at a summit in Egypt last autumn, is now empowered to award Saudi citizenship to selected people.
Saudi Arabia passed a law allowing Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to grant citizenship to selected people, following a proposal from the Minister of Interior this year.
In January, a royal decree was issued to approve the amendment of Article Eight of the Saudi Nationality Law, which authorises the Prime Minister to grant citizenship.
The decree became law on March 13, according to a post by the Makkah Al Mukarramah region’s official Twitter account, which quoted the Ministry of Interior.
تُمنح الجنسية العربية السعودية بأمر من رئيس #مجلس_الوزراء بناءً على اقتراح #وزير_الداخلية. pic.twitter.com/RH5oaeVCmW
— إمارة منطقة مكة المكرمة (@makkahregion) March 17, 2023
The text of the decision was published in the official newspaper, Umm Al Qura, on Friday.
“After reviewing Royal Decree No (M / 88) dated 6/11/1444 AH, Article Eight of the Saudi Nationality Law will be amended to ‘Saudi nationality may be granted by order of the Prime Minister based on a proposal from the Minister of Interior’.”
The text said that decision will be enforced from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette and that it will be communicated to whoever is required to adopt it and act accordingly.