Will the son of a Saudi citizen be deported if there is a court ruling?

Will the son of a Saudi citizen be deported if there is a court ruling?

Their deportation in the event of a court ruling is subject to precise legal details. The short answer is that deporting the son of a Saudi citizen is legally possible if he commits certain crimes that warrant deportation, but his status as the son of a citizen may be taken into account when considering his case.

Rights and benefits of a son of Saudi citizenship

The Kingdom grants children of Saudi female citizens with non-Saudi parents a set of benefits to facilitate their living conditions, most notably what was stated in Cabinet Resolution No. (406) of 1433 AH, which stipulated the following:

• Residence: Children of Saudi citizens residing in the Kingdom are granted residence under the care of their mother, and the state bears the fees for this residence.
• Work: They are allowed to work in the private sector and are treated like Saudis in this regard.
• Education and treatment: They are treated like Saudis with regard to general education and treatment in government hospitals.

These benefits aim to provide them with stability, but they do not automatically grant them Saudi citizenship nor do they grant them absolute immunity from the application of other systems.

Provisions for deporting foreigners in the Saudi law

In principle, a child of a citizen who does not have Saudi citizenship is treated as a “foreigner” or “resident” from a legal standpoint, and therefore the residency and deportation regulations that apply to foreigners apply to him if they commit certain violations or crimes. Saudi regulations emphasize the deportation of foreigners who have been sentenced for specific crimes. For example:

• Drug crimes: Article 56 of the Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law stipulates that “a non-Saudi shall be deported from the Kingdom after serving the sentence imposed on him, and he shall not be allowed to return to it.”
• Commercial cover-up crimes: Article 11 of the Anti-Cover-up Law stipulates that convicting a non-Saudi results in “deporting him from the Kingdom and preventing him from entering it… after implementing the judicial ruling against him.”
• Administrative and judicial deportation: Ministerial Resolution No. (1809) of 1434 AH confirmed the deportation of expatriates against whom sentences were issued for certain crimes or penalties of imprisonment or flogging.

Does the fact that the accused is the son of a female citizen exempt him from deportation?

There is nothing in the system that explicitly prevents the deportation of a citizen’s son. What matters is the crime committed and the judicial ruling issued. However, there are texts that indicate that authorities may take the family bond with citizens into account:

1. Discretionary power: In some cases, the executive may have discretionary power. For example, Article 12 of the Executive Regulations of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Prevention System stipulates that when a resident is found to be infected, he or she shall be deported, but coordination shall be made with the Ministry of Interior “to consider exempting residents who have a first-degree family connection to Saudi citizens from the deportation of foreigners clause.” This text, although in a specific context, opens the door to taking into account family ties.
2. The effect of the ruling on naturalization: Article Eight of the Saudi Arabian Nationality System, which regulates granting citizenship to the children of female citizens, requires that “he be of good conduct and behavior and has not previously been sentenced to a criminal ruling or a prison sentence for a moral crime for a period exceeding six months”. This condition means that the judicial ruling not only affects the possibility of deportation, but also closes the door to obtaining citizenship, which confirms that committing crimes has serious consequences for the future of the citizen’s son in the Kingdom.

Conclusion:

Based on the above, the son of a Saudi citizen does not have immunity from deportation. If a final judicial ruling is issued against him for a crime that requires legal deportation, the possibility of his deportation exists and is legal. However, his condition may be considered specifically by the competent authorities due to the presence of his citizen mother in the Kingdom, but this is not considered a guarantee that he will not be deported, especially in major crimes such as drugs or crimes affecting security.

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