Getting Married in Saudi..
July 21st, 2008The kingdom is advancing greatly in the integration of computers into the government, and also aims to better it’s e-governmental presence.. Aiming to improve the various services offered to the citizens of Saudi Arabia. However, it may seem like great news, but it’s only in few parts of the government services.
The Legal procedure of marriage in Saudi is in two parts, a legally-approved Religious part and a Legal part, and knowing how complex this process can be, one would think the computerized environment would help better it. Well, it would, but is it going to be utilized in that department any time soon?
Other than the old Stamp and Sign procedure with the Marriage Certificate, a paper-back booklet, the remaining steps still remain in the Stamp and Sign. When you’re in the Civilian Affairs Office, Your legal papers have to be signed by an individual and stacked in a folder. Eventually, that folder will be stacked over the other hundred folders until someone takes them to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and logs them in. Notice how the process even avoids the use of Telephones, which are used only for the chatting employees. The only computerized thing about the whole place is the mobiles of the citizens who got bored from waiting, and started checking their falling stock.
The working hours of the office begins from 7 am, you’ll wait in a long long long line, waiting to get a number, with the possibility of the person in charge of handing them out yelling that the numbers for the National ID, for instance, are out and everyone should come tomorrow. Or suddenly pointing out that if you wanted to get a certain issue done, it’s done in the other part of town. When you get your number, you’re given the proper forms and asked to sit down, fill them up and wait until the employees arrive. They arrived at 9 am.
Now, looking through the marriage process, you’re asked to get copies of every legal paper, fill a form, get a picture, dump your folder with a person who stacks it in the folder, and then you’re asked to CHECK the next day, or the same day after Dhu’hur prayer.. However, the process never finishes in a day, being that it’s taken to another office, that uses an old cashier-like XEROX printer to print your name and information. The next day, another person would get a stack of certificates and then call out names, and later on organize them in a wooden box according to the Arabic alphabets.
Nothing’s computerized so far? well, the numbers you take and wait with in line are shown on an LED screen.. Happy now?
Assuming that you were told to come back After Dhu’hur prayer, you’re not expected to leave the office and pray and come back.. No sir. Why? because they stop taking citizens in AFTER the prayer, and only those inside will get their deal done. And that’s all the working hours of the office. A lousy, unproductive, 3 and a half hours.
I had a conversation with a very “happy” citizen, saying that he gave them his papers to add his daughter to his Folder, and they happen to lose his photocopied ID. They stopped his process for 2 weeks now, while he went to Makkah and came back thinking it’s all over.
Ironically, thinking of the Flentstones City Hall scenes, they used Historic technologies to achieve modern-day tasks.. However, we choose to finish our work in the most historic way possible, while leaving those modern-day technologies aside.. Unless there’s an interesting game of Solitaire that people are betting on.. Moreover, you’d be able to skip the whole process by knowing the right people, or by going to any smaller city or county in the kingdom and get it done in less than an hour. Amazing how advanced the kingdom is, and how it manages to keep such a stupid infrastructure in one piece.
I got my Marriage certificate finally, and thinking am done with all this bull, They seem to keep a small gift intact.. They logged me in the record as a 170 cm tall male, with hazle eyes.. However, am 185 cm tall with dark brown eyes.. It’s ok, i guess i can live with this legal distortion.. Since they told me happily that i’ll have to change the papers Anyways to the new small Card format, but they had to finish the remaining Old certificates, since they think it’s a waste of resources to throw all of that away.. And they say Saudis have it easy, wait till a Foreigner tells you how his process goes.
Does marriage seem that appealing now that you’ve lived through a semi-3-day story? Single N Proud should get a kick out of this 
Yours,
Lou
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dear god… Just when i started to think that I may have some good luck in getting it all done.. *keeps trying to stay positive*
you did a really good job of summing it up tho
*salute*
This guy doesn’t seem to have a paperwork problem….
Saudi Arabia: Mother moves to block child marriage
Riyadh, 11 August (AKI) – The Saudi Arabian mother of an eight-year-old girl is trying to stop her marrying a middle-aged man who made a marriage contract with the girl’s father in the province of al-Qasim, in the centre of the country.
The father’s consent is needed to validate the marriage contract between the man, who is in his fifties and the child. He reportedly agreed to the union in exchange for an undis closed sum of money.
According to the Saudi newspaper, Okaz, the news emerged after the mother of the child reported her husband and took him to court to prevent the marriage from going ahead.
Referring to another case where a man in his seventies was charged for marrying a ten-year-old girl in the area of Asir, south of Mecca, the woman also sought the help of local human rights groups.
The mother of the girl said her husband has two other wives, and considering the age of the child, asked for the contract to be withdrawn to allow her to have a normal childhood.
According to human rights lawyers, there are many cases of this kind before the Saudi courts.
but its not hard to get a marriage certificate or a contract… for a saudi husband and saudi wife.. regardless of age. The thing everyone is having problems with is a saudi marrying a foreign spouse. Thats where the extra long procedures come in.
Its what My fiance and I are going through at the moment.
Non citizen marriagesan be an issue in many countries, I wish you luck and happiness.
“Guardians” (who are always male of course) have the right to marry off daughters as young as one in Saudi. Unfortunately, even when such a case goes to court it only results in delaying the marriage.
yes, we all agree it isn’t an easy process however things here have a longer procedure and they don’t have a single routine as to how to go by it.
and along with it comes a lot of issues… especially saudi women.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=112458&d=6&m=8&y=2008
I am glad that your nightmare of a procedure is over and done with & I congratulate you on your wedding, may you live in bliss & happiness
As for all these stories about CHILDREN getting married at such a young age to MUCH older men, i hear them & read about all the time, it horrifies me even more than in disgusts me. I wish that upon no one, may God be in support of these innocent little angels…
any saudi girl want to marry me
Is it possible for two westerners (mom muslim) to get married in Saudi (saudi court)and not have to go to their Embassy in Riyahd or can they do it the way you have wrote about or do they have to go to their Embassy?
Sorry I meant (Non Muslims).
Dear Jess..
It’s better that those non muslims get married abroad and come back, it would be easier in paper work. I think they can, but they’ll have to deal with the ministry of foreign affares and there emabbssies..
[...] Getting married in Saudi Arabia, a how-to-guide. [...]
مرحبا للجميع ،
أنا سعودي الأصل والمنشأ أباً عن جد ، ولدت في السعودية وحتى اليوم وانا اعيش فيها ، إن ما ذكره الأصدقاء في مقالاتهم ليس صحيحاً بشكل دقيق ، فحالة زواج شخص كبير في السن بطفلة صغيرة هو نادر جداً جداً لأن الشعب السعودي يرفض هذا السلوك ولا يقبله ، والحالات التي حصلت هي حاله قد تصل نسبتها إلى (0,000000001%) وقد يقول البعض اني بالغت بهذه النسبة وهذه الحالات قد تحصل من اشخاص مفتونين ومهوسيين بالمال ، بالرغم من ان الشعب السعودي يعتبر شعب غني جدا ، ولكني أنا أعلم بالسعودية أكثر من غيري من الأجانب بصفتي سعودي ، فالشعب السعودي عندما يسمع بحاله مثل هذه فإن الشعب السعودي يتضايق جدا ، والكل يعلم بأن أغنى دولة عربية على الإطلاق هي السعودية ، بل إن ميزانية واحدة من ميزانية السعودية تعادل ميزانيات الدول العربية مجتمعة وهذا ما تؤكده الإحصاءات العالمية ، فالشعب السعودي شعب غني (سعيد) وشعب طيب
وعن سؤال بعض الأصدقاء عن انه لو اراد الزواج من سعودية ؟
أقول من الصعب جدا حصول هذه الفرصة لغير السعوديين وليس السبب منع أب الفتاة ، ولكن الفتيات السعوديات انفسهن نادرا جدا ان تقبل بزوج غير سعودي ، إلى جانب ان الزوج يجب ان يكون مسلما .