In Saudi Arabia, the Nikah Officers have now been authorized to hold home-based Nikah contracts for expatriates, much like Saudi citizens. It was previously limited to the courts.
This judgment will help procedures of marriages to expatriates. It will also consider the social and humanitarian dimension.
It will decrease the flow of couples to the courts, where it used to require the existence of the non-Saudi and the spouse in the court to sign the Nikah agreement of the marriage contract. Besides the presence of the wife’s guardian (her father) and the witnesses.
The service is offered in the personal status courts in Riyadh and Madinah in this first phase. It will extend to 14 other personal status courts in other locations, namely, the courts of Makkah, Jeddah, Buraidah, Dammam, Taif, Tabuk and Al-Ahsa, as well as the general courts in Alkhobar, Hafr Al-Batin, Najran, Al-Kharj and Abha.
The service will initially be for non-Saudis who speak Arabic.
This permission is given to a particular wedding officers under specific conditions where they get a book of contracts to record the expats’ wedding contracts from their homes.
Applications for a marriage contract for expatriates was previously presented via a form at the court or through the electronic service to register an appointment for a marriage contract in court.
Applications can now be easily submitted to the marriage officer. It is important to have a valid Iqama ID, also the presence of the wife’s guardian, in case if she was divorced a divorce contract should be there.
No fees are described to be given to the marriage officer; it is optional.
Courts will only issue marriage contracts for Saudis in case one of the spouses is a Saudi citizen and the other is not. The matter requires getting a wedding permit to ensure that the conditions are met.