GCC citizens topped the list of foreigners who married Saudi women in 2011, with over 1,600 marriage contracts, a local daily said.
According to data released by the Ministry of Justice, Kuwaitis ranked first among GCC nationals marrying Saudis, with 762 contracts, while 554 Qataris, 266 UAE citizens and 20 Omanis also married Saudi women that year.
Yemenis topped the list of other Arab nationalities to have married Saudi women, at 1,000 marriages that year alone.
A total of 269 Syrians, 173 Egyptians, 76 Lebanese, 19 Iraqis, and 14 Moroccans also married Saudi women the same year, the report said.
Hani Al-Ghamdi, a family and community counselor, said that there are no restrictions for Saudi women marrying GCC citizens or other foreign nationals.
He said that intercultural marriage between Saudi and GCC or other Arab nationalities is a widely accepted norm and wondered why certain Saudi families still insist on marrying their daughters off to men of the same tribe, rejecting even suitors from other parts of the Kingdom.
Abdullah Salih Sanaan, a marriage contract clerk, said that Saudi women require approval from their local governorate in order to marry foreigners and that intercultural marriages do not fall within the jurisdiction of clerks such as himself, even if the marriage is to a GCC citizen.
GCC citizens top list of foreigners married to Saudi women
