Article 28 of the Saudi Civil Status Law

المادة 28 من نظام الأحوال المدنية

The Article allows a Saudi head of family and his family to be registered at any civil status department, events to be recorded at any office, and Saudis living abroad to register at the representation or any department they choose inside the Kingdom.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

يتم قيد كل رب أسرة سعودي وأفراد أسرته لدى أي إدارة من إدارات الأحوال المدنية، ويتم قيد الواقعات لدى أي مكتب للأحوال المدنية، وبالنسبة للسعوديين المقيمين في الخارج يتم قيد الواقعات لدى الممثلية السعودية في البلد الذي يقيمون فيه أو في أي إدارة من دوائر الأحوال المدنية التي يختارونها في الداخل.

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 28 explained in plain English

This Article gives citizens flexibility in choosing where to register, without tying them to a particular region:

Registering the family: every Saudi head of family and the members of his family are registered at any department of the civil status departments.
Recording events: this is done at any office of civil status.
Saudis residing abroad: their events are recorded at the Saudi representation in the country where they reside, or at any civil status department they choose inside the Kingdom.

It follows that, under this Article, a citizen is not obliged to register in the city of his residence or his place of birth.

This Article comes after Article 27, which makes register clerks responsible for any alteration, forgery, addition or erasure in the registers in their custody, and before Article 29, which defines the domicile of a person residing in the Kingdom as the place where he habitually lives, and treats the place where he continuously carries on his work as his domicile as well.

Practical example

A Saudi family living in London had a child. The father may record the event at the Saudi representation in the United Kingdom, or choose any civil status department in the Kingdom to record it on his return.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

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