Article 48 of the Saudi Civil Status Law

المادة 48 من نظام الأحوال المدنية

The Article requires the civil status department to record the content of a marriage contract, or a revocation, divorce, dissolution or khul document or judgment, on the spouses' entry as soon as it receives it.

Official text (Arabic)

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

على إدارة الأحوال المدنية فور تسلمها عقد الزواج أو وثيقة الرجعة أو الطلاق أو حكم التطليق أو المخالعة تدوين مضمونها على قيد الزوجين.

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 48 explained in plain English

After the person required to report presents the marriage or marriage-ending document, this Article sets out what the civil status department itself must do.

As soon as the department receives any of the following documents:

the marriage contract;
the revocation document;
the divorce document;
the dissolution or khul judgment;

it must at once record their content on the spouses' entry, that is, in the civil register of each of them. In this way the event becomes part of the official data of the husband and the wife.

The duty here is on the department, not on individuals; the individuals' role is to report and present the document. Article 47 provides that the responsibility to report marriage, divorce, revocation, dissolution and khul falls on the husband or the wife, that the husband's father, the wife's father or one of their relatives may do so, and that this responsibility lapses where there is an electronic link between the civil status department and the competent court. Once the document is presented, its recording should not be delayed, because the text uses the words "as soon as it receives it".

If one of the spouses is not a Saudi, Article 49 indicates that registration follows rules set by the Implementing Regulations.

If you find that your marriage or divorce has not been recorded on your entry after presenting the document, you may contact the civil status department or consult a lawyer who specializes in civil status and personal status cases.

Practical example

Fahd presented his divorce document to the civil status department in Dammam. The department must record the divorce on his entry and on his ex-wife's entry as soon as it receives the document, so the event appears in their official data.

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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