Saudi women’s expat husbands, sons granted driving exemptions

Expatriates married to Saudi women as well as their children are able to obtain general driving licenses allowing them to man heavy goods vehicles without needing an iqama (work permit) that lists the holder’s profession as a driver.

Quoting a government source, Makkah daily reported on Tuesday that the Ministry of Interior’s decision aimed to enable those eligible to compete for jobs that require applicants to be the holders of general driving licenses.

He said before the exemption, the Directorate General of Traffic used to turn down the requests of foreign husbands of Saudi women and their children for general driving licenses.

A recent government decision allowed Saudi women to transfer the sponsorship of their husbands and children to them.

The decision also called for treating these husbands and their children in a similar manner to Saudi citizens in employment, education and health care.

They will be counted as Saudi nationals in the Nitaqat program of the Labor Ministry that aims to improve Saudization of jobs.

Under this arrangement, the husband will be listed as a "husband of a Saudi woman" on his iqama while her children will be listed as "child of a Saudi woman".

He said under normal traffic rules and regulations, an expatriate applicant for a general driving license should be the holder of a driving license from his home country.

Considering the difficulties facing foreign husbands of Saudi women and their children, the interior minister has given his consent to exempt them from the conditions of needing to be listed as a driver and holding a driving license from their home countries in order to be issued with a general Saudi driving license, the source said.

This article was first published in Saudi Gazette on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014.