Mixed marriage - family visa

Hi

I am considering a job in Saudi but am worried about potential travel for my wife and 3 children who will not be living full time with me.  Although married in UK for already 13 years, my wife and children are (non-practicing) muslim with a muslim middle name.  I for a number of reasons never converted.  In the UK (and with our families) this is fine but i need to know if the authorities will consider our marriage invalid causing problems to get the family to come and visit as well as countless other issues.

Any advice would be appreciated.

pickst...

It's totally fine. You won't be having any issues. Welcome to Saudi.

thanks - that is a surprising reply but maybe there is just too much false information out there about KSA.  I was expecting a response that she should not risk travel  - now I will look into it further...

Hi,


My understanding is that if the differences in religion is going to cause an issue, meaning non muslim marrying a muslim wife?

If my understanding is correct, I believe this may cause a problem as in Islam muslim women can't marry a non muslim.

But for the avoidance of any doubts and inconvenience, the best thing to do is to ask your potential employer that you will come on a family visa and tell them the exact situation, they will be able to manage it, and if not,  you will not have to travel by yourself and then faces family visa rejection.

And if you're OK with it, you may consider to convert before starting the process.

I will do more researches and will keep you posted.


Good luck, may god bless you and family.

thanks legallegal

your point is the one i was worried about.  even though the marriage is legal in UK and the rest of the world if for whatever reason the sharia law which takes precedence in Saudi does not recognise it and sees us as an unmarried couple - then the consequences are at best my family does not get a visa and at worst we are in some way committing a crime.  Both are not ideal situations and to be honest are enough to make the role unattractive.  i did not really want to raise this with the potential employer as i see my personal situation as my business and some people like to judge us but maybe there is no option here other than to raise it.  Hence i was looking for advice here to get general guidance of if this likely to be an issue - as i just don't have a feeling for how carefully the authorities will go through documentation and look for these sort of issues with a British guy...

I suggest you meet with an offical of the Saudi embassy in London and ask them, they should be in a better position to advice you.