Criteria for getting Omani citizenship

16/06/2019

MUSCAT-  Foreigners who apply for obtaining Omani citizenship and a passport have to fulfil a number of criteria for considering their application. An executive order in this regard was issued by Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al Busaidy, Minister of Interior, through a ministerial decision No 92/2019, on Sunday. “The cost of the application for obtaining Omani citizenship will be RO 600, while the application for a foreign wife, widow, or divorcee of an Omani citizen will be RO 300. Same is applicable for an underage child of an Omani woman,” says the decision from the ministry.

According to the decision, the applicants will need to prove that they have been residing in Oman. “They should also affirm that they do not have any legal cases filed against them, in addition to confirming with a medical certificate that they do not have any transmittable disease,” the order says. At the same time, RO 200 will be charged for surrendering the passport and citizenship. Apart from the fee, foreigners applying for citizenship should fulfil a number of other criteria including attachment of 12 mandatory documents along with the application.

“Any foreigner who receives notification on citizenship must approach the ministry and complete the procedures to receive the Omani passport, and should undertake to reside in the Sultanate,” says the order. In the case of underage children, they will automatically receive the same within six months, it adds. The order also states that applicants should learn Arabic. For this, they should attend an Arabic language course and pass necessary examination in this regard. Other documents required to be furnished along with the application as per the ministerial order include copies of the passport with a valid visa, personal identification card or similar identification, a valid residency card, a copy of the marriage certificate in case the applicant is married, as well as copies of the wife’s passport and that of children, if any.

If the person is married to an Omani woman, he should furnish a copy the marriage certificate, conduct certificate from Oman and another from the country of his origin, a valid medical certificate proving that he is fit and free from communicable diseases. Also mandatory are an income certificate from the employer, a certificate from the embassy of his country proving that he is allowed to forfeit his original passport and a written declaration including the names of all his underage children and their documents.