New law bans Saudi men from marrying Pakistani women

Saudi Arabia has reportedly passed a new law that bans Saudi men from marrying women from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Chad and Burma. The government has imposed the new law without giving any clarifications, reported The Express Tribune.

Major General Assaf Qureshi, director of Makkah police, said that marriage requests from outside Saudi Arabia are routed through strict official procedures and restrictions. One of the requirements stipulates that the age gap between the couple should not be more than 25 years.

The standard procedure requires applications to be submitted to a government committee if one wants to marry outside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). They can take a long time to be processed and permission is granted only if they are approved by the committee.