Non-Saudis imprisoned for less than three months can apply for deportation relief.

According to a legal expert, there are two situations in which an expatriate can be exempted from deportation even if a Saudi court has issued a deportation verdict.

According to Abdulaziz Al-Qahtani, a legal consultant, an expatriate sentenced to less than three months in prison and deportation can petition a higher court for relief from deportation.

According to Al-Qahtani, a non-Saudi son of a Saudi woman or a foreign husband of a Saudi woman can also seek an exemption from deportation.

He emphasized that deportation is a punishment imposed in accordance with international laws in various countries. Deportation from the Kingdom entails removing a non-Saudi from the Kingdom’s territories.

There are two sorts of deportation penalties. The first is judicial deportation, which is handed out by a court, and an expat has the option of appealing the decision by going before the Court of Appeal.

According to Article 112 of the Criminal Procedures Law, administrative deportation—which is the expulsion of an expatriate who receives a sentence of three months or more in prison for a significant crime—is the second option for carrying out a previous ministerial decision.

According to Al-Qahtani, there will be two exceptions to the deportation penalty’s application. The first incident involves either a Saudi woman’s husband or son.

“If the deportee is a Saudi woman’s son or husband, he may be excluded from deportation after taking a pledge from him, provided that his conviction was not based on Article 112 of the Criminal Procedures Law, which mandates a jail term of at least three months.

The expatriate will be deported, nevertheless, if he commits the same offence twice.

According to Al-Qahtani, a foreign national who is sentenced to less than three months in prison and who has no prior convictions may be excused from depor

tation. He will be asked to make a vow, and if the offence is committed again, he will be deported.

In either situation, the expatriate has the right to legally challenge the deportation decision or submit a formal request for an exemption from deportation.

The expert also pointed out that the law gives the Minister of Interior the authority to defer the execution of a sentence that would otherwise result in the deportation of non-Saudis from the Kingdom for drug use and drug possession with intent to use.

Similar circumstances apply to those who received prison terms of six months or fewer for money laundering offenses, he noted.