Women are not allowed to show hair, necks in IDs: Saudi

Jeddah: Saudi Arabia's civil status department said that Saudi women are not allowed to show their hair or necks in civil status ID card photos. But, after the amendments to the regulations of the Civil Status system by the Council of Ministers, Article 17 of the same no more mandates women to cover their hair and necks in photos for civil status ID cards, Arab News reported.

The civil status department spokesperson, Mohammed Al-Jasser, told Arab News that only females aged between 10 and 14 years old are allowed to show their hair uncovered in ID photos, along with older women with specific health conditions.

In the meantime, the amendment to Article 146 mandates that the national identification document, both print and digital, must have the ID holder's photo, first name, father's name, grandfather's name and family name/surname in both Arabic and English. Further, it should include the place of birth, date of birth in Hijri and Gregorian format, civil registry number, ID expiry date in Hijri and Gregorian format, ID copy serial number, official logos, and security features. Also, all the data the Ministry of Civil Status consider to be necessary.