Saudi Arabia is making changes to the way it grants citizenship to foreign nationals.

Under new rules, set to come into law after being published in the Kingdom’s Official Gazette, the Prime Minister will be able to grant citizenship to foreign nationals.

The decision was announced on the official Mecca Province Twitter account and published in the Um Al Qura gazette.

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia will be able to grant citizenship to certain individuals, as recommended by the Kingdom’s Minister of Interior.

To enact the change the Kingdom has amended Article Eight of its Nationality Law.

A royal decree allowing the change was issued in January and it came into law on March 13.

The report in Um Al Quara said: “After reviewing Royal Decree No (M / 88) dated 6/11/1444 AH, Article Eight of the Saudi Nationality Law will be amended to ‘Saudi nationality may be granted by order of the Prime Minister based on a proposal from the Minister of Interior’.”

It comes as the Kingdom makes sweeping changes to who is eligible for citizenship.

Earlier this year, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz issued a royal decree that defines who can claim citizenship in KSA.

Under the new rules, the children of Saudi women who are married to expat men can now apply for citizenship after the age of 18.

The decree was another amendment to article No.8 of the country’s citizenship law.