year-old biological engineering student at the University of Leeds who has decided to apply for British citizenship because he can pay less tuition fees and find work in the UK. “I pay 11,000 pounds per semester while Europeans and United Kingdom citizens pay 3,000 pounds. If I am eligible for citizenship why shouldn't I go for it? It will save me and my family a lot of money.” Banjabi has not been able to get an internship in the UK because all available slots are only for UK citizens. “I have a rare specialty which is in demand here. I think I would rather live and work here than go back to Saudi Arabia where there aren't many opportunities for me to practice and gain experience.” Banjabi said he was looking forward to the benefits of UK citizenship which includes not needing a visa to travel to many European countries. Banjabi has started the process and has a sponsor who advises him on what should be done, but he has not told his parents yet. “I know my father will be furious and might demand I return home immediately.” Banjabi plans to later work in the UK and settle in Leeds. “I've been living in Leeds for six years and I have adapted really well. I don't think I will be able to go back to Saudi Arabia.” Banjabi is not the only student currently seeking citizenship abroad. Many on the King Abdullah Scholarship Program have done so, risking being expelled from the program. Abdullah Batarfi, a Social Development professor at King Abdulaziz University, said: “I don't think these students are aware of the seriousness of this issue. The program and their families send them abroad as an investment, so that they can gain knowledge that isn't available in this country. They are an asset.” Batarfi feels students who are studying abroad do not really understand the mission they have been sent to accomplish. “I can understand the situation of people who come from war zones like Iraq or people without an identity, like Palestinians, wanting to get UK or United States citizenship. But I don't understand how a Saudi, can seek to obtain citizenship from another country.” Batarfi said he was amazed at how some young people can risk losing their Saudi citizenship for “superficial” reasons. Nadia Battarjee has both American and Saudi citizenship because she was born in America, but she uses her American passport on rare occasions. “I use my Saudi passport everywhere unless I'm going to America on vacation.” Battarjee graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston as a Saudi citizen. “It would have been easier for me to study at MIT as an American but I am a Saudi and my place of birth can never change that.” Taha Ahmed, an Egyptian artist living in the UK, believes that students should not pass up the opportunity to get UK citizenship. “If I could get citizenship then I would but I've been living in the UK for only two years and the requirement is six years.” Ahmed said that if he does get citizenship he will pay the same taxes he currently pays. Rania Dabbagh, a Saudi student at King's College in London, said she would never take up UK citizenship even if it was offered to her. “I am a Saudi, I don't need citizenship of another country. And it is okay if I'm refused a certain position because of my nationality.” Dabbagh said that countries provide jobs for their own citizens like the Kingdom does under its Saudization program. “Citizens of a country should be considered first for jobs; and I'm sure there are opportunities elsewhere for non
