Friday 25 October 2013

Expatriate workers returning to the Kingdom after the Eid holidays were denied boarding by airline officials for not having re-entry visa slips on their passports. The Passport Department had begun issuing multiple entry visas to the Kingdom with an official stamp on the passport in early September. However, many airline officials have demanded visa slips or other forms of authentication to certify that passengers are in possession of valid visas to enter the Kingdom.

According to one official, a printout can be obtained only when a single entry visa is issued electronically, but multiple entry visas are issued at the Passport Department. The visa is recorded in the system and an official stamp is placed with only the visa number. One Riyadh resident told Arab News that he had difficulty boarding a flight from a European city. "The airline official said I could not board the flight since he claimed I did not have a valid visa to enter Saudi Arabia," he added. He failed to convince officials of the new regulations.

"They only allowed me to board when they saw my original residence permit, which is valid for another 10 months," he said. One Sri Lankan citizen said he was only able to board his flight from Colombo after producing a faxed copy of a letter from his company in Riyadh attesting that he was in possession of a valid visa to enter the country. Saudi Arabian Airlines has deployed a special officer at Colombo International Airport to assist with such cases.

Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Jubairy, the Passport Department director for the Riyadh region, urged companies to activate the electronic system to benefit from visa services. Services include exit and re-entry visas, exit-only visas and the issuance and renewal of resident permits for expats, as well as travel permits for citizens. "These can be obtained from the department's Abshir electronic services," said Al-Jubairy. "The Passport Department will not accept applications from owners or agents working in companies with 100 or less workers," he said. "We are now in the process of digitizing the Passport Department," said Lt. Col. Ahmed Al-Laheedan, a spokesman for the department.

Arab News 2013