Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s passport department has opened a special counter in Rehab district of Jeddah to accept newly-designed Indian passports.
The move comes after thousands of expatriate Indians in the Gulf nation were stranded ahead of the summer vacations after Saudi passport authorities refused to accept newly-designed Indian passports saying they had not been informed about them.
After Indian expatriates submitted their old passports, the Saudi authorities refused to transfer data from the old passports to the new ones, saying they were unaware of the change.
While the old passport had the holder’s photograph on the second page, the new one has it on the third page.
The matter was resolved only after India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Hamid Ali Rao, clarified the issue to Saudi Deputy Minister of Interior Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Salem in a meeting on May 21.
The counter in Jeddah started accepting the new passports on Tuesday, Arab News reported yesterday.
The report quoted a passport department official as saying that transfer of data from old passports to the new ones will not be done in the department’s main office in Jeddah to avoid overcrowding.
Meanwhile, the Indian consulate in Jeddah has started issuing tokens to Indian expatriates who want to get fingerprinted.
According to the Saudi Gazette, the tokens will be issued starting June 8 on production of iqama or the local identity document, or printouts from the passport department having iqama details in the case of runaway workers, or a visa showing the immigration entry number.
The Saudi authorities have earmarked Tuesdays for fingerprinting Indians.
IANS
