Passport Dept urged to speed up paperwork

There’s an urgent need to beef up personnel and equipment at the Passport Department offices to speed up the processing of visas for thousands of workers who have been issued travel documents but are waiting to obtain their exit visas.
In Jeddah, the Passport Department admitted it could process only 700 to 800 exit visas daily, according to sources at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).
The Passport Department has revealed that there are some 72,000 travel document holders in Jeddah waiting for their exit visas. However, some sources told Arab News that the number is much higher and is estimated at 100,000.
According the sources, only 14,000 workers have left the Kingdom since May 18 for their respective countries.
“The number of those who have left so far is very small compared to the number of travel document holders waiting for the issuance of their visas,” a source said.
In Riyadh, diplomats claimed that the procedure is painfully slow. “The workers go to the Passport Department early in the morning and when the office closes in the afternoon, many would not have yet entered the office,” the source said.
Sources claimed that the number of staff attending to the workers is about only four or thereabouts and the number of equipment has not been increased despite the fact that the influx of workers has increased.
Records show that the Pakistani Embassy has issued 8,000 travel documents but only some 3,000 have left the Kingdom.
Some 70,000 have also approached the Indian Embassy for help and about half of them have completed the procedures. The embassy did not mention the number of Indian workers who have left the Kingdom.
The Philippine Embassy, on the other hand, said that only 265 out of 5,577 Filipinos with travel documents have left for the Philippines. The Consulate General in Jeddah, on the other hand, said that only 300 out of 4,800 with travel documents have left for the Philippines.
Earlier, diplomats expressed concern regarding the slow processing of visas in Jeddah as well as in the Saudi capital, saying the travel document holders may resort to violence if they could not get their visas and leave before the grace period ends on July 3.