What you need to know about passports and travel

With the current disruption to travel plans caused by precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, now is an opportune time to look at what the law says about passports and other travel documents — essential information that everyone should know.
Travel documents are issued in the name of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and authorize their holder to travel. The Ministry of Interior is the competent authority for issuing a personal passport or travel document, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the competent authority to issue a diplomatic passport.
No one may hold more than one valid passport, and it is the responsibility of the issuing authority to verify this.
To avoid any unwelcome surprises before traveling, you should ensure that your passport has the required validity. For travel to another Arab country, a Saudi passport must be valid for at least three months. For travel to other countries, it must be valid for at least six months. Holders of passports valid for insufficient time may be denied entry to other countries.
Several criminal offenses relate to passports. It is against the law for any noncompetent authority to add, delete or alter information in a passport, or to destroy, misrepresent or alter the personal photo in the passport. Negligence leading to the loss of a passport or travel document, intentionally enabling others to use them, and selling or mortgaging either of them, are also illegal.
It is also against the law to enter or leave the Kingdom from other than the recognized ports, or without a travel document, unless there is an acceptable reason.
Anyone convicted of any of these offenses may be fined up to SR5,000 ($1,332), or banned from traveling for up to three years, or both.
The law views a failure to keep a passport safe as negligence. The document must be retained in a secure place, and should not be carried in the holder’s vehicle without the intention of traveling abroad.
The loss of a passport must be reported within a week of the loss being known. The report may be made to the General Directorate of Passports in the Kingdom, or the Saudi embassy in the country where the passport was lost.
It is also worth noting that under international law a passport is the property of the government that issues it, and not the holder. This means that it may not be confiscated — for example, by an unscrupulous employer, or over-zealous security forces in a foreign country — without the issuing government’s permission.
It is important to follow the law in relation to passports and travel documents. Failure to do so may harm not only the individual, but the country in general.

Dimah Talal Alsharif is a Saudi legal counsel and a member of the International Association of Lawyers. Twitter: @dimah_alsharif