Expats advised to carry re-entry visa printouts

[email protected] (Arab News)
October 27, 2013

Expats_advisedRiyadh, Oct 27: Foreign airlines based in Riyadh have advised travel agents in the Kingdom to tell their customers to carry a re-entry visa printout with their passports when they travel abroad.

The announcement was made following complaints by expatriate workers returning to the Kingdom after the Eid holidays who were denied boarding by airline officials for not having re-entry visa information on their passports.

Officials of foreign airlines said Saturday that they have already advised their agents to inform travelers about the new requirements expected from passengers at the embarkation points.

In September, the Passport Department began issuing multiple entry visas to the Kingdom with an official stamp on the passport. However, many airline officials have demanded visa printouts or other forms of authentication to certify that passengers are in possession of valid visas to enter the Kingdom.

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.

Ruwan Wijekone, Sri Lankan Airlines manager for the central province, said the airline has advised agents in the Kingdom that passengers should carry the visa printout with them. He pointed out that if an airline allows a passenger to board without a valid visa, it has to incur unwanted expenditures such as return fare for the passenger, fine and allied expenses for his stay in the Kingdom till he is deported home.

“We are only taking a precautionary measure, which is carried out in the interests of the passenger as well as the airline,” he said, adding that checking the veracity of the visa online is impossible when the airline has to check in over 300 passengers of a Saudi Arabia-bound flight.

Speaking to Arab News, Sri Lankan Ambassador Vadivel Kirshnamoorthy said that he would advise the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to make arrangements to help people who come to the airport without the entry visa printout. He said the SLBFE, which has a special help desk at the airport for incoming and outgoing workers, could handle this matter smoothly.

Currently, officials at the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) do not have a system to track the Saudi entry visas of workers who leave the country. All Lankan foreign workers are expected to register with the SLBFE on a nominal registration fee for which a wide range of services are offered to its foreign workers.

Speaking from Colombo, an official of the Saudi Arabian Airlines said that it has deployed a special officer at the Colombo International Airport to assist such cases. The officer concerned goes online to check the visa status and acts accordingly.

“We also have an Arabic translator at our ticketing office to check the visa status of passengers,” he added.

Mohammed, a passenger who came from Dubai said the Saudi Arabian Airlines officials at Dubai airport were kind enough to check his visa status through the MOI online service and allowed him to board the flight although he did not have a visa slip.

To find out the visa status in the official website of the Ministry of Interior, one must either have the visa number or the sponsor's number.

Comments

mohammad minhat khan
 - 
Wednesday, 7 Sep 2016

need re Entry Visa
in the saudia Arabia

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News Network
May 17,2020

Bengaluru, May 17: Karnataka Government on Sunday decided to appoint Administrative Committees, to over 6000 Panchayat Bodies, in the state, who’s five-year term would comes to an end this month.

Speaking to the media here, the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Minister, K S Eshwarappa informed that the state cabinet met recently had favored to appoint committees which would replace the elected bodies.

Informing that there is provision in the Panchayath Raj Act to appoint the committees, he said that the concerned Deputy Commissioners of the district, would appoint the members, to the committee, who were eligible to be nominated to the committees.

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News Network
March 27,2020

Belgaum, Mar 26: The police on Thursday thrashed people who had gone to offer prayers at a mosque despite the nationwide lockdown in force.
In a video, the police personnel can be seen thrashing the people with batons while they were leaving after offering prayers at a local mosque here.
In another incident in Rajasthan's Pratapgarh, the police made few youngsters hop along a road and even gave the 'murga,' punishment to a few of them for violating the restrictions.
Similarly in Uttar Pradesh's Budaun, the police made people hop along a road with their bags strapped on their backs as a punishment. The people were possibly going to their native places.
In the video of the Budaun incident, a few men can be seen being made to hop along the road with a stick-wielding policeman keeping a watch.
SSP Budaun told ANI that an investigation is being conducted into the incident and expressed an apology for the police's behaviour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day countrywide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the highly contagious disease.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 27: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Monday demanded that the Karnataka government announce a special package for farmers who are on the verge of quitting agriculture as their profession following losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Please announce special package for the farmers to bail them out of the loss due to the lockdown.

Drop many of the schemes in the budget but don't leave the farmers in distress," Gowda said in his letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

The JD(S) supremo said the way relief has been announced for the milk producers by procuring the unsold milk and distributing it to the slum dwellers, the same assistance should be provided to the farmers of the state.

"If you don't come forward to assist the farmers, then they will be forced to sell their land," Gowda cautioned the Chief Minister.

The former prime minister said the farmers are on the verge of falling in the debt trap and may be compelled to take the extreme step of suicide due to the losses.

Gowda said the farmers are unable to sell their crop because they are not getting proper price for their produce and are selling their crop at a throwaway price to minimise their losses.

"In just one month farmers reached the brink of bankruptcy as they are unable to sell the standing crops in lakhs of acres of land," Gowda said.

The JD(S) supremo has been championing the cause of farmers in the state and highlighting their sufferings.

On April 3 Gowda has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the plight of farmers, labourers and the middle class people due to the lockdown.

"In such times of crisis, we should see to it that there is no disruption in farming activities by ensuring proper marketing channels to agricultural produce, especially perishables.

Only then we can sustain our long battle against this pandemic," Gowda said in a tweet.

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