RIYADH, 19 February — The Saudi Embassy in Bangladesh is investigating disappearance of 3,750 stickers for entry visas from the mission in Dhaka. The stickers, bearing serial numbers from 3/375001 to 3/378750, had been kept in a packet as was the usual custom in the office, an informed source said.
Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Al-Obaid declined to comment on the issue. When contacted on telephone, he neither confirmed nor denied the report about the missing documents.
However, the Foreign Ministry has warned concerned officials at Kingdom's entry points about the documents and instructed them to scrutinize carefully visas issued from the Bangladeshi capital.
According to the sources, the Passport Department plans to issue magnetic visas which can be affixed in the passport and can be read at the concerned departments in the Kingdom. This move will put an end to the practice of writing the visa by hand which sometimes leads to forgery and violations of residence and employment regulations. The visa will contain details about the visitor including his name, profession, passport number and qualifications.
The magnetic visa scheme will be introduced in a phased manner in 13 South Asian and other countries whence large numbers of workers come into the Kingdom. In later stages, photo of the worker will also be incorporated in the visa. In the second phase the system will be extended to another 13 countries, the source said.
The technologically-advanced visa stamping system will curb tampering with and violations of the residence regulations. In the current system, there are cases in which laborers enter the Kingdom without the knowledge of the original sponsor.
All the entry points are equipped with the latest devices to detect forgery and tampering of visa documents.
