DAMMAM, 12 August — Filipinos in the Kingdom may apply for replacement of their lost passports while still waiting for the issuance of a police report from local authorities.
Vice Consul Germinia Aguilar-Usudan, head of the passport division at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, told Arab News that the embassy will accept the application of OFWs for replacement of lost passports provided that they have a copy of that lost passport, a certification from the employer and a copy of the publication from a local newspaper announcing its loss.
However, OFWs are still required to submit the police report to the embassy once it is available.
As an example, she cited a group of Filipinos working in Dammam who lost their passports in July and got delayed in submitting their applications for almost a month since they waited for the police to issue a report on its loss.
She said that lost passports should also be reported immediately to the Philippine embassy. By issuing the replacement, it will automatically cancel the lost passport, Aguilar-Usudan said.
She also said that lost passports who were previously issued in Riyadh can be replaced within the same day while those issued from the Philippines will wait for another 15 days for verification at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.
OFWs will pay only SR437 for replacements of lost passport previously issued in Riyadh while those issued from Manila will pay SR513 due to the additional telex charges of SR76.
She also confirmed that the normal renewal fee of expired passports has now been reduced from SR228 to SR190 for the 34 pages. However, issuance of new passports for children born in the Kingdom will be charged SR285.
Aguilar-Usudan will lead the Embassy on Wheels scheduled to visit the Eastern Province on Aug. 22 and 23 to provide consular services, assistance to labor problems or police cases, to all Filipino nationals in this area.
The consular team, which is also composed of attachés Acas Bayabao and Saipoden Manalao, will be at the Park Hotel in Alkhobar at the said dates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Labor-related problems will be handled by the POLO-OWWA team lead by Assistant Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre and Supervising Welfare Officer Sotero Tornea.
Usudan first served in a foreign post as third secretary and vice consul at the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in 1999. She was transferred to Saudi Arabia in March this year with the same rank, heading the passport division.