JEDDAH, 1 April 2008 — Immigration officials at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Muhammad Airport in Madinah refused entry to 34 Egyptian pilgrims in recent days. The reason cited that their Umrah visas did not mention the names of the Saudi agents under whose responsibility the pilgrims came to the Kingdom. The new regulations governing Haj and Umrah visas stipulate that the name of the agent who would be responsible for the pilgrim in the Kingdom should be clearly mentioned.
Invoking the same clause in the new regulation, officials at the Cairo International Airport did not allow 84 pilgrims to board their planes to the Kingdom, a source in Egypt told Arab News over telephone yesterday.
The Saudi authorities insist on recording of the name of the responsible Saudi Umrah operator in the visa with the aim of tracing pilgrims that remain in the Kingdom beyond what is legally permitted.
“The latest visa procedures for Haj, Umrah, or employment also stipulate finger-printing of the visa applicants,” said Azzam Al-Qayn, head of the consulate section at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo.
Qayn said that the fingerprinting regulation has already been implemented at the Kingdom’s embassies in Cairo and Dubai on an experimental basis and will be extended to other countries as well.
The visas can be obtained online in Egypt with the completion of the network connection at the Saudi consular sections in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria, Qayn said, adding that the consulates would also be linked with the approved hospitals in Egypt to issue medical certificates for speedy verifications.
The advanced system replacing the manual operations has improved the quality and speed of service at the consulates by 75 percent, the official claimed.
Of a total of 474,000 Saudi visas issued in Egypt last year 131,000 were employment visas, he said.
According to a consular official at the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah yesterday the fingerprinting of those who receive visas will end the entry of people with criminal involvement in the Kingdom, which will in turn reduce the burden of the consulate to take up the issues of such citizens.
