RIYADH: Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook inaugurated yesterday the new India Passport and Visa Application Center offering consular services to Indians and non-Indians in the Central Province.
“The new office is in line with India’s policy to reach out to ever-expanding large Indian communities in different parts of the world including the Gulf region, and provide efficient and transparent services in a comfortable environment to the community with minimum additional financial liability,” said Farook, while opening the new spacious office in Riyadh’s Sulaimaniya area.
The mission has entered into a contract with Dubai-based VFS Global for outsourcing its passport, visa and consular services. Farook said that the Indian Consulate in Jeddah outsourced its consular services in December and that a similar center is to be opened in the Eastern Province next month. Fifty percent of the Kingdom’s 1.6 million Indian population is concentrated in the Central and Eastern provinces.
Farook said the two new offices in Riyadh would be convenient to members of the public. “Earlier, they had to pass through security barricades at the entrance to the Diplomatic Quarter and there was no public transport to the enclave,” he said. He said that the new offices in the city are easily accessible and would be open from 8.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. from Saturday to Wednesday.
Rajiv Shahare, deputy chief of the mission, said the outsourcing has been shared across three offices: the India Passport and Visa Application Center at Sulaimaniya, which will provide both passport and visa services (only agents and companies will be able to submit passport applications at Sulaimaniya office); the India Passport Collection Center at Batha, which will accept only Indian passports and passport-related applications from individuals and families; and the Indian Embassy where VFS Global will provide attestation of document-related consular services.
Counselor Mahapathra, head of the Consular Division, explained that the attestation of consular documents include sponsorship declarations, police clearance certificates, power of attorneys, sworn affidavits/declarations, emergency certificates, educational certificates/degrees, life certificates, attestation of opening of NRE A/C forms, NRI certificates, change of profession letters, salary certificates, etc. Besides SR2 for the Indian Workers Welfare Fund (IWWF), VFS Global will charge a service fee of SR15 per passport application, SR13 for attestation of documents and SR70 for visa applications.
