“The Saudi loves his country,” said Italian Consul General Simone Petroni at the opening of a new counter at the Etimad Joint Visa Application Center in Jeddah for Schengen visas. “And so they don't run the risk of being potential immigrants while seeking visas for visiting different countries.”

The new outsourced facility will be open to the public from Saturday. All applications — Saudis or expats — who wish to apply for an Italian Schengen visa, will now have to submit their applications at the Joint Visa Application Centre on Manazil Muttaqin Street at the Madinah Road-King Abdullah Road crossing, Al-Ruwais.

The Schengen visa allows legal travel in 25 European countries. However, the visa must be obtained from the government of the arriving destination. For example, if one plans to arrive in Milan and then travel to Paris and Amsterdam by rented car — the Schengen visa must be obtained from Italy, not from the governments of France or the Netherlands.

Petroni and Al-Etimad Modern Business Solutions Company President Prince Faisal Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal signed Italy's visa outsourcing agreement in the presence of a large number of invitees including diplomats who included German Consul General Michael Zickerick and Swiss Consul General Hans Stalder.

“This (agreement) gives us an opportunity for us to be able to serve additionally the Italian mission here with excellence,” Prince Faisal said. “Our center has been facilitating visas for other countries including France, Malta and Germany, aside from India and the UK. Our bilateral ties are positive, going by the expanding trade and business interests between the two countries.

“By outsourcing our visa services, we hope to devote enough attention to our role in the matter of many other bilateral interests,” said Petroni, adding that the Italian mission in Saudi Arabia issues about 20,000 visas a year from the embassy in Riyadh and about 5,000 from the consulate in Jeddah.

Italy is one of the most visited countries in the world, and its tourism sector accounts for about a third of the nation's GDP. Italy also attracts a healthy portion of international students despite lacking the educational premium of being an English-speaking country.

“We have remained behind the US and the UK in attracting students from the Kingdom and elsewhere because overseas students generally go to places where they can pursue education in English,” said Petroni.

Mohan V. Mathew, chief operating officer at Etimad, said: “We at Etimad have handled 70,000 visa applications for different countries since the establishment of the center in February 2010. A feature of this place is that there are seasonal fluctuations for visas, depending on vacation and holiday seasons, which poses a challenge for us.”