In a press statement, Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago said 24 missions are scheduled from January to December next year, of which 18 are planned for Al-Khobar, including six dedicated to passport services.

Tago said the increase in frequency of missions to Alkhobar was based on the average turnout during the 2011 Embassy On wheels (EOW) trips and the clamor of the Filipino community in the Eastern Region.

Apart from Alkhobar, the other outreach missions will be in Buraidah, Hail, Al Jouf, Hofuf and Jubail. Another trip is also planned for Sanaa, Yemen, which is under the embassy's jurisdiction. The venue of the consular outreach program will be announced before the scheduled trips

"While the schedule is tentative, the Embassy will exert its best to stick to the schedule provided that venues are confirmed and approval of the host government are obtained for each outreach consular mission," the ambassador said.

To avoid long queues that have attended outreach missions in the past in Alkhobar, those who intend to avail themselves of passport services will have to first get an appointment.

A week before the scheduled mission, the list of those who would be served during the EOW passport services will be posted on the Embassy website (www.philembassy-riyadh.org).

"Those who could not be accommodated for the particular EOW will be automatically listed for the next EOW," the press statement said.

Tago said the appointment system is free of charge and applicants can sign up through any of the following:

• : [email protected]‚ (indicate the full name, contact number, and the city in Saudi Arabia of applicant/s); and

• : send a text message to 0540269731 with the following: (space)(space)).

EOW Juan Santos Dammam

Family applicants are required to indicate all the names of its members, otherwise only one slot would be provided to them, the embassy said.