Embassy on Wheels renders services to Filipinos in Eastern Province

The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh held its Embassy on Wheels session last Thursday and Friday in the Eastern Province and rendered consular assistance and other services to 440 Filipinos at Al-Jazeera International School in Al-Rakah district, Alkhobar.
“I am thankful to the Filipino community in the Eastern Province for volunteering to assist the embassy team last Thursday and Friday,” Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago told Arab News on Tuesday.
The team, headed by Consul General Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot, served 383 Filipinos who renewed their passports. It also rendered various services to 57 other Filipinos.
The ambassador added that the Philippine embassy had temporarily suspended its e-passport appointments through SMS effective June 1, 2012, for both the consular outreach missions and for appointments in Riyadh.
He said the suspension had been implemented to unclog the overbooking of appointments, as some applicants send multiple requests for appointments by SMS.
All applicants for renewal of their passports are advised to schedule an appointment through the embassy's website www.philembassy-riyadh.org.
“The online appointment system allows the passport applicant to choose the preferred appointment date and time and confirms the appointment through an e-mail sent by the software,” Tago said. For details, people can call the consular section at [phone].
He said that those who needed replacements for lost passports or new passports for infants do not need an appointment and may directly proceed to the counter at the embassy's consular section or accomplish the supporting documents for a passport during the Embassy on Wheels.
In the meantime, Tago said, the embassy urged Filipinos who have passports for release to claim their passport as soon as possible.
The embassy will cancel all passports that are unclaimed for over six months as per instruction of the home office.