Riyadh deportation center issuing 2,500 exit visas daily

With just 16 days remaining for the amnesty period to end, processing of papers has gained momentum with the deportation authorities in Riyadh issuing 2,500 final exit visas every day to illegal expatriates, who had opted to leave the Kingdom for good.
The final exit visas are issued daily to those who have obtained outpasses from their foreign missions including India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Egypt.
Because of the heavy rush at the airport, authorities at the King Khalid International Airport have requested the passengers to come to the airport at least four hours prior to the departure of international flights. The heavy rush is due to the exodus of expatriates leaving on final exit visas coupled with the crowd of holidaymakers and regular passengers.
The airport authorities here have introduced special check-in procedures to deal with the large influx of passengers to the airport. The airport administration has done away with passenger inspection before the check-in counter and have limited the inspection of luggage only at the security points. There is a special immigration counter in the basement of the airport to check the exit visas of outbound passengers and this is open on all days except Fridays.
Officials from airlines said that with the closure of schools for summer vacation by June end, they would find it difficult to handle departures of both the holiday-makers and the amnesty passengers. “There is a pressing need for extra flights to major destinations such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt,” an airline official said.
The Indian Embassy here has issued 40,000 outpasses and the respective passport holders have got 20,000 final exit visas from the Tarheel. Air India flights to Cochin are invariably delayed due to the unprecedented rush and confusion at the airport.
An official from the Sri Lankan Airlines told Arab News that they issue boarding pass at the airport without checking in the baggage of the passengers. “If the passenger is turned back by the immigration authorities, he or she will be given the baggage back and the boarding pass withdrawn,” he said, adding that the Sri Lankan Embassy has detailed an officer at the airport to assist the amnesty passengers.
“This arrangement has helped the airline a great deal while attending to the needs of the other passengers,” the official said. He also pointed out that there are some amnesty passengers who keep on changing departure dates since their exits are not processed at the immigration counter although they have technically passed through the Tarheel.
Deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy, Sibi George, said that his mission would complete the issuance of emergency certificates as scheduled on June 20. “We have deployed embassy staff, volunteers and diplomatic officers at the Tarheel and at the airport to assist our countrymen leaving the Kingdom for good,” George said.