More than 2,000 Bangladeshis line up daily at their Riyadh Embassy to get their machine readable passports (MRP) from their country.

Bangladeshi Ambassador Mohamed Shahidul Islam said that his government has given a deadline for its nationals to obtain their MRPs by 2015.

There are some 1.5 million Bangladeshi expatriates in the Kingdom and they have to get their documents processed.

Former Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, accompanied by the country’s State Minister for Home Affairs Advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku, flagged off the MRP scheme at the consulate in Jeddah and at its embassy in Riyadh last year.

The envoy explained that the large crowds at the embassy were there not only to renew passports but also for other consular works such as change of professions, change of civil status and inclusion of their children in the passports.

To cope with the rush, he said the mission has requested its embassy officials to help the consular department to speed up the work.

He recalled that around 750,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers had benefited from an amnesty offer for illegal workers to correct their status by the Saudi authorities.

About 400,000 undocumented workers’ passports were renewed and issued while around 350,000 workers, who were at risk of becoming undocumented, were able to change their professions.

In addition to consular services offered in Riyadh, the Bangladesh Embassy also organized consular services in Jubail, Al-Ahsa, Dammam, Al-Jouf, Sakaka and Al-Qassim.

The Jeddah Consulate also offered consular services in Khamis Mushayt, Jazan, Najran, Tabuk, Yanbu, Al-Baha and Madinah.

Anwarul Haque, who got his new machine readable passport at the embassy told Arab News that the mission had made good arrangements to process the applications.

He said that he got his passport within three weeks from the time of his application.

Wahidul Islam praised the services rendered by the embassy officials in facilitating the issuance of the new machine readable passports. “Embassy officials were courteous while offering their consular services,” he added.