Jeddah: Citizens who wish to travel abroad need to check the expiry date of their passports and start the renewal or issuance process well before the travel date, a senior passport official has said.

Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Al-Saad, director of Media and Public Relations at the General Directorate of Passports, also said that issuance or renewal of a Saudi passport will require citizens to personally come to the passport department.

“Those traveling abroad should know that the passport validity period should not be less than three months if he/she is traveling to an Arab country, and six months for other foreign countries,” he said.

Al-Saad called on citizens to make sure whether the countries of their travel destination demand entry visa or not, or if such countries allow entry for escorts in the passport without the presence of the passport holder.

“Personal attendance is necessary in cases where family members haven’t yet acquired national identification cards. This rule also applies to those who could not get or renew their passports through the Ebshir electronic system,” he said.

“Citizens aged above 15 years seeking passports should hold a national identification card. For those aged below 11 years, a parent or guardian must be present and approve the application,” said Al-Saad.

He said granting passports to Saudi women and minor orphans will be done only after verifying legal documents pertaining to custody and guardianship rights.

“The parents of children aged below 15 years must refer to the nearest passport department with the family card and original copy,”

Al-Saad said that the escorts cannot move in the passport department without the passport holder.

“Citizens traveling abroad should abide by the laws of the countries they are visiting to avoid any kind of trouble. Every citizen traveling abroad is an ambassador of his country and should be careful to reflect a positive and honorable image of himself and his nation,” Al-Saad said.