Some services of the Philippine Embassy will be temporarily suspended so it can focus on providing immediate services to those departing Saudi Arabia or correcting their status before the grace period ends on July 3.

Until that date, the embassy will not process applications for marriage or reports of marriage, police and NBI clearances, driver’s licenses and visas — except for those married to or related to a Filipino national.

The embassy will only offer the renewal of passports with appointment, the releasing of passports renewed at the embassy, the releasing of notarized documents and provide visas to those married to or related to a Filipino national (9 a.m. to 12 noon).

The embassy is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday. It’s also open on Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon for releasing of passports only.

The services at the embassy’s consular field office at Umm Al-Hamam district in Riyadh will continue and will include Thursdays and Fridays until midnight.

Only 300 overseas foreign workers (OFWs) have been able to return home since the three-month amnesty was announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in April.

According to reliable sources, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah have issued 5,100 and 4,800 travel documents, respectively. However, the sources said, they are facing problems at the Passport Departments to obtain the necessary exit papers and biometric details.

“There are six steps to take in processing an exit visa. This is exacerbated by the fact that processing is only on Saturdays and the maximum number processed on that day amounts to only 300 visas,” they said.

The sources say that it will not be possible for all these people to leave the Kingdom before the expiration of the amnesty deadline because of the slow process at the Passport Departments.

“We’re doing our best to complete all the necessary procedures before the grace period ends on July 3,” Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago told Arab News.

Travel documents are necessary for all those who are applying for final exit visas, but do not possess a valid passport. In addition to travel documents, iqama and entry information are also needed. The travel documents are free of charge and valid for three months for one-way travel to the Philippines.

For Filipinos who will be transferring to another employer and need a new valid passport, the embassy and consulate have been encoding fresh passports for those with expired ones.