Repatriation efforts for illegal Indian workers that are currently under way at the Indian diplomatic missions in Riyadh and Jeddah have entered their final phase.

Local Saudi government offices, including deportation (tarheel) offices, are preparing to fingerprint workers and endorse exit stamps on their passports. Indian workers have been advised to approach Jeddah deportation center beginning Tuesday.

Indian Consul General Faiz Ahmed Kidwai predicts a rush of workers seeking various services to correct their status or to go back to India. He said all Indian nationals, who wish to avail themselves of the opportunity, may get their travel documents ready from the consulate and approach Jeddah’s Tarheel Office.

The Indian Embassy in Riyadh also has started issuing travel documents. The embassy, in a statement released here yesterday, also clarified a significant number of Indians who obtained Emergency Certificates (EC) from the embassy during 2010 and 2011 could not return to India. The embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah would revalidate their unutilized ECs issued during 2010 and 2011, it added.

The two diplomatic missions would extend the time limit of the old ECs for a period of three months as an exceptional measure to facilitate their departure to India utilizing the concessions announced by Saudi authorities.

“The immigration authorities in India have also been sensitized appropriately to ensure smooth entry of the revalidated EC holders into India,” said the statement.

The Indian missions will continue to collect EC applications directly and also through various collection centers throughout Saudi Arabia, it noted. Indian volunteers registered with the embassy can also collect EC applications and forward it to the embassy, said the statement. The ECs will be issued free of charge for those who submit an application seeking waiver of fee.

The statement said that the ECs will be issued after processing the applications. Those, who apply for fresh ECs, have to have some document to prove their Indian nationality, which include any one of the following: Passport copy, Indian driving license, Aadhaar card, ration card, Election Commission ID card, PAN Card or any other Indian photo ID.

Those EC applications, which are submitted without correct passport numbers or without a copy of old passport(s) would take more time to get an EC as their particulars have to be ascertained from their district authorities, said the statement. EC application forms are available on the embassy website.