Embassy Advisory: OFW’s ADVISE TO CONTACT THE EMBASSY FOR PASSPORT SERVICES

The Embassy advises the public, particularly Filipino nationals and their sponsors in Saudi Arabia, to check with the Consular Section first on the availability of passports before sending or personally filing their applications for passport renewals in Riyadh.

The supply of the regular, manually scripted passports has been discontinued since august 2007 in connection with the expected transition to the issuance of the new, machine-readable passports (MRP) upon the implementation of the MRP project as Foreign Service Establishments.

Full implementation of the MRP project has been ongoing in Manila since September this year. However, the embassy still awaits further instructions from manila on the implementation of the MRP project in Riyadh.

The new, regular machine-readable passports are no longer green but maroon in color. It incorporates a combination of high-tech security features to meet the latest requirements and higher standards of the international community and travel authorities.

Another featured change in the requirements for MRP issuance is that the photos of the applicants must now be taken against a royal blue background.

Other details on the launching of the MRP project at the Embassy will be announced and disseminated to the Filipino communities as soon as possible.

In the meantime, passport applicants, especially those coming from outside Riyadh, are kindly advised to contact the Consular Section at 01+482-3816 during office hours (8:00 AM to 4:00 PM) for guidance and updates.