Saudi Arabia has decided to accept the passport for next few months. The forth prefered destination after Qatar, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing visa on handwritten passport last month.

Saudi Arabia is accepting handwritten passport for next two months, said Udaya Raj Pandey, ambassador at Riyadh-based Nepali embassy. “They accept our request. Visa issuance in handwritten passport will start from next week,” he said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs has written Saudi government to continue handwritten passport for few months. Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies and Foreign Employment Association had been lobbying to continue handwritten passport for next one year.

The association had visited Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha and asked to initiate diplomatic process to solve the crisis on Tuesday. The ministry has directed the embassy to talk to Saudi authorities and solve the problem.

Saudi is accepting handwritten passport for time being, said Prakash Karki, general secretary of Foreign Employment Association adding that machine readable passport is only the solution for long term.

According to him, Saudi Arabia had stopped visa issuance last month rising question on misuse of Nepali handwritten passport by Bangladeshi and Indian workers. Smuggle of Nepali passport to sent Bangladeshi and Indian nationals to Saudi Arabia had significantly increased in recent months.

About 500,000 Nepalis believed working in the destination. According to Department of Foreign Employment, the destination has hired around 31,307 Nepalis in first four months of current fiscal year.

Published on: 3 December 2011 | The Himalayan Times