RIYADH: Chebumkandy Abduljabbar, an Indian sales manager who was recently on the verge of mistakenly being sent home on an exit-only visa, has landed in further trouble. On Tuesday, Saudi Gazette reported that when Abduljabbar went to attend a three-day business meeting in Bahrain with a valid exit and re-entry visa, he found that records at King Fahd Causeway linking Dammam and Bahrain showed that an exit-only visa had been issued in his name. Abduljabbar was relieved when immigration officials allowed him to contact his company's personnel department, which enabled him to abandon his business trip and return to Riyadh. However, Abduljabbar's visa troubles refuse to leave him. This time the problem is with his wife and three children, who recently went on summer vacation to India with nine-month exit and re-entry visas. After his encounter with immigration authorities at the causeway and the subsequent resolution of his case, Abduljabbar was anxious to check the visa status of his family members. To his surprise, he said, the visa status as shown by the Passports Department computer was “final exit”. He said he got printouts of his family's visa papers from the website of the Passports Department and submitted them to his company's personnel department for cancellation of the exit-only visa status. Abduljabbar and his family are not alone; others have had similar experiences. There have been many callers to Saudi Gazette claiming that expatriates going on vacation on valid exit and re-entry visas have received final-exit stamps at various airports in the Kingdom. Muhammad Azmi said his Pakistani cousin while going on vacation with his wife from Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAAIA) was shocked when Immigration Department officials informed him of his “final exit” status in the Passports Department computer. “The couple decided to miss the flight and remain at the airport. The man sought the intervention of his company's official dealing with the Passports Department. The matter was resolved after high-ranking Immigration Department officials intervened. However, the couple had to wait for a few days before they could leave for vacation,” Azmi said. There is a perception among expatriates that such visa problems are due to the introduction of Nitaqat, the Labor Ministry's new Saudization or naturalization program, that categorizes companies as “Red”, “Yellow”, “Green” or “Excellent” based on the percentage of Saudis on their payroll. The Nitaqat program, which is a hot topic of discussion in expatriate circles, is meant to create more jobs for Saudis in the private sector. However, according to government officials these reported changes in visa status have nothing to do with Nitaqat. The officials denied that expatriate workers going on vacation were given exit-only visas at the airports and that they cannot come back to the Kingdom again under the Nitaqat program. Talking to Saudi Gazette, Lt. Badar Al-Malik, Passports Department Officer, categorically dismissed reports that expatriate workers with exit and re-entry visas were given final exit visas because of the Nitaqat program. Al-Malik said the Immigration Department has not been issued with any new procedures following the introduction of Nitaqat and the issuing of exit-only visas is not done at airports. “The Nitaqat program has not been implemented yet and the Passports Department has not been issued with instructions to give final exit visas to those foreign nationals whose companies are listed as ‘Red' or ‘Yellow',” Al-Malik said. Hathab Al-Anazy, Manager, Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Labor, said companies in the private sector have been given a three-month grace period that ends on Shawwal 12 (Sept. 10) this year. “The Nitaqat program will be implemented only after the expiry of the grace period,” said Al-Anazy. Quoting his company's officials, Abduljabbar said the recent problem of the change in visa status from exit and re-entry to exit-only was the result of a glitch in the Passports Department computers, which is causing inconvenience to many foreign workers. With the start of summer vacation, a large number of foreign workers are planning to take their annual holidays. However, recent cases of expatriates getting “final exits” at airports is a cause of concern for many people. Abduljabbar says expatriates should be sure to take a computer printout from the Passports Department with them to the airport. “This will help them if they face any visa problems,” he said.
