JEDDAH — The department of passports (Jawazat) has fixed the first week of Ramadan (second week of June) as the start date for the issuance of new Saudi passports which will have a validity of 10 years. Jawazat sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the necessary procedural arrangements have been completed with the Ministry of Finance to pay the issuance fees through Sadad payment system. The sources explained that 10-year-validity passports will be issued to Saudis who are 20 years of age or above while passport validity for citizens under 20 years of age will continue to be five years. They said that new passports will be issued to citizens whose passports have expired, damaged or are lost. The sources said that national identity cards and fingerprinting through Absher are a must for citizens above 15 years of age who are applying for new passports. The sources denied reports that the issuance of new passports has already started and said the reports to this effect circulated on social media were not correct. They said the Jawazat has launched a massive campaign on social media titled "Your passport is your identity" to enlighten citizens to take good care of their travel documents, never to neglect, mortgage or keep them in unsafe places. Under a decision issued by the Council of Ministers, passport fee is SR60 a year, which means SR600 for passports with 10-year validity. For the five-year-validity passport, the fees will be SR300.
