Starting Tuesday (May 26), the Directorate General of Passports will extend office hours into the evening to deal with the huge rush of foreign workers registering for fingerprinting and eye scans. A Passports Department official said the new working hours would help address increasing numbers expected due to the upcoming summer vacations. Fingerprinting is now a compulsory part of exit/re-entry procedures, and other operations such as obtaining a transfer of sponsorship, residency permits (Iqama), and driving licenses. According to the official, the procedures will provide a database for identification purposes, which includes the fingerprints of both hands and iris scans of both eyes, to help prevent expatriate workers running away from sponsors and finding employment using false identities. The official added that there were separate women's sections for the fingerprinting of domestic workers. The Eastern Province Passports Department will begin the third phase of the national fingerprinting system in which the issuing of exit/re-entry, multiple visit and exit only visas will be linked to the fingerprints of the applicant as of May 26. Maj. Gen. Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Humaidi, Director General of the Eastern Province Passports, has called on expatriates to visit the department's offices or the locations allocated for taking fingerprints as soon as possible.
