Expatriates have complained of excessive waits at the Passports Department fingerprint centers as they respond to calls from authorities to complete identification procedures as soon as possible. Hussein Al-Yafee and Zainah Ahmed said that they had gone to the department on three consecutive days and were left queuing from 7 A.M. until 2 P.M. each time without ever reaching the front of the line. Mohammad Al-Qal'awi, a Syrian expatriate, said that the center was understaffed and that only 40 people were being attended to per day. 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. The Passports Directorate General announced last week an extension of office hours into the evening as of May 26 to deal with the number of people registering fingerprints and eye scans. The new working hours, a Passports Department official said, would help address the demand prompted by the upcoming summer vacations. 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 workers finding employment using false identities. The official added that there were separate female sections for the fingerprinting of domestic workers.
