Ethiopian expats worry over digital passport delays
Ethiopian expatriates are becoming increasingly worried that they will be unable to meet the July 3 deadline for legalizing their status because of delays in getting their new digital passports from Addis Ababa.
Ethiopian Consul General Zenebe K. Korcho confirmed yesterday that he has asked his government to speed up the process.
“The Ethiopian consulate has asked the Foreign Ministry in Addis Ababa to reduce the time taken to process machine readable passports to meet the Saudi grace period deadline. We are working to deliver passports within two weeks instead of two months.”
“We have requested that the ministry in Addis Ababa consider all passport applications of Ethiopian nationals from Saudi Arabia as a matter of emergency and a top priority,” he added.
The passports of Ethiopians living and working abroad are processed and printed in Addis Ababa and then sent back to the country of residence.
Korcho said the consulate had halted business since last week and was focusing solely on providing labor-related services.
“We have received 10,000 passports belonging to Ethiopian expatriates who had run away, which we are now redistributing to their original bearers.” He said that 3,000 to 4,000 Ethiopians have been visiting the consulate for passport services every day, adding that the consulate is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The diplomat revealed that more staff is coming from Addis Ababa to help the country’s offices in Madinah, Jazan, Abha and other places. Meanwhile, thousands of Ethiopian domestic and other workers have been queuing outside their country’s diplomatic mission in Jeddah’s Andalus District, some with their employees, trying to legalize their status. Samira Abdullah, a 26-year-old Ethiopian, told Arab News she had arrived at the consulate at 6 a.m. and was only served at 2 p.m.
The consulate was crowded with women rushing to have their documentation sorted out. The narrow streets leading to the building were jammed with people. The crowds also affected the movement of visitors to nearby King Fahd hospital.
Most of the workers want to stay in the Kingdom and were unwilling to apply for emergency travel documents to go home. Others were waiting to see whether their names were on a list indicating that their passports had been handed over to the consulate by Saudi authorities. They braved the scorching sun, some with umbrellas, to get to the consulate counters inside the building.
Ethiopians have put up stalls outside the mission selling traditional food, Zigni and cold water to fellow compatriots standing in line.
Ethiopian expatriates are becoming increasingly worried that they will be unable to meet the July 3 deadline for legalizing their status because of delays in getting their new digital passports from Addis Ababa.
Ethiopian Consul General Zenebe K. Korcho confirmed yesterday that he has asked his government to speed up the process.
“The Ethiopian consulate has asked the Foreign Ministry in Addis Ababa to reduce the time taken to process machine readable passports to meet the Saudi grace period deadline. We are working to deliver passports within two weeks instead of two months.”
“We have requested that the ministry in Addis Ababa consider all passport applications of Ethiopian nationals from Saudi Arabia as a matter of emergency and a top priority,” he added.
The passports of Ethiopians living and working abroad are processed and printed in Addis Ababa and then sent back to the country of residence.
Korcho said the consulate had halted business since last week and was focusing solely on providing labor-related services.
“We have received 10,000 passports belonging to Ethiopian expatriates who had run away, which we are now redistributing to their original bearers.” He said that 3,000 to 4,000 Ethiopians have been visiting the consulate for passport services every day, adding that the consulate is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The diplomat revealed that more staff is coming from Addis Ababa to help the country’s offices in Madinah, Jazan, Abha and other places. Meanwhile, thousands of Ethiopian domestic and other workers have been queuing outside their country’s diplomatic mission in Jeddah’s Andalus District, some with their employees, trying to legalize their status. Samira Abdullah, a 26-year-old Ethiopian, told Arab News she had arrived at the consulate at 6 a.m. and was only served at 2 p.m.
The consulate was crowded with women rushing to have their documentation sorted out. The narrow streets leading to the building were jammed with people. The crowds also affected the movement of visitors to nearby King Fahd hospital.
Most of the workers want to stay in the Kingdom and were unwilling to apply for emergency travel documents to go home. Others were waiting to see whether their names were on a list indicating that their passports had been handed over to the consulate by Saudi authorities. They braved the scorching sun, some with umbrellas, to get to the consulate counters inside the building.
Ethiopians have put up stalls outside the mission selling traditional food, Zigni and cold water to fellow compatriots standing in line.
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