DAMMAM — Travel and tourism offices offering trips to Iraq have sprung up after the Kingdom started allowing its citizens to travel to the Arab country. These offices obtained a special permit from the Passport Department (Jawazat), but some have not adhered to a rule stipulating that a passport holder must be present when filling up the application for travel to Iraq. Okaz Arabic daily uncovered a number of offices in the Eastern Province that were issuing permits to travel to Iraq without requiring applicants to visit the Passport Department or any passport office in the Kingdom. A large number of these offices are selling travel permits to Iraq through WhatsApp. After some paperwork and the exchange of cash, these offices are issuing permits illegally. Most of the people working at these offices are Arabs. They do not discuss any details until a passport copy and some information is sent through WhatsApp. The charges for issuing permits differ, ranging from SAR600 at some offices to as much as SR1,100 on the black market. Workers in some offices ask applicants to visit the office and pay for the permit, and require only copies of passports without seeing the original. It takes around 10 days to issue the permit. Spokesman of the Eastern Province Passport Department Mualla Al-Otaibi said that anyone who knows about such activities should report to the Jawazat. "It is important that the passport holder appears personally at the Passport Department when filling up the application. The permit is issued free of charge," he said. Security expert Bandar Al-Bluwi said that the activities of these travel offices posed a huge threat to the Kingdom's security.
