Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – Discrepancies between the English and Arabic spellings of names on iqamas (residence permits) have caused a number of difficulties for expatriates, including delays in cashing their salaries and the inability to use their bank accounts, a section of the Arabic press reported on Monday. According to the directives of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the English spelling of names on iqamas and other documents should be the same as those in Arabic language. A bank official, who did not want his name to be published, told Makkah Arabic language daily this rule has been the cause of disappointment for a number of expatriates. Some bankers held the passport department (Jawazat) solely responsible for these mistakes. The banks asked all expatriates who might face difficulties in this regard to go to the Jawazat to get any such discrepancies corrected. On many occasions, names in English on the iqamas are not accurate, have spelling mistakes or incomplete letters that make them different from those written in Arabic. Ihab Al-Hourani, a Jordanian, said he was not able to receive his monthly salary because the bank refused to open an account for him on the grounds that the English and Arabic spellings on his iqama did not match. An expatriate woman working in the health sector said she resorted to wasta (nepotism) to open a bank account but her happiness was short lived because the bank refused to activate the account because of a spelling discrepancy. She said she showed the bank officials her passport to prove to them that the mistake in the name on the iqama was just a typo but they would not listen. Mohammed Hajjo, a Palestinian, said he was unable to cash a check because the last letter of his family name on the iqama was missing. He said that his company's muaqeb (a middleman who handles government paperwork for personal and professional clients) was able to correct the name. Lt. Col. Ahmed Allihaidan, spokesman for Makkah passport department, said any expatriate facing problems because of such discrepancies should immediately go to the Jawazat and the mistake will be corrected in no time. The spokesman said expatriates wishing to correct their names on their iqamas should go to the Jawazat with their original passport on which they entered the Kingdom. He said: “The mistake might be in the work visa on which the expatriate had been recruited or might have happened during data entry. In any case, these are human errors that can be easily corrected.”
