The new Indian passport and attestation outsourcing office, VFS Global Service, which was opened recently by senior Indian Embassy official Rajeev Shahare in the Eastern Province, is providing efficient and transparent services to the Indian community here. The center, which operates from Thursday through Sunday from 8.30 A.M. to 5 P.M., is a blessing for the Indian community. Receiving passport applications for renewal and providing attestation of consular documents has become much easier. SR15 is the service charge for passport related jobs and SR10 is charged for the attestation of documents. Previously, embassy officials visited the Eastern Province every Thursday and Friday, which was insufficient due to the large number of people who wished to renew or apply for passports or required the attestation of documents. Mohammed Ali, a convert to Islam, residing in Na'ariya around 250 km from Dammam, told Saudi Gazette, “I have been trying for three years to change my name and religion in my passport and to get a new passport for myself, my wife and two kids. Whenever I approached embassy officials, they always rejected my application advising me to fill out so many papers. Really, I have been fed up these past three years traveling 250 km during the weekends. Last week, I visited the new outsourcing office and submitted my application and I got a clear picture of what documents I need to submit to get a new passport for myself and my family. My wife's passport was renewed last week with her new name, Fathima Mohammed Ali. Now I am submitting all the necessary documents which are required for me and my kids.” Kunhi Mohammed Kadavand, general secretary of KMCC the oldest Indian community organization in the Kingdom, said that the new outsourcing office is very useful to the Indian community in that it provides direct embassy services with minimum service charges. Ashraf, another expatriate who has been working in the Kingdom for 20 years, said, “My passport was renewed in five days. Previously, I used private agencies to renew my passport and it took two weeks and I had to pay SR50.” Mohammed Ejaz Arif, supervisor of VFS Global, Dammam, said, “Our company policy is to give proper guidelines and better embassy service to the Indian community. In just one month, we have renewed and issued hundreds of passports.” M.S Kanyal, First Secretary of the Indian Embassy, told Saudi Gazette, “We are still monitoring the quality of the outsourcing center's services to the community by sending embassy staff to the centers. Our embassy representative will be available at VFS offices on Thursdays and Fridays for instant document attestation.” VFS Global will open branches in 12 towns and cities in the Eastern Province especially in remote areas and it will organize a mobile unit to collect documents from members of the Indian community who reside on the outskirts of the city. About 30 percent of the Kingdom's 1.6 million Indian expatriates reside in the Eastern Province.
