Belhaid, Director General of the Passports Department, at the weekend inaugurated the new e-service which will allow residents of the Kingdom to process their re-entry visas through the “Short Message Service” known as SMS. The new service launched in conjunction with Al-Alam Company for Information Security aims to provide a service for foreign residents by applying the latest telecommunications technology, Arabic Al-Watan newspaper reported. Replying to accusations that his administration has been slow to apply modern technology to the provision of passport services, Al-Belhaid said, “Better late than never.” He stressed that great strides have been made by the Passports Department in introducing new technologies in passport services, pointing out his administration carries out 70 percent of its services electronically. “It is difficult to discard traditional methods which have been used for decades and with which the department's staff are familiar and replace them with advanced technological methods which require intensive training. I believe in a step-by-step policy. It should also be borne in mind that our work is sensitive so that changes should be made gradually to avoid any shortcomings in the service,” he said. Al-Belahid said the Passports Department had signed an MoU with Al-Alam Company to introduce e-technology in all the services of the department pointing out that the recent SMS service is the latest technology which meets e-government requirements. He said his department is working in two directions: The first one is to provide e-services for service seekers who do not wish to come to passport offices and the second is aimed at opening offices for service seekers in malls and other areas.
